
[[Image:Beer.jpg|thumb|250px|A typical mug of lager beer, showing the golden colour of the beer and the foamy head floating on top.]] Beer, generically, is any alcoholic beverage produced through the fermentation of starchy material and which is not distillation after fermentation. The process of beer production is called brewing. Because the ingredients used to make beer differ from place to place, beer characteristics such as taste and colour vary widely, and consequently its type or classification. One of the oldest beverages man has produced, dating back to at least the 5th millennium BC and recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the character of beer has changed drastically over the millennia. The brewing industry is now a huge global business, and today consists mostly of conglomerates formed out of a multitude of smaller producers. While beer is generally an alcoholic beverage, some varieties exist, originated in the Western world, which undergo a process to remove most of the alcohol, producing what is called non-alcoholic beer. == History == [[Image:Belgium-Beer.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A column of beer and taps in a bar (establishment) in Brussels, Belgium.]] As almost any substance containing carbohydrates, namely sugar or starch, can naturally undergo fermentation, it is likely that beer-like beverages were independently invented among various cultures throughout the world. In Mesopotamia, the oldest evidence of beer is believed to be on a 6000-year-old Sumerian tablet depicting people drinking a beverage through reed straws from a communal vessel, a bowl. Beer is also mentioned in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', and a 3900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring the patron goddess of brewing, Ninkasi, contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread. Beer became vital to all the grain-growing civilizations of classical Western antiquity, especially Egypt and Mesopotamia. Beer was important to early Rome, but during Roman Republic times wine displaced beer as the preferred alcoholic beverage. Beer became a beverage considered fit only for barbarians; Gaius Cornelius Tacitus wrote disparagingly of the beer brewed by the Germanic peoples of his day. The addition of hop (plant) to beer for bitter (taste) and preservation is a relatively recent innovation: in the Middle Ages many other mixtures of herbs were often employed in beer prior to hops. These mixtures are often referred to as gruit. Hops were cultivated in France as early as the 800s; the oldest surviving written record of the use of hops in beer is in 1067 by well known writer Abbess Hildegard of Bingen: ''"If one intends to make beer from oats, it is prepared with hops."'' In Europe, beer largely remained a homemaker's activity, made in the home in medieval times. By the 14th century and 15th century, beermaking was gradually changing from a family-oriented activity to an artisian one, with pub (establishment) and monastery brewing their own beer for mass consumption. In 15th century England, an unhopped beer would have been known as an ale, while the use of hops would make it a beer. Hopped beer was imported to England from the Netherlands as early as 1400 in Winchester, and hops were being planted on the island by 1428. The popularity of hops was at first mixed — the Worshipful Company of Brewers went so far as to state ''"no hops, herbs, or other like thing be put into any ale or liquore wherof ale shall be made — but only liquor (water), malt, and yeast."'' However, by the 16th century, "ale" had come to refer to any strong beer, and all ales and beers were hopped. In 1516, William IV, Duke of Bavaria, List of rulers of Bavaria, adopted the ''Reinheitsgebot'', perhaps the oldest food regulation still in use today. The ''gebot'' ordered that the ingredients of beer be restricted to water, barley, and hops, with yeast added after Louis Pasteur's discovery in 1857. The Bavarian law was applied throughout Germany as part of the 1871 German unification as the German Empire under Otto von Bismarck, and has since been updated to reflect modern trends in beer brewing. To this day, the ''gebot'' is considered a mark of purity in beers, although this is controversial. Most beers until relatively recent times were what are now called ales. Lagers were discovered by accident in the 16th century after beer was stored in cool caverns for long periods; they have since largely outpaced ales in terms of volume. With the invention of the steam engine in 1765, industrialization of beer became a reality. Further innovations in the brewing process came about with the introduction of the thermometer and hydrometer in the 19th century, which allowed brewmasters to increase efficiency and attenuation. Prior to the late 18th century, malt was primarily wood-roasted, which contributed a darker colour and smoked flavour; the use of coal lightened beer colour and eliminated the smoke flavour for all but a handful of styles. The invention of the drum roaster in 1817 by Daniel Wheeler allowed for the creation of very dark, roasted malts, contributing to the flavour of porters and stouts. The discovery of yeast's role in fermentation in 1857 by Louis Pasteur gave brewmasters methods to prevent the souring of beer by undesireable microorganisms. In 1953, New Zealander Morton W Coutts developed the technique of continuous fermentation. Morton patented his process which revolutionised the industry through reducing a typical four-month long brewing process to less than 24 hours. His process is still used by many of the world's major breweries today, including Guinness. === Etymology === Of the two terms, beer and ale, the latter is the elder in English language. It is believed to come directly from the proto-Indo European root ''*alu-'', through Germanic ''*aluth-'' ([http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE14.html]). ''Beer'', on the other hand, is considered to come from the Latin ''bibere'' (to drink, [http://www.bartleby.com/61/69/B0156900.html]). Old English sources distinguish between "ale" and "beer," but do not define what was meant by "beer" during that period, although there is some speculation that it refers to what would now be called cider, the alcoholic form. The Old English form of "beer" disappeared shortly after the Norman Conquest, and the word re-entered English centuries later, in exclusive reference to hopped malt beverages. The beverage is termed ''"cerveza"'', or a derivative, in the various dialects of Spanish and Portuguese. Most other Western European languages use a form similar to the English "beer." === Mythology === The Finnish epic Kalevala, collected in written form in the 19th century but based on oral traditions many centuries old, devotes more lines to the origin of beer and brewing than it does to the origin of mankind. The British Drinking song "Beer, Beer Beer" ([http://www.mickeymulligan.com/The%20Music/songbook.htm#Beer,%20Beer,%20Beer]) attributes the invention of beer to the presumably fictional Charlie Mopps: : ''A long time ago, way back in history''
: ''When all there was to drink was nothin' but cups of tea,''
: ''Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mopps''
: ''And he invented the wonderful drink, and he made it out of hops.''
