BEER BREWING

Beer Brewing



Beer Brewing

Introduction

Beer brewing and consumption has been around for and estimate of 5000 years. The special technique that was discovered was actually an accident involving barley being soaked in the rain, spontaneously fermented, flavoured with honey and dates, and it was drunk from jugs with straws. This accident was perfected to a point where there are more than 70 types of beer, and most people have their favorites. Beer is part of most societies, and it has become a major industry in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In the 1990s in the United States, more than 200 million barrels of beer was produced, and an average of each adult consumed 121 liters of beer in their lifetime. Beer has a huge impact on society and we should consider this issue because statistics show that beer can lead to many types of death(Hui George 1994).

Beer Fermentation process and tools

Malting: the conversion of barley grain into malt

The purpose of this process is to encourage the barley grains to germinate so that they can be used in the making of beer. This involves immersing the grains in water then leaving them to germinate for about five days before arresting the germination process using hot air to dry them at around 65°C (kilning). This interruption is necessary to retain some sugar for the brewing process. The malts will develop a different flavour and colour depending on the duration and temperature of kilning. These differences will be reflected in the qualities of the different beers. Germination causes the secretion of enzymes which, when the malt is dissolved in water, will convert the starch into sugars and the proteins into amino acids(Dittmer 2005). Brewing: the production of must

The malt grains are first crushed (grinding) so that they will dissolve readily in water. Hot water is then added to this grinding process (35-50°C). The temperature of the water is gradually increased to 75°C. At this temperature, the enzymes start to work and convert the starches into sugars and the proteins into amino acids (which, of course, are essential for the yeast). This mixture produces a very hot sweet tea-like juice. It is then naturally filtered (the first filtration) through the husks of the crushed barley grains at the bottom of the vat. This produces a liquid, the "must". The dry residue, which is referred to as the "draff", is generally used as cattle feed. Hot water is usually added two or three times, then the mixture is filtered to extract as much sugar as possible. The filtered must is then transferred to boiling vats, where the hops are added (110 to 300 grams/hectolitre). Sugar can be added at this stage. Depending on the type and quantity of sugar, a hundred different varieties of beer can be obtained. The heating process sterilises the must by killing off the enzymes. The must is then cooled to allow the yeast to germinate. (Bamforth 2003)

Fermentation: the addition of yeast

Fermentation is achieved by adding yeast to the ...