United Package Liquors Web Blog

Let’s talk about the ingredients of Beer…

There are only four basic ingredients of beer, which are: water; a starch source, such as malted barley, able to be converted to sugars then fermented or converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide; a brewer’s yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavoring such as hops. A mixture of starch sources may be used, with a secondary starch source, such as corn, rice or sugar, often being termed an adjunct, especially when used as a lower-cost substitute for malted barley. Less widely used starch sources include millet, sorghum and cassava root in Africa, and potato in Brazil, and agave in Mexico, among others. The amount of each starch source in a beer recipe is collectively called the grain bill.

 Water

Beer is composed mostly of water. Regions have water with different mineral components; as a result, different regions were originally better suited to making certain types of beer, thus giving them a regional character. For example, Dublin has hard water well suited to making stout, such as Guinness; while Pilzen has soft water well suited to making pale lager, such as Pilsner Urquell. The waters of Burton in England contain gypsum, which benefits making pale ale to such a degree that brewers of pale ales will add gypsum to the local water in a process known as Burtonisation.

 Starch source

Malt

The starch source in a beer provides the fermentable material and is a key determinant of the strength and flavor of the beer. The most common starch source used in beer is malted grain. Grain is malted by soaking it in water, allowing it to begin germination, and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln. Malting grain produces enzymes that convert starches in the grain into fermentable sugars. Different roasting times and temperatures are used to produce different colors of malt from the same grain. Darker malts will produce darker beers.

 Nearly all beer includes barley malt as the majority of the starch. This is because its fibrous hull remains attached to the grain during threshing. After malting, barley is milled, which finally removes the hull, breaking it into large pieces. These pieces remain with the grain during the mash, and act as a filter bed during lautering, when sweet wort is separated from insoluble grain material. Other malted and unmalted grains (including wheat, rice, oats, and rye, and less frequently, corn and sorghum) may be used. In recent years, a few brewers have produced gluten-free beer, made with sorghum with no barley malt, for those who cannot consume gluten-containing grains like wheat, barley, and rye.

 Hops

The flower of the hop vine is used as a flavoring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today. Hops contain several characteristics that brewers desire in beer. Hops contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt; the bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units or IBU’s. Hops contribute floral, citrus, and herbal aromas and flavors to beer. Hops have an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer’s yeast over less desirable microorganisms, and hops aids in “head retention”, the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last. The acidity of hops is a preservative.

 Yeast

Brewer’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Saccharomyces uvarum

Yeast is the microorganism that is responsible for fermentation in beer. Yeast metabolizes the sugars extracted from grains, which produces alcohol and carbon dioxide, and thereby turns wort into beer. In addition to fermenting the beer, yeast influences the character and flavor. The dominant types of yeast used to make beer are the top-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Ale Yeast) and bottom-fermenting Saccharomyces uvarum (Lager Yeast). Brettanomyces ferments lambics, and Torulaspora delbrueckii ferments Bavarian weissbier. Before the role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts. A few styles such as lambics rely on this method today, but most modern fermentation adds pure yeast cultures.

 Clarifying agent

Finings

Some brewers add one or more clarifying agents to beer, which typically precipitate (collect as a solid) out of the beer along with protein solids and are found only in trace amounts in the finished product. This process makes the beer appear bright and clean, rather than the cloudy appearance of ethnic and older styles of beer such as wheat beers. Examples of clarifying agents include isinglass, obtained from swimbladders of fish; Irish moss, a seaweed; kappa carrageenan, from the seaweed Kappaphycus cottonii; Polyclar (artificial); and gelatin. If a beer is marked “suitable for Vegans”, it was clarified either with seaweed or with artificial agents.

All Beers Are Either Ales or Lagers…

It might seem an unlikely claim when you’re trying to choose from the bewildering array of beers available today but it’s true. All beer falls into one of these two categories – Ale or Lager. There are a few so-called hybrid styles that employ traditional brewing methods of both but even these can be clearly distinguished as ale or lager based on the yeast used to ferment them.

It starts with the Yeast.  Ale yeasts flocculate at the top of the fermentation tank. They generally thrive at temperatures between 60 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Lager yeasts are more successful at lower temperatures, typically 46 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit and flocculate closer to the bottom of the fermentation tank. Lager yeasts also tend to ferment more aggressively, leaving behind less residual sweetness and flavor than ales.

The difference doesn’t end with the yeast. The brewing techniques of each are as important as the yeast used. After fermentation ales are usually aged no more than a few weeks. The aging process is generally done at 40 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Lagers are similarly aged but at much lower temperatures, 32 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and for a much longer time typically months. This is called lagering and creates a cleaner, clearer beer.

So what does this all mean? The brewing processes of the two different kinds of beer – lager, cold and efficient; and ale, warm and complex – result in very different final products. Although both are beer, the two are as different as red and white wines. Lagers are clean, refreshing beers with typically light aroma and flavor. They are invariably served cold and can pair easily with a wide variety of food. Ales are complex, flavorful beers. Many are served closer to room temperature and contain rich aroma and flavor. Their complexity makes pairing a more selective, but highly rewarding, task.

Cheers!