: ''...'' The mythical Flemish king Gambrinus is sometimes credited with the invention of beer. == Ingredients == The main ingredients of beer are water, malted barley, hop (plant) and yeast. Other ingredients, such as flavouring or sources of sugar, are called adjunct (beer) and are commonly used; this usually comprises fruit or other grains. === Water === 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. === Malt === Among malts, barley malt is the most widely used owing to its high amylase content, a digestion enzyme which facilitates the breakdown of the starch into sugars. However, depending on what can be cultivation locally, other malted and unmalted grains are also commonly used, including wheat, rice, maize, oats and rye. === Hops === A relatively recent addition to beer, hops contribute a bitter (taste) that balances the sweetness of the malt, and also have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms. The bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale. === Yeast === A specific yeast is chosen depending on which type of beer is being produced, the three main kinds being ale yeast, lager yeast, and wild yeasts. Yeast is used during the fermentation process to metabolism the sugars extracted from the grains, and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as a result. On average, beers' alcohol content is between 4% and 6% alcohol by volume, although it can be as low as 2% and as high as 14%. === Clarifying agent === Some brewers add one or more clarity agents to beer that are not required to be published as ingredients. Common examples of these include Isinglass finings, obtained from swimbladders of fish; kappa carrageenan, derived from seaweed; and Irish moss, a type of red alga. Since these ingredients may be derived from animals, those concerned with the use or consumption of animal products should obtain specific details of the filtration process from the brewer. == The brewing process == Though the process of brewing beer is complex and varies considerably, the four basic stages that are consistent are outlined below. There may be additional filtration steps between stages. # Mashing: The first phase of brewing, in which the malted grains are ground and soaked in warm water in order to create a malt extract. The mash is held at constant temperature long enough for enzymes to convert starches into fermentable sugars. # Boiling: The extract is boiled along with any remaining ingredients (excluding yeast) to create the wort. The hops (whole or pelleted) are added, or a hop extract is used. # Fermentation: The yeast is added (or ''"pitched"'') and the beer is left to ferment. After primary fermentation, the beer may be allowed a second fermentation, or conditioning, which allows further settling of yeast and other particulate matter ''"trub"'' which may have been introduced earlier in the process. # Packaging: At this point, the beer contains alcohol, but not much carbon dioxide. The brewer has a few options to increase carbonation. The most common approach by large-scale brewers is force carbonation via the direct addition of carbon dioxide gas to the keg or bottle. Smaller-scale or more classicly-minded brewers will add extra (''"priming"'') sugar or a small amount of newly fermenting wort (''"krausen"'') to the final vessel, resulting in a short refermentation known as ''"cask-"'' or ''"bottle conditioning"''. ==Packaging and presentation== [[Image:Manet, Edouard - La Serveuse de Bocks (The Waitress), 1879.jpg|thumb|''The Waitress'' (1879) by Edouard Manet]] After brewing, the beer is usually a finished product. At this point the beer is kegged, casked, bottled, or aluminium canned. Unpasteurized beers containing live yeasts may be stored much like wine for further conditioning in aging_barrels to allow further fermentation and development of secondary flavors. A long conditioning period is common for Belgian ales and cask-conditioned real ales. It is not uncommon for strong beers to be aged a year or more. The conditions of serving have an enormous impact on a drinker's experience. The most important factor is temperature: colder temperatures inhibit the chemical senses of the tongue and throat, which prevent the drinker from fully experiencing the beer. Conversely, beer served too warm may have the opposite problem: strong beers in particular may taste overly alcoholic and harsh, while lighter beers may seem flat and unappealing. Every style has an ideal serving temperature, and while casual drinkers may be accustomed to "ice-cold beer" as perpetuated in mass-consumption advertising, learning the appropriate serving temperature of beer styles can lead to a much more rewarding drinking experience. Besides temperature, choosing an appropriate container is also important. While casual drinkers of beer often drink straight from the bottle or can, serious beer drinkers always pour their beer into a glass before imbibing. Drinking out of a bottle severely inhibits aromas picked up by the nose, which are as important as the flavours picked up by the mouth. So whether on tap or from a bottle, the beer is first poured into a glass, mug, or beer stein. As with wine, there are specialised styles of glassware for each style of beer, and some brands of beer even produce glassware intended for their own beers. While any glass is preferable to a bottle, aficionados claim that the shape of the glass influences the perception of the aroma and the way in which the beer settles, similar to claims by drinkers of brandy or cognac. Lastly, the pouring process is important to a beer's presentation. The rate of flow from the on tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the center or down the side) into the glass all influence the end result, such as the size and longevity of the head (beer), lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and turbulence of the beer and its release of carbonation. Guinness in particular, along with other stouts, is leisurely poured in two stages, with a pause to allow settling. Heavily carbonated beers such as German pilsners or weissbiers also need settling time before serving. Bottle-conditioned beers may have an undesirable yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle, while beer tapped directly from a keg or cask may require special treatment. A method pioneered by Guinness is the nitrogen tap, which introduces tiny bubbles of nitrogen into the beer as it is poured. XXX this last paragraph needs some work. == Varieties of beer == There are many different types of beer, each of which is said to belong to a particular ''style''. A beer's style is a label that describes the overall flavour and often the origin of a beer, according to a system that has evolved by trial and error over many centuries. According to the type of yeast that is used in the beer's fermentation process, most beer styles fall into one of two large families: ''ale'' or ''lager''. Beers that blend the characteristics of ales and lagers are referred to as ''hybrids''. ===Ale=== : ''Main article: Ale'' An ale is any beer that is brewed using only top-fermenting yeasts, and is typically fermented at higher temperatures than lager beer (15–23celsius, 60–75fahrenheit). Ale yeasts at these temperatures produce significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavor and aroma products, and the result is a flavourful beer with a slightly "flowery" or "fruity" aroma resembling but not limited to apple, pear, pineapple, grass, hay, plum or prune. Stylistic differences among ales are more varied than those found among lagers, and many ale styles are difficult to categorize. ===Lager=== : ''Main article: Lager'' Lagers are the most commonly-consumed category of beer in the world. They are of Central European origin, taking their name from the German language ''lagern'' ("to store"). Lager yeast is a bottom-fermenting yeast, and typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7-12°C (45-55°F) (the "fermentation phase"), and then is given a long secondary fermentation at 0-4°C (30-40°F) (the "lagering phase"). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "crisper" tasting beer. Modern methods of producing lager were pioneered by Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger, who perfected dark brown lagers at the Spaten Brewery in Bavaria, and Anton Dreher, who began brewing a lager, probably of amber-red color, in Vienna in 1840–1841. With modern improved fermentation control, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks. Most of today's lager is based on the Pilsner style, pioneered in 1842 in the town of Plzen, in the Czech beer. The modern Pilsner lager is light in colour and high in carbonation, with a mild hop flavour and an alcohol content of 3–6% alcohol by volume. The Budweiser brand of beer is a typical example of a pilsner. ===Spontaneous fermentation=== :''Main article: Lambic'' These are beers which use wild yeasts, rather than cultivated ones. All beer before the cultivation of yeast in the 19th century were closer to this style, characterised by their sour flavours. ===Hybrid beers=== Hybrid or mixed style beers use modern techniques and materials instead of, or in addition to, traditional aspects of brewing. Although there is some variation among sources, mixed beers generally fall into the following categories: * Fruit beers and vegetable beers are mixed with some kind of fermentable fruit or vegetable adjunct (beer) during the fermentation process, providing obvious yet harmonious qualities. * Herb beer and spiced beers add herbs or spices derived from roots, seeds, fruits, vegetables or flowers instead of, or in addition to hop (plant). * Wood-aged beers are any traditional or experimental beer that has been aged in a wooden barrel or have been in contact with wood for a period of time. * Smoked beers are any beer whose malt