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A beer is any of a variety of alcoholic beverages produced by the fermentation of starchy material derived from grains or other plant sources. The production of beer and some other alcoholic beverages is often called brewing.

Typically, beers are made from water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. The addition of other flavorings or sources of sugar is not uncommon.

Because beer is composed mainly of water, the source of the water and its characteristics have an important effect on the character of the beer. Many beer styles were influenced or even determined by the characteristics of the water in the region. Among malts, barley malt is the most often and widely used owing to its high enzyme content but other malted and unmalted grains are widely used, including wheat, rice, maize, oats, and rye. Hops are a fairly recent addition to beer. They contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt and have a mild antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable organisms. Dozens of strains of natural or cultured yeasts are used by brewers, roughly sorted into three kinds: ale or top-fermenting, lager or bottom fermenting, and wild yeasts. Yeast metabolize the sugars extracted from the grains, producing many compounds including alcohol and carbon dioxide.

History

Known to the Egyptians, Babylonians, and probably to earlier civilizations, beer became the common beverage in northern climates not conducive to grape cultivation. Although beer and wine are both fermented and undistilled, wine is made from basic materials rich in natural sugar, while beer is made from materials high in starch. Starches must be converted to sugar before fermentation can occur.

Most beers until relatively recent times were ales. Lagers were discovered by accident in the sixteenth century when beer was stored in cool caverns underground for long periods; it has since largely outpaced ale in popularity. (See below for the distinction.) Hops are also a relatively recent addition, although they are now nearly universal in beers. Hops are a citric flower that adds bitterness and flavour to beer, and changes its texture somewhat.

Types of beer

There are many different types of beers including:

(A very comprehensive description of beer styles can be found at the Beer Judge Certification Program. It varies from the above list, but that's the way of beer drinkers.)

Lager beers, probably the most common type of beer consumed, are aged beers of German origin, taking their name from the German lagern ("to store"). Bottom-fermented, they are stored at a low temperature for weeks or months, clearing, acquiring mellowness, and becoming charged with carbon dioxide. Although many styles of lager beer exist, most of the lager beer produced is light in colour, high in carbonation with a mild hop flavour and an alcohol content of 3-6 percent by volume. Styles of lager include: Pilsener, Dortmund, Munich, .

Top-fermented beers, particularly popular in Great Britain and Ireland, include mild, bitter, pale ale, porter, and stout. Top-fermented beers tend to be more flavorful including a variety of grain flavors and fermentation flavors. Stylistic differences among top-fermented beers are decidedly more varied than those found among bottom-fermented beers and many beer styles are difficult to categorize such as the California common beer (produced using a lager yeast at ale temperatures), wheat beers (often produced using an ale yeast and then lagered, sometimes with a lager yeast), or lambics (which employ wild yeasts, naturally-occurring in the Payottenland region of Belgium).

Beer and nationality

  • Canada has a long history of beer production and consumption as the cold climate provides ideal conditions for brewing. It is well known for its two large commercial breweries and also for its large number of smaller companies.
  • Czechia The Pilsener style of beer originated in the town of Plzen in Bohemia, and the Czechs make many well known and well regarded beers of this style, including the original Budweiser. The Czechs have the highest per capita consumption of beer.
  • England One common stereotype of the English (and indeed most residents of the British Isles) concerns their love of "Warm beer". In fact, British beer is usually served around 12 degrees celsius - not as cool as most cold drinks, but still cool enough to be refreshing. Modern-day pubs keep their beer constantly at this temperature, but originally beer would be served at the temperature of the cellar in which it was stored. Proponents of British beer say that it relies on subtler flavours than that of other nations, and these are brought out by serving it at a temperature that would make other beers seem harsh. Where harsher flavours do exist in beer (most notably in those brewed in Yorkshire), these were traditionally mitigated by serving the beer through a hand pump that mixes air with the beer, oxidising it slightly and softening the flavour, but this is now a hallmark of real ale and is not typical of how beers are generally served in Britain. These days, it is as common to find it sold in bottles or drawn in a pub from a conventional carbon dioxide-driven tap.
  • Finland and Estonia are known for their traditional Sahti, which is a beer made from rye or oat malts thet are filtered through straws and juniper twigs. According to Michael Jackson it is by far the oldest continuous living tradition of beer making, representing nothing less than a direct link with babylonian beer making methods.
  • France Although French market is dominated by industrial breweries the Nord/Pas-de-Calais possesses a strong brewing traditions, which it shares with its Belgian neightbor across the border. Alsace, has also a strong tradition in brewing beer with bottom fermenting yeasts in German style.
  • Germany With a extremely strong beer-oriented culture, the German market is a bit sheltered from the rest of the world beer market by the Reinheitsgebot dating from 1516, according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are "Wasser (water), Hopfen (hops), Malz (malt) und Hefe (yeast)". Through this law, beers from Germany tend to have a good reputation for their quality. The Germans are slightly behind the Czechs in their per capita consumption of beer.
  • Ireland is best known for stout, of which Guinness is the largest selling and most widely distributed brand.
  • The United States has been known since the repeal of Prohibition for its large commercial breweries producing products more noted for their smooth light uniformity than for any particular flavor. However the United States now also features many beers, mostly by smaller and regional brewers (microbrews), in a variety of styles influenced by British, German, Belgian, and Czech traditions, as well as original varieties such as Anchor Steam. Likewise, a more flavorful USA pre-Prohibition style, the classic American Pilsner, is beginning to be revived.

Social aspects of beer

Beer is associated with holidays such as Oktoberfest and is often consumed in conjunction with football games. In contrast to wine, beer is generally associated with the lower and middle classes rather than the upper classes.

In addition to the lower classes, college students are typically tremendously fond of beer. While frequently not content to merely consume beer, college students frequently create elaborate games to add to the enjoyment and increase the rate of the beer intake. These drinking games include such favorites as Beer Pong, Circle of Death, and President Asshole.

Others

Beers, and similar beverages made from raw materials other than barley, include hundreds of local African drinks made from millet, sorghum, and other available starch crops; Nordic mead, made from honey; Finnish sahti; Russian/Ukrainian kvass; Chinese samshu, Korean suk, and Japanese sake, all brewed from rice; and pulque, an indigenous Mexican beer made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. The Mexicans and the Japanese also brew and export several brands of Western-style beer.

A half pint of beer typically contains about one unit of alcohol (although alcohol content can vary significantly with style and brewer).

Brewing industry

Commercial brands of beer

List of commercial brands of beer

Quotations

  • "Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin
  • "Give me a woman who truly loves beer, and I will conquer the world." -- Kaiser Wilhelm II
  • "Malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man" -- A. E. Housman

See also: Oktoberfest, Public house, Campaign for Real Ale

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