Water
Beer is mainly composed of water, so the source of the water and its characteristics has an important effect on the character of the beer. Many beer styles were influenced by the characteristics of water in the region. Some beer makers claim that spring water or
mountain water create their unique flavor and body while other brewers make no mention of the fact they use the local municipal water supply. Understanding the effects of water minerals can be complex, but as a general rule soft water is suited to light brews, where hard water is more suitable for dark beers.
OTHER TYPES of BREWS
Ice: In this process, beer is chilled after fermentation until ice crystals form and removed. This gives the beer a smoother, richer taste. They also have a higher alcohol content.
Craft/Flavored: With the increasing numbers of small specialty brewers increasing each year the variety of flavored beers has become more popular. This includes adding fruit essences, cider varieties, and other unique ingredients (i.e. hemp, roots),
Nonalcoholic: Also called near beer or nonalcoholic brew, these beverages must contain less than 0.5% alcohol by weight. Like beer, they are based on malted barley or other grains and have a similar, but lighter, flavor.
The beer process
ALES
Brown: This dark ale has a copper or ruby color, a full body, and a medium sweet flavor.
Porter: Typically dark and full-bodied, porter has a mild hops taste and a bittersweet chocolate flavor that comes from roasted barley or barley malt.
Stout: This is a type of porter ale. Stout ale is darker, fuller bodied, maltier, and hoppier than other ales
LAGERS
American-style pale lager: A lighter Pilsner style of beer, the common American lager is highly carbonated and light in body and color. Pilsner accounts for about 90 cent of the beer consumed in America
Pilsner. Pilsner is a beer made from neutral and hard water, now the basic requirement for all lagers and ales. Pilsners tend to be pale, golden hued, and effervescent, with a dry, crisp, and somewhat bitterer flavor.
Light: In Europe, a light lager means one that is light in color. In the United States, it tends to mean a beer with fewer calories than a regular beer. Made with a reduced amount of malt and grain, the alcohol content is slightly less than that of regular beer.
Dark: These chocolate-brown beers are richer, maltier, sweeter, and fuller in body than pale lagers. Dark lagers are colored and flavored with roasted barley or malt. Bock style can be included here as well.
There are basically two categories of beer: lagers and ales.
Lagers use lager yeast and ferment at cool temperatures. They tend to be clearer, lighter in body and color, and lower in alcohol, ranging between 3.2 and 5.0 percent alcohol by weight. Most beers produced in the United States are lager beers. Craft beers often have a higher alcohol content up to 9.5%.
Ales use ale yeast and ferment at warmer temperatures, then age for a short time. They tend to be less carbonated, fuller bodied. Some may have a higher alcohol content than lagers.
Types of Brews
Malt
Every beer requires malt in its basic recipe. Brew masters can choose to use malted oats, rye, wheat or rice(or combinations), but malted barley is most commonly used. Malted barley has high amylase content, and a digestive enzyme that helps break the starches down into sugars. The choice of malts often depends heavily on what grains are cultivated locally. To create malt the grains are soaked in water, allowed to germinate, then dried in a kilt. As grain is malted, naturally occurring enzymes work to gradually convert starches into fermentable sugars.
Yeast
It is a living microorganism that creates fermentation. The brew master will choose from different strains of yeast, depending on the type of beer produced. Yeast helps metabolize sugars extracted from the grains, and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as a result. Before the functions of yeast were fully understood, beers were fermented using wild or airborne yeasts. Today there is a variety of yeasts available, with ale yeast and lager yeast being most commonly used. Type your paragraph here.
Hops
Since the seventeenth century, hops have been used as a popular bittering agent in beer. Adding hops is important, as the bitterness helps to counteract the sweetness of the malts. Hops also contribute a variety of aromas ranging from herbal to citrus. The bitterness in beer is generally measured using the International Bitterness Units scale. Hops also provide an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms. The amount and variety(s)of hops varies greatly from beer to beer with mass American beers having the least aromatic types added.Type your paragraph here.
Beer drinkers see a glass of beer as a golden source of refreshment. Many have said that it’s surely the nectar of the earth. In reality, most beers are based on a basic historical four-ingredient recipe, and undergo a simple brewing process before bringing joy to the parched drinkers of the world.
Beer is created using a basic mixture of water, hops, malted barley and yeast. Depending on the type of beer being brewed, taste enhancements such as flavorings and sugar will be added. Starches are also incorporated into the beer so that sugars will easily ferment during the brewing process. The fermented sugars add body and flavor, while increasing the alcohol content.
Clarifying agent
(Optional but worth mentioning) Many brewers prefer to add one or more clarifying agents to beer, but are not required to publish these agents as "ingredients". Isinglas, bentonite, gelatin finings and Irish moss powder are all commonly used as clarification agents. Isinglas is a gelatinous substance obtained from the swim bladders of fish, so if you're concerned about consuming animal products, be sure to ask of detailed content information from the brewer of your preferred beer.
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