has been smoked. A smoky aroma and flavour is usually present. * Specialty beers are a catch-all category used to describe any beers brewed using unusual fermentable sugars, grains and starches. ==Beer around the world== ===Africa=== *African beer ===Americas=== *American beer *Brazilian beer *Canadian beer *Mexican beer ===Asia=== *Chinese beer *Japanese beer *Taiwan Beer *Thai beer *Tibetan beer ===Australasia=== *Australian beer *New Zealand beer ===Europe=== *Albanian beer *Belgian beer *Czech beer *French beer *German beer *Italian beer *Spanish beer *Beer in the United Kingdom **English beer **Scottish beer **Welsh beer == Related beverages == * Africa: Hundreds of local drinks made from millet, sorghum, and other available starch crops. * Andes, South America: Chicha, an Andean beverage made from germinated maize. * Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim: Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalaya. * Finland: Sahti, a traditional Finnish beer. * Japan: Sake, a rice-wine. * Korea: Soju * Mexico: Pulque, an indigenous beer made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. * Russia/Ukraine: Kvass, a fermented non-alcoholic or mildly alcoholic beverage. * Various regions: Rye beer, mead (made from water and honey), cider (made from apple juice) == See also == * Brewery * List of breweries and :Category:Brewers and breweries * List of commercial brands of beer and :Category:Brands of beer. * Beer and nationality ==References== * ''The Complete Guide to World Beer'', Roger Protz. ISBN 1844428656. * [http://www.roadshow.org/html/resources/scientists/coutts/article.html Morton Coutts's Continuous Fermentation System], from [http://www.roadshow.org/ The National Science-Technology Roadshow Trust website] Alcoholic beverages Beer Herbal & fungal drugs/medicines als:Bier ga:Beoir la:Cervisia lv:Alus simple:Beer th:เบียร์
==Purge== I have purged a whole lot of stuff - see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Beer. It is all in other places. Please restore anything that really adds value to this article. User:Justinc 16:32, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) == External Links == There are far too many external links many of which are at best irrelevant and at worst spam. == The song "John Barleycorn" == Some mention should be made of the song "John Barleycorn" :) User:DryGrain 17:06, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC) == The effect of different waters on the taste == "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." - the first clause of this sentence is somwhat misleading. The reason that water has a major effect on the taste of beer is that the mineral content of the water affects the chemistry of the mash tun. If you were to mash and boil, and then split the wort into two gyles, one of which was topped up with hard water and one with soft water, then the resulting beers would be pretty similar. If however, the two batches were mashed and boiled separately, one with hard water and one with soft water, then there would be a much more noticeable difference in taste. User:MattF 08:49 Feb 19, 2003 : Some breweries, particularly microbreweries, go as far as to purify the water with reverse osmosis, and then adding minerals manually. This is used both to optimize flavor, and to emulate the water of various regions (for instance, emulating water from Plzen when making a Czech style pilsener). Maybe worth mentioning in the article? User:Kvan 11:00, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC) :Actually, the water source is much less important in beer-brewing than in liquor-distilling. Obviously huge differences in hardness or a large amount of chlorine (which can inhibit yeast) in the water supply will influence brewing process, but the subtle water source variations are not going to shine through the malt and hop flavors in the finished product even in the lighter beers, certainly not the way they do in vodka, for instance. It's worth noting that blind taste tests on bottled water have surprising results,--many tests have shown municipal water supplies preferred to even premium mineral or spring water brands. In any event, most brewers--even craft or microbrewers--are content to simply pass tap water through an activated carbon filter once to remove chlorine and any obvious off-odors or flavors in the supply. User:NTK 06:31, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC) == The distinctions between lager, ale and wheat beer == User:Rethunk correctly pointed out that Hefeweizen is only a variant of wheat beer, so we may consider making it a subentry. The other subentry would be what we call in German "Kristallweizen". Not sure about the correct English term, tho. BTW, I also don't quite understand why the distinction betw Lager and Ale is so fundamental. Maybe we should add "wheat beer" as another fundamental category? This way, we wouldn't have to go three levels deep. :Part of the ale vs lager problem is that there are really two issues involved -- yeast strain and fermentation temperature/duration. (See table below) "Lager" is German for "store", and the name literally refers to a (cool) slow-fermented beer. (The higher the temperature, the faster the fermentation completes, so duration and temperature are closely related.) However, modern usage is that beer innoculated with ''S. cerevisiae'' is an "ale" while beer innoculated with ''S. uvarum'' is considered a "lager". Ales that are slow-fermented (the tricky case in the table below) can be considered lagers, but in my experience they are usually classified as ales.
-- User:Jrv 06:11 Mar 20, 2003 (UTC)
:Jrv: actually, beer with lager yeast brewed at ale temperatures--that you say is "probably nasty tasting"--is in fact how steam beer is made. Whether you think it's nasty or not is another matter--it was traditionally considered inferior, but it is a style that has been long appreciated and has been renewed by craft brewers especially on the west coast. The style is also known as "California common". User:NTK 06:38, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
User:SebastianHelm 07:56 Jan 23, 2003 (UTC)
:Sebastian - Gruess Dich.
:There is no commonly accepted translation for "Kristallweizen" (crystal wheat) in English; I'm not aware of any breweries outside of Germany who brew it. If Kristallweizen were brewed in the USA, it would probably be called by its German name since it is popular for American wheat beers to be called "Weizen" and "Hefeweizen".
:According to the site I added at the bottom of the page, wheat beer can be considered either a lager or an ale. Steam beer, which is brewed only in San Franciso by the Anchor brewery, is similar in that it belongs to neither of the two major categories: if I remember correctly, Anchor Steam is brewed using bottom-fermenting (untergaerige), lager-style yeast in a top-fermenting (obergaerige), ale-style process. Perhaps a wheat beer could be called wheat ale or wheat lager to be more specific.
:Lambics and some other beers don't fit very well into the categorization of lager/ale, but statistically speaking most beers will fall into one category or the other (based on what I've read, anyway). Most wheat beers I've drunk were lager-style Weizens in which wheat was used in addition to barley, but the brewing process was otherwise the same as for lagers. A Roggen (rye beer) would probably fit in the same category.--User:Rethunk
::I see! Sorry, I overlooked your description. BTW, there is a nice graph on http://kss.virtualave.net/Bier/BIERSORTENKARTE.htm, but the owner of the site doesn't remember where he stole it from, so we can't copy it. User:SebastianHelm 03:24 Jan 24, 2003 (UTC)
== Oktoberfest ==
I can't help, but I wouldn't put the Oktoberfest under the term "holiday" as it is done in the text. Some may spend their holidays on it, but it is more like a fair or may be a volk festival.
User:Soly
I changed the reference to Oktoberfest to a reference to Märzen, because octoberfest is not a kind of beer. Märzen is a special beer made only for the Oktoberfest. Use:mac_c
Maerzen is not really brewed specially for Oktoberfest, traditionally it was brewed in March, hence the name, and drunk all summer. When the weather began to cool at the end of September the remaining supplies were consumed in a festival that became Oktoberfest. In the US Maerzen is usually brewed all year and is for instance Gordon Beirsch's most popular beer User:Bob Palin 00:44, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)
== Who thought of raspberry beer first? ==
I removed the reference to raspberry beer as being one of the "original varieties" of USA beer as I believe it was brewed in Belgium before it was brought to the USA. -- User:Infrogmation 00:13 3 Jun 2003 (UTC)
== Lack of coverage of Asian beer ==
There needs to be inclusion of Asian sources of beer especially Japan,
which has its own style and strong history. Also the same can be said for the rest of Asia, South America, and Africa, whose South African Brewing controls quite a large portion of the beer market through its ownership of Miller, Morretti, and countless brands. Lets expand past parts of Europe, and two of the north american countries
:Agreed; for instance, Asahi Breweries beer has quite a following (I personally think it tastes a little too light). --User:DeathphoenixUser_talk:Deathphoenix 20:16, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)
== Strange coverage of European beer ==
In the "Beer around the world" -section, there are mentioned Germany (which is known to
produce excellent beer), and France, Italy and Spain (which are famous for their wine, not beer). The list is lacking two of the most famous high-quality beer producing countries, that is, Belgium (known for strong monastery beer) and Czech Republic (known for pilsners, in particular Pilsner Urquell).
== Broken link ==
I took this link out as it is broken:
''[http://www.doemens.com] - professional education and consulting in brewing technology''
User:Angela
== No record of award ==
I cut the statement in the Poland section that Tyskie "won a golden medal award in the London grand prix competition". The Tyskie website [http://www.kp.pl/eng/tyskie_ksiazece.html] has sections on two different beers, but doesn't mention a specific award in relation to either of them. User:Markalexander100 05:52, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)
== Historical changes in the strength of American beer ==
''"The lager brewed by these companies was not the extremely weak and mild lager now associated with modern US megabreweries."'' I've been wondering for a while whether this is truly historical or an apocryphal legend. We've all heard the story that beer was watered down for women [http://www.homebrewadventures.com/articles/article02220201.shtml during WWII ] and never recovered. However, a good [http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:N8JSVYOjg7YJ:www.americanheritage.com/AMHER/2002/03/beer.shtml article ] I came across on American Heritage seems to contradict that:
:"The beer served in the Beer and Whiskey League stadiums in spring 1882 was recognizably the American beverage we know today. Milder, lighter, and less bitter than older American ales or European beers, pale, effervescent, low in alcohol, and served very cold, it was a refreshment, meant to be drunk quickly. No longer part of the history of American nourishment, it was now part of the history of American entertainment."
There's some speculation that American beer tastes changed as a result of Prohibition; the near beer page briefly alludes to that theory. I'll see if I can find anything to substantiate it. - User:Jredmond 23:18, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Read the American pilsner article and consult the references of that article. Professional brewing historians agree that the modern industrial US beer is not the way it was brewed before Prohibition. Two of the seminal articles that revived interest in the original formulations are Fix, G. 1994. Pre-prohibition lagers. Brewing Techniques. May/June and
Jankowski, B. 1994. Bushwick pilsners. Brewing Techniques. Jan/Feb User:Dogface 05:03, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)
: The characterization of modern American beer as "history's saddest mistake" sounds a little POV to me. Is this a generally-accepted opinion? Surely there are sadder mistakes in history! --User:Wtshymanski 02:32, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)
== Whether hops is a recent addition ==
This is not consistant! The article says first that hops is a recent addition, but later mentions that hops was added as earlier as the 11th century. What is it?
:Considering that the Sumerians invented beer several couple thousand years ago, I'd say that the 11th century is "recent". Alternately, the use of hops was not universal until "recently". - User:Jredmond 17:36, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)
:I agree that it contradicts itself. In addition to saying "recent," it also says that they were introduced "only a few hundred years ago." That leaves much less to interpretation than "recent."
::Hmm, perhaps. Anybody willing to find a reliable source and clarify it further? - User:Jredmond 14:57, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)
:::As mentioned elsewhere in the article, the earliest reference to hops being used is from Hildegard of Bingen in the 11th century.
== The influence of the Canadian climate on its beer production ==
''"Canada has a long history of beer production and consumption as the cold climate provides ideal conditions for brewing."''
Hmmm, first of all Canada is not that cold. Most of the population is along the US border which is definitely not "cold" for half of the year. And could this really be the reason why Canada has a long history of beer production? Many other "non-cold" countries have long histories of beer production as well so I don't really see an easy correlation here. User:Dgrant 08:03, Apr 28, 2004 (UTC)
:ok, actually I do see some merit in the original text. Because of it's cold climate in the winter and parts of fall and spring, certain areas of Canada were able to brew beer BEFORE aritifical refrigeration. So the text needs a little rewording, so that it referse only to the past, not the present, when temperatures no longer matter thanks to technology. User:Dgrant 08:06, Apr 28, 2004 (UTC)
== Drunken Indian elephants ==
I have again amended the sentence that says ''Elephants are known to attack villages, with the primary agenda of raiding these vats and having a good time generally''. There can be no evidence for the claims that elephants have a primary agenda of having a good time by raiding vats. There may be evidence that they are hungry or thirsty (perhaps the reason they raid villages which '''don't''' have breweries). User:Moriori 02:27, Jul 4, 2004 (UTC)
----
Actually there is evidence of this in the article at:
http://www.theindian.co.nz/testing/plugin/news/journal/plugin.asp?plugin=article_view_Unwrap.asp&abxyk945=301&iabspos=137&vjob=vcat%2C111
In this article it states:
A police officer in Dumka said: "Tribals who love rice beer brew the liquor at home. Elephants too are fond of this beer.
"Often it is found that, attracted by the strong smell of the liquor, wild elephants tear down the tribal houses where the brew is stored."
Also Rudyard Kipling wrote of an elephant enjoying arrack (a coconut liquor) and beer in his book "My Lord the Elephant" over a century ago. It's available at: http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/prose/ManyInventions/lordelephant.html
The particular relevant text is: “Now,” sez I, settin’ down on his fore-foot, “we’ll have a drink, an’ let bygones be.” I sent a child for a quart of arrack, an’ the sergeant’s wife she sent me out four fingers of whisky, an’ when the liquor came I cud see by the twinkle in Ould Typhoon’s eye that he was no more a stranger to it than me,—worse luck, than me! So he tuk his quart like a Christian, an’ then I put his shackles on, chained him fore an’ aft to the pickets, an’ gave him my blessin’ an went back to barricks.’
‘Subsequint, me an’ the Venerable Father of Sin became mighty friendly. I wud go down to the lines, when I was in disgrace, an’ spend an afternoon collogin’ wid him; he chewin’ wan stick of sugar-cane an’ me another, as thick as thieves. He’d take all I had out of my pockets an’ put it back again, an’ now an’ then I’d bring him beer for his dijistin’, an’ I’d give him advice about bein’ well behaved an’ keepin’ off the books. After that he wint the way of the Army, an’ that’s bein’ transferred as soon as you’ve made a good friend.’
I also came across the following article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2583891.stm:
Drunk elephants kill six people
Drunken elephants have trampled at least six people to death in the northeast Indian state of Assam, local officials say.
The herd of wild elephants stumbled across the supplies of homemade rice beer after they destroyed granaries in search of food.
The incident happened near Tinsukia, 550 kilometres (344 miles) from the Assam capital, Guwahati.
"They smashed huts and plundered granaries and broke open casks to drink rice beer. The herd then went berserk killing six people," a forestry official told AFP news agency.
...
"It has been noticed that elephants have developed a taste for rice beer and local liquor and they always look for it when they invade villages," an elephant expert in Guwahati told Reuters news agency.
Since the elephants seem to go to great lengths to get at the beer when there are large quantities of rice or water more easily available, it is apparent that they are not simply hungry or thirsty. Clearly these pachyderms like drinking beer. Also mahouts in India affirm that their elephant partners enjoy drinking and get tipsy.
As an interesting aside elephants are said to understand over 1,100 human commands whereas humans barely understand any words of elephantese. User:Rameses 16:27 July 6, 2004
==Export, Maerzen==
The Märzen article (a link I just made accersible by correcting the umlaut) names Maerzen beers that are not Octoberfest beers. So, what exactly differentiates a Maerzen from a Helles. (Being from Munich, I'm a bit embarrassed to ask this question, but I'm unsure myself.) Is it just the higher ''Stammwuerze'' content? And, BTW, what is the difference between a Helles and an Export. I always considered ''Export'' to be the South German breweries' way of translating ''Helles''. Any examples for an ''Export'' proper? User:Sanders muc 14:46, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Beer is an alcoholic drink with a (relatively) low alcohol content. There are two basic types of beer: Lagers and Ales. They differ in the yeast and the fermentation temperature.
An ale is generaly a lighter beer. An ale is also easier to make because the yeast is active at a warmer temperature than a lager's yeast. Lagers on the other hand are made from a yeast that is active at a much cooler temperature.
A lager is generally a dark beer and an ale is generally a light beer.
The flavor of the beer, surprisingly enough, depends on what you put into it. The most common ingredients are barley, malt, grains (various) and hops.
Large production beers(such as Budweiser) are called macrobrews. They commonly use little barley and dry it to reduce the amount it plays into the flavor. The grain used is also most commonly corn because it is also relatively weak flavored. This is why many persons from other countries say that our beer tastes like water.
== WikiProject ''Beers of the world''? ==
I'm a collector of beer bottles and an amateur beer lover (still need some experience ;-). After seeing this great article, I thought of making a WikiProject for all kinds and brands of beer with history (wich is often really interesting), flavors, formats, facts... Well, beer articles could have a very interesting amount of information and could be very interesting, in my opinion.
Well, it's not easy to drive a WikiProject if you have other things to do like studying, working, other projects and specially if you're not very used to Wikipedia like me. That's why I need some more people to found it. But, before that I'd like to know your impressions and your ideas.
I'd be very glad to give my best with it.
Cheers,
User:KeyStorm 18:59, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Largest Brewers == A recent edit claims "Heineken is the world's second-largest brewer of beer." However, both Heineken and SABMiller make that claim. Anyone have data to back it up? My money is on SABMiller, but Heineken's production volume is formidable. Interbrew is also a contender If I find anything on the web I'll do the update -- User:Kaszeta 14:02, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC) Interbrew has recently (in August 2004) completed its merger with AmBev. According to its Website, the new company InBev "forms the No.1 brewer in the world by volume with a global market share of 13% (on a pro forma basis for the year ended December 31, 2003)". In terms of sales, InBev reported "on a 2003 consolidated pro forma basis, a net turnover of ?9,287 million (USD 10,521 million)" (this includes soft drink operations). For first half 2004, the company reported volume of 54.7 million hectolitres. In its annual report, Anheuserbusch reported 2003 net sales of about $11,600 million from its brewery operations (the company also has other business lines) and 129,8 million barrels of beer sold. SABMiller reported (not sure whether gross or net) turnover (all operations) for the FY ending March 31st 2004 as $12,645 million and 47.2 million hectolitres of beer sold. Heineken reported net turnover for 2003 of ?9,255 million and beer sales of 109.0 hectolitres. The company claims a global market share (I assume by sales) of 7%. So you could probably argue that any of the above is the world's largest brewer - but we should leave it to a beer industry analyst to give a definitive view. It would probably be more accurate to separately describe companies as the largest (2nd largest etc.) brewer by volume or by sales. User:Scott Moore 11:31, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) OK, just did a Web search a found a beer analyst (www. euromonitor.com). According to Euromonitor: "Belgium's Interbrew SA and Brazil's Companhia de Bebidas das Américas (AmBev) announced plans to merge on March 3, 2004, unveiling a complicated stock swap that will create the world's largest brewer by volume....with a 9% share of the global beer market. It will sell in excess of 13 billion litres annually (excluding sales of licensed brands and sales through non majority held subsidiaries), taking over Anheuser-Busch?s mantle as top brewer". User:Scott Moore 11:37, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Length == The article is 45 kilobytes long, which I think shouldn't be the case with a featured article. Perhaps Beer and nationality could be moved to a separate article? User:Nikola Smolenski 09:20, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) : So if noone disagrees, I'd do it in a few days. User:Nikola Smolenski 23:27, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC) :: I agree, however please change the title. The text is NOT about beer and nationality, but rather a desription of beers in various countries of the world. User:Scott Moore 12:18, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) :: See my comments on beer project; I am splitting Beer and nationality into seperate articles. User:Justinc 14:18, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) == sumerians and mesoptamians == The ancient sumerians inhabited Ancient mesopotamia, So saying "historicly, beer was known to the sumerians, egyptians, and mesopotimians" would be like saying " the U.S.A, Egyptians, and americans"! == Beer Tasting Notes == I have a list of 280+ beers that I tasted in the UK, belgium, Austria and the US. I'd be interetsed in sharing these notes. == How alcoholic can beer get? == Recently, someone added, :The average beer contains 4–6% alcohol, although alcohol content can be as low as 2% and as high as 20%+. I was under the impression that the highest beer can get is around 12%, at which point the yeast can no longer survive. Any extra alcohol has to be added in. Does anyone know if this is true? A minor point; it'd still be nice to know. --User:Sean Kelly User_talk:Sean Kelly 05:34, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::I dont see any technical reason why it shouldnt get as strong as wine if you used wine yeasts (there is one Belgian beer refermented with champagne yests, but it is 12%, like Champagne). 20% seems rather high though. I cant remember what the strongest beer in the world is, I will look it up, they sell it in my local beer shop.User:Justinc 09:53, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: The highest that I've seen is about 10% (specifically barley wine), which requires the use of specialized yeast. Anything with a greater must be distilled, and I think then qualifies as a distilled beverage, and is no longer (I think) beer. – User:ClockworkSoulUser talk:ClockworkSoul 13:30, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::: More info, taken from the distilled beverage article: ''Beer and wine are limited to a maximum 15 percent alcohol, beyond which yeast is adversely affected and can not ferment.''. – User:ClockworkSoulUser talk:ClockworkSoul 13:32, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) :The strongest beer in the world Samichlaus is 14%. I might write a little article on it... User:Justinc 13:36, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: there, read all about it... User:Justinc 13:45, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::: There are actually stronger beers in existance -- Dogfish Brewery's 120 minute IPA is 21% ABV; Samuel Adams has also brewed some high alcohol specialty beverages. This was where my original "20%+" reference comes from; I think this is a minor quibble, however -- in most cases beer yeast will rarely ferment a beverage over 12-14%. --User:Soundwave106 13:32, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::That's odd... their [http://www.dogfish.com/beer/120minuteipa.cfm website] doesn't mention any special process. It claims that they get the wort to 45 degree Plato... that's a 1.180 original gravity!! I suppose that corresponds to 20% alcohol, if the final gravity dips below 1.020. The question is how the hell to they get that to happen? This is completely challanging my conceptions of the brewing process! (also, the beer has 120 IBU.. this is beginning to sound more like rubbing alcohol). —User:Sean Kelly User_talk:Sean Kelly 14:42, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::::It's actually not bad, but it's syrupy and thick, impossible to do anything but sip. Kind of like beery-hopped port, I guess. Scientifically, from poking around the Homebrew Digest, it seems like this may be possible based on the large amount of interest from brewers in high-gravity brewing (where you brew with a high wort concentration and then dilute the final product). There's a few references I've found: an old one ("Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Sept 1984, p 639-646, Vol 48, No 3., Casey, Magnus, Ingledew") plus some online papers ([http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/bile/2003/00000025/00000014/05140475 (1)] [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/bile/2004/00000026/00000023/00005133 (2)] [http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0104-66322001000400010&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en (3)]. I haven't coughed up the cash for these papers, or poked around further. But the industrial interest in high gravity brewing may explain how yeast tolerance has been pushed by modern craft brewers. Homebrew yeast supplier [http://www.whitelabs.com/gravity.html White Labs] does have some more practical brewing information for their "super high gravity ale yeast" that they claim can go up to 25%, and how to get that yield. As an additional note, the keys seem to be in yeast nutrition and oxygen aeration; one can debate on how "natural" such techniques really are. --User:Soundwave106 20:05, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::::Well, from the looks of that White Labs website, you can get 25% by simply pushing the yeast to its limit. Still, I suspect what you are doing is dramatically shortening the lifespan of a yeast cell, and giving it just enough time to reproduce before it keels over from alcohol poisoning. Anyone here a biologist/professional brewer? —User:Sean Kelly User_talk:Sean Kelly 20:29, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) :The strongest an alcaholic drink can get without distilling it (getting rid of the water, basically concentratnig the alcohol) is about 12%. At least thats what I though, i can quite believe however that it can get up to 14% but not any higher. If there is a beer that is over that percentage then it has been distilled. The yeast get killed by the alcohol when it reaches about 11% thats why you cant get beer any higher as someone else rightly said. User:Borb 20:10, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) I've found the Belzebuth - Grain d'Orge Brewery 13% but a 15% version was sold before. It seems that you can't go to this only with adding some sugar without sugar beer will go around 6% User:Ericd 16:03, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC) : Probably more like 10% without pushing the yeast (traditional brewing), just a minor quibble :) Examples of all-malt styles that are high alcohol include doppelbock (7%-8% typically) and English / American barleywine (8-10%). Most of the imperial styles (e.g. imperial IPA, imperial stout) are also around 7-9% and are sometimes all-grain. I've homebrewed a 7% all malt doppelbock before (and it won a gold medal in the category, so I did *something* right :) ). Sugar is usually used to lighten the heavy nature of the all malt styles (Belgian dubbel / trippels are the best example) and I think above a certain ABV that really becomes important, if not for the process than for the taste. --User:Soundwave106 15:40, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC) --- Although there are no commercial beer styles (that I am aware of) which appoach 20%ABV, it is possible to make such beers without fortification. Modern incremental fermentation methods have been used in laboratory settings to make 'beer' of such strength. Also the "eisbock' process can readily make beers of such strength without evaporative distillation. Tim Rastetter, then brewer at Breworks of Covington Kentucky made such a beer by the eisbock process, circa 1997. It was to appear in the Guinness book of records as the strongest commercial beer, however that beer was never sold commercially as the Microbrewery ceased business operation before it was made available. I've tasted this beer myself - and it's very strong, but also amazingly smooth and balanced. == mixed beers == apart for the last catch all category, specialty beers, all these types are as far as I know traditional brewing methods. The only difference is that they're not pilsners. Anybody got a good reason to keep them? User:Henna 23:48, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC) : I personally would consider everything in the "mixed beers" category differences of *ingrediants* or *process*, not of the yeast. The master style is always determined by yeast type, either top-flocculating (ale) or bottom-flocculating (pilsner). "Hybrids" in fact may not be worth mentioning, as its usually just using a yeast in a non-traditional brewing process (e.g. California Common or "steam" beer, lager yeast fermented at near ale temperatures; alt beers or kolsch beers, ale yeast that is fermented with a cold-conditioning process). It's debateable whether we need to get this technical, at least without going off on the myriad of lager / ale styles. --User:Soundwave106 00:12, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Picture== The main picture on this page might cause some confusion. It is a pint of lager but it is a glass labelled Tetley's, which purports to be a bitter although I have another name for it. User:Jooler 11:42, 15 May 2005 (UTC) :The caption says nothing about being a lager or an ale... can you tell just by looking at it? —User:Sean Kelly User_talk:Sean Kelly 16:57, 15 May 2005 (UTC) ::Of course. You must be an American, where all beer looks the same. The main point of what I said was that it is clearly not a pint of Tetley's User:Jooler 18:08, 15 May 2005 (UTC) ::So now the picture has been replaced with something that could be washing up liquid in a glass. I'll have to take my own picture User:Jooler 17:12, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::: Hey, I've just used what is available between en.wp and the commons; if you have a better picture/caption, please feel free to replace it. User:Dewet 18:56, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC) == Trouble in beerland == I can see there are numerous points of confusion here as non-brewers attempt to explain the brewing process. One major gaffe - the Morton Coutts continuous brewing process should be a very minor footnote on alternative brewing processes. Apparently the Coutts fan club is active on Wikipedia. I have read a total of 3 papers on this N.Z. process in the past 12 years and all indicated unaddressed problems with the method. Namely excessive fusel production (off flavor volatiles) and systemic sanitation problems preventing commecrially viable long operation times. I do not believe that Guinness or any other major Northern hemishere brewery has ever relied on any continuous process for production. There are numerous differences between lager beers and ales. The primary difference (already noted) is the yeast used. Yeasts used for ales include many varients of Saccaromyces cerevisiae selected for their brewing properties. The modern taxonomy, based on recent genetic studies, have caused lager yeast to be classified as Saccharomyces pastorianus. This is the fourth or fifth reclassification or re-naming for lager yeasts since the 1970s, but perhaps the most definitive. The names "Saccharomyces uvarum", and "Saccaromyces cerevisiae var. uvarum" are no longer accepted, although these still appear in many non-technical publications. The other major difference is that lager beers are fermented at generally much cooler temperatures and then stored, or "lagered" for some period. California Common style beers (aka Steam Beer, for example 'Anchor Steam' of San Francisco) is made using a single carefully selected lager yeast which is capable of fermenting without excessive off-flavor byproducts at a higher temperature than is typical of lager yeast. One comment here, that beers made from lager yeast at elevated temperatures would taste aweful, is generally correct. Ale yeasts cannot grow at typical lager fermentation temperatures. German Weizen beers (and many American wheats and belgian style 'Wit' or white beers) beers are fermented with strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ale yeast) which is able to produce a flavor active product call 4-vinyl guiaicol from a minor organic acid in grain (ferulic acid). This product gives a spicey flavor often described as "clove-like". Bottle conditioned weizens are often refermented with a different yeast. Weizen beers are ales. As an aside weizen is said to have greater sales in Southern Germany than lager beer ! Kristallweizen and Berliner Weiss are wheat beers that deserve separate coverage. Despite one comment here, water is critically important in beer's historic development and production. The mash procedure isn't merely a matter of washing malt extract free from crushed malt, but instead involves stepping the mash through temperature ranges which allow various enzymes to act on the malt and make sugars and amino acids (among other things) available in the wort. The activity of enzymes is critically dependent on the pH (acidity) of the mash. Adding conventional amounts of light colored malt to distilled water achieves a reasonable mash pH, however if hard water is used the pH will remain too high (too basic) for a successful mash. Darker roasted malt and dark roast (unmalted) barley can be added to the hard water mash to overcome the buffering and lower the mash pH. This fact is reflecting in all sorts of traditional beer styles from Plzen, Munich, Dortmund, London and Dublin (to name a few) where the hardness of local water is reflected in the amount of roast malt (and therefore color) in the local traditional beer. Modern breweries can control mash pH with acid additions or other measures to reduce hardness (the comment that reverse osmosis is used for commercial brewing is dubious, it's a very expensive and wasteful process on commercial scale). Biological acidulation of the mash (using acetic acid bacteria) has been used where Reinheitsgebot prohibits direct acid additions. Aside from hardness, iron, nickle and a few other minerals may add an unattractive flavor or inhibit fermentation and these must be controlled in brewing water. Reinheitsgebot, although it is nominally a food purity law, seems to have been devised with altogether different motives. This law was primarily about fixing beer prices for various venues at various times of year, and assigned penalties for over-charging. The restriction to barley, hops and water may also have made to prevent the use of wheat for brewing. Other contemporaneous central European laws prohibited the use of wheat for purposes other than bread making. It appears that wheat beers were sufficiently popular to cause supply problems for bread production. The Reinheitsgebot was extended as an economic concession to Bavaria for joining Bismark's 1871 German Unification. This had the unfortunate effect of decimating historical regional beer styles . More recent varients on German beer laws permitted other (non-barley) malted grains, and sugar adjunct in top fermented beers(ales), but not in lagers. This explains German weizen, wheat based ales. Because (until EU regulations changed matters) unmalted grains were not permitted in German beers, this created a market for chit-malts; grains which were so minimally malted that they were effectively raw kilned grains. To say that Reinheitsgebot is controversion is a vast understatement. fwiw,
Alcoholic beverages th:Category:เบียร์
{| class="Talk-Notice" |align="center"| |align="center"|''This article is part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Beer, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to beers and breweries on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can choose to edit the article attached to this page, or visit the Wikipedia:WikiProject Beer, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.'' |}
Wow, that's a good looking project notice. ;) – User:ClockworkSoulUser talk:ClockworkSoul 07:25, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC) :I'll say ;) --User:Daniel11 07:50, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)
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Beer_Sheva_Park_(Seattle)
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Beer_tap
Beer_Thai_Company
Beer_Walk
Beer
[[Image:Beer.jpg|thumb|250px|A typical mug of lager beer, showing the golden colour of the beer and the foamy head floating on top.]] Beer, generically, is any alcoholic beverage produced through the fermentation of starchy material and which is not distillation after fermentation. The process of beer production is called brewing. Because the ingredients used to make beer differ from place to place, beer characteristics such as taste and colour vary widely, and consequently its type or classification. One of the oldest beverages man has produced, dating back to at least the 5th millennium BC and recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the character of beer has changed drastically over the millennia. The brewing industry is now a huge global business, and today consists mostly of conglomerates formed out of a multitude of smaller producers. While beer is generally an alcoholic beverage, some varieties exist, originated in the Western world, which undergo a process to remove most of the alcohol, producing what is called non-alcoholic beer. == History == [[Image:Belgium-Beer.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A column of beer and taps in a bar (establishment) in Brussels, Belgium.]] As almost any substance containing carbohydrates, namely sugar or starch, can naturally undergo fermentation, it is likely that beer-like beverages were independently invented among various cultures throughout the world. In Mesopotamia, the oldest evidence of beer is believed to be on a 6000-year-old Sumerian tablet depicting people drinking a beverage through reed straws from a communal vessel, a bowl. Beer is also mentioned in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', and a 3900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring the patron goddess of brewing, Ninkasi, contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread. Beer became vital to all the grain-growing civilizations of classical Western antiquity, especially Egypt and Mesopotamia. Beer was important to early Rome, but during Roman Republic times wine displaced beer as the preferred alcoholic beverage. Beer became a beverage considered fit only for barbarians; Gaius Cornelius Tacitus wrote disparagingly of the beer brewed by the Germanic peoples of his day. The addition of hop (plant) to beer for bitter (taste) and preservation is a relatively recent innovation: in the Middle Ages many other mixtures of herbs were often employed in beer prior to hops. These mixtures are often referred to as gruit. Hops were cultivated in France as early as the 800s; the oldest surviving written record of the use of hops in beer is in 1067 by well known writer Abbess Hildegard of Bingen: ''"If one intends to make beer from oats, it is prepared with hops."'' In Europe, beer largely remained a homemaker's activity, made in the home in medieval times. By the 14th century and 15th century, beermaking was gradually changing from a family-oriented activity to an artisian one, with pub (establishment) and monastery brewing their own beer for mass consumption. In 15th century England, an unhopped beer would have been known as an ale, while the use of hops would make it a beer. Hopped beer was imported to England from the Netherlands as early as 1400 in Winchester, and hops were being planted on the island by 1428. The popularity of hops was at first mixed — the Worshipful Company of Brewers went so far as to state ''"no hops, herbs, or other like thing be put into any ale or liquore wherof ale shall be made — but only liquor (water), malt, and yeast."'' However, by the 16th century, "ale" had come to refer to any strong beer, and all ales and beers were hopped. In 1516, William IV, Duke of Bavaria, List of rulers of Bavaria, adopted the ''Reinheitsgebot'', perhaps the oldest food regulation still in use today. The ''gebot'' ordered that the ingredients of beer be restricted to water, barley, and hops, with yeast added after Louis Pasteur's discovery in 1857. The Bavarian law was applied throughout Germany as part of the 1871 German unification as the German Empire under Otto von Bismarck, and has since been updated to reflect modern trends in beer brewing. To this day, the ''gebot'' is considered a mark of purity in beers, although this is controversial. Most beers until relatively recent times were what are now called ales. Lagers were discovered by accident in the 16th century after beer was stored in cool caverns for long periods; they have since largely outpaced ales in terms of volume. With the invention of the steam engine in 1765, industrialization of beer became a reality. Further innovations in the brewing process came about with the introduction of the thermometer and hydrometer in the 19th century, which allowed brewmasters to increase efficiency and attenuation. Prior to the late 18th century, malt was primarily wood-roasted, which contributed a darker colour and smoked flavour; the use of coal lightened beer colour and eliminated the smoke flavour for all but a handful of styles. The invention of the drum roaster in 1817 by Daniel Wheeler allowed for the creation of very dark, roasted malts, contributing to the flavour of porters and stouts. The discovery of yeast's role in fermentation in 1857 by Louis Pasteur gave brewmasters methods to prevent the souring of beer by undesireable microorganisms. In 1953, New Zealander Morton W Coutts developed the technique of continuous fermentation. Morton patented his process which revolutionised the industry through reducing a typical four-month long brewing process to less than 24 hours. His process is still used by many of the world's major breweries today, including Guinness. === Etymology === Of the two terms, beer and ale, the latter is the elder in English language. It is believed to come directly from the proto-Indo European root ''*alu-'', through Germanic ''*aluth-'' ([http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE14.html]). ''Beer'', on the other hand, is considered to come from the Latin ''bibere'' (to drink, [http://www.bartleby.com/61/69/B0156900.html]). Old English sources distinguish between "ale" and "beer," but do not define what was meant by "beer" during that period, although there is some speculation that it refers to what would now be called cider, the alcoholic form. The Old English form of "beer" disappeared shortly after the Norman Conquest, and the word re-entered English centuries later, in exclusive reference to hopped malt beverages. The beverage is termed ''"cerveza"'', or a derivative, in the various dialects of Spanish and Portuguese. Most other Western European languages use a form similar to the English "beer." === Mythology === The Finnish epic Kalevala, collected in written form in the 19th century but based on oral traditions many centuries old, devotes more lines to the origin of beer and brewing than it does to the origin of mankind. The British Drinking song "Beer, Beer Beer" ([http://www.mickeymulligan.com/The%20Music/songbook.htm#Beer,%20Beer,%20Beer]) attributes the invention of beer to the presumably fictional Charlie Mopps: : ''A long time ago, way back in history''
: ''When all there was to drink was nothin' but cups of tea,''
: ''Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mopps''
: ''And he invented the wonderful drink, and he made it out of hops.''
: ''...'' The mythical Flemish king Gambrinus is sometimes credited with the invention of beer. == Ingredients == The main ingredients of beer are water, malted barley, hop (plant) and yeast. Other ingredients, such as flavouring or sources of sugar, are called adjunct (beer) and are commonly used; this usually comprises fruit or other grains. === Water === 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. === Malt === Among malts, barley malt is the most widely used owing to its high amylase content, a digestion enzyme which facilitates the breakdown of the starch into sugars. However, depending on what can be cultivation locally, other malted and unmalted grains are also commonly used, including wheat, rice, maize, oats and rye. === Hops === A relatively recent addition to beer, hops contribute a bitter (taste) that balances the sweetness of the malt, and also have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms. The bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale. === Yeast === A specific yeast is chosen depending on which type of beer is being produced, the three main kinds being ale yeast, lager yeast, and wild yeasts. Yeast is used during the fermentation process to metabolism the sugars extracted from the grains, and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as a result. On average, beers' alcohol content is between 4% and 6% alcohol by volume, although it can be as low as 2% and as high as 14%. === Clarifying agent === Some brewers add one or more clarity agents to beer that are not required to be published as ingredients. Common examples of these include Isinglass finings, obtained from swimbladders of fish; kappa carrageenan, derived from seaweed; and Irish moss, a type of red alga. Since these ingredients may be derived from animals, those concerned with the use or consumption of animal products should obtain specific details of the filtration process from the brewer. == The brewing process == Though the process of brewing beer is complex and varies considerably, the four basic stages that are consistent are outlined below. There may be additional filtration steps between stages. # Mashing: The first phase of brewing, in which the malted grains are ground and soaked in warm water in order to create a malt extract. The mash is held at constant temperature long enough for enzymes to convert starches into fermentable sugars. # Boiling: The extract is boiled along with any remaining ingredients (excluding yeast) to create the wort. The hops (whole or pelleted) are added, or a hop extract is used. # Fermentation: The yeast is added (or ''"pitched"'') and the beer is left to ferment. After primary fermentation, the beer may be allowed a second fermentation, or conditioning, which allows further settling of yeast and other particulate matter ''"trub"'' which may have been introduced earlier in the process. # Packaging: At this point, the beer contains alcohol, but not much carbon dioxide. The brewer has a few options to increase carbonation. The most common approach by large-scale brewers is force carbonation via the direct addition of carbon dioxide gas to the keg or bottle. Smaller-scale or more classicly-minded brewers will add extra (''"priming"'') sugar or a small amount of newly fermenting wort (''"krausen"'') to the final vessel, resulting in a short refermentation known as ''"cask-"'' or ''"bottle conditioning"''. ==Packaging and presentation== [[Image:Manet, Edouard - La Serveuse de Bocks (The Waitress), 1879.jpg|thumb|''The Waitress'' (1879) by Edouard Manet]] After brewing, the beer is usually a finished product. At this point the beer is kegged, casked, bottled, or aluminium canned. Unpasteurized beers containing live yeasts may be stored much like wine for further conditioning in aging_barrels to allow further fermentation and development of secondary flavors. A long conditioning period is common for Belgian ales and cask-conditioned real ales. It is not uncommon for strong beers to be aged a year or more. The conditions of serving have an enormous impact on a drinker's experience. The most important factor is temperature: colder temperatures inhibit the chemical senses of the tongue and throat, which prevent the drinker from fully experiencing the beer. Conversely, beer served too warm may have the opposite problem: strong beers in particular may taste overly alcoholic and harsh, while lighter beers may seem flat and unappealing. Every style has an ideal serving temperature, and while casual drinkers may be accustomed to "ice-cold beer" as perpetuated in mass-consumption advertising, learning the appropriate serving temperature of beer styles can lead to a much more rewarding drinking experience. Besides temperature, choosing an appropriate container is also important. While casual drinkers of beer often drink straight from the bottle or can, serious beer drinkers always pour their beer into a glass before imbibing. Drinking out of a bottle severely inhibits aromas picked up by the nose, which are as important as the flavours picked up by the mouth. So whether on tap or from a bottle, the beer is first poured into a glass, mug, or beer stein. As with wine, there are specialised styles of glassware for each style of beer, and some brands of beer even produce glassware intended for their own beers. While any glass is preferable to a bottle, aficionados claim that the shape of the glass influences the perception of the aroma and the way in which the beer settles, similar to claims by drinkers of brandy or cognac. Lastly, the pouring process is important to a beer's presentation. The rate of flow from the on tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the center or down the side) into the glass all influence the end result, such as the size and longevity of the head (beer), lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and turbulence of the beer and its release of carbonation. Guinness in particular, along with other stouts, is leisurely poured in two stages, with a pause to allow settling. Heavily carbonated beers such as German pilsners or weissbiers also need settling time before serving. Bottle-conditioned beers may have an undesirable yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle, while beer tapped directly from a keg or cask may require special treatment. A method pioneered by Guinness is the nitrogen tap, which introduces tiny bubbles of nitrogen into the beer as it is poured. XXX this last paragraph needs some work. == Varieties of beer == There are many different types of beer, each of which is said to belong to a particular ''style''. A beer's style is a label that describes the overall flavour and often the origin of a beer, according to a system that has evolved by trial and error over many centuries. According to the type of yeast that is used in the beer's fermentation process, most beer styles fall into one of two large families: ''ale'' or ''lager''. Beers that blend the characteristics of ales and lagers are referred to as ''hybrids''. ===Ale=== : ''Main article: Ale'' An ale is any beer that is brewed using only top-fermenting yeasts, and is typically fermented at higher temperatures than lager beer (15–23celsius, 60–75fahrenheit). Ale yeasts at these temperatures produce significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavor and aroma products, and the result is a flavourful beer with a slightly "flowery" or "fruity" aroma resembling but not limited to apple, pear, pineapple, grass, hay, plum or prune. Stylistic differences among ales are more varied than those found among lagers, and many ale styles are difficult to categorize. ===Lager=== : ''Main article: Lager'' Lagers are the most commonly-consumed category of beer in the world. They are of Central European origin, taking their name from the German language ''lagern'' ("to store"). Lager yeast is a bottom-fermenting yeast, and typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7-12°C (45-55°F) (the "fermentation phase"), and then is given a long secondary fermentation at 0-4°C (30-40°F) (the "lagering phase"). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "crisper" tasting beer. Modern methods of producing lager were pioneered by Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger, who perfected dark brown lagers at the Spaten Brewery in Bavaria, and Anton Dreher, who began brewing a lager, probably of amber-red color, in Vienna in 1840–1841. With modern improved fermentation control, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks. Most of today's lager is based on the Pilsner style, pioneered in 1842 in the town of Plzen, in the Czech beer. The modern Pilsner lager is light in colour and high in carbonation, with a mild hop flavour and an alcohol content of 3–6% alcohol by volume. The Budweiser brand of beer is a typical example of a pilsner. ===Spontaneous fermentation=== :''Main article: Lambic'' These are beers which use wild yeasts, rather than cultivated ones. All beer before the cultivation of yeast in the 19th century were closer to this style, characterised by their sour flavours. ===Hybrid beers=== Hybrid or mixed style beers use modern techniques and materials instead of, or in addition to, traditional aspects of brewing. Although there is some variation among sources, mixed beers generally fall into the following categories: * Fruit beers and vegetable beers are mixed with some kind of fermentable fruit or vegetable adjunct (beer) during the fermentation process, providing obvious yet harmonious qualities. * Herb beer and spiced beers add herbs or spices derived from roots, seeds, fruits, vegetables or flowers instead of, or in addition to hop (plant). * Wood-aged beers are any traditional or experimental beer that has been aged in a wooden barrel or have been in contact with wood for a period of time. * Smoked beers are any beer whose malt has been smoked. A smoky aroma and flavour is usually present. * Specialty beers are a catch-all category used to describe any beers brewed using unusual fermentable sugars, grains and starches. ==Beer around the world== ===Africa=== *African beer ===Americas=== *American beer *Brazilian beer *Canadian beer *Mexican beer ===Asia=== *Chinese beer *Japanese beer *Taiwan Beer *Thai beer *Tibetan beer ===Australasia=== *Australian beer *New Zealand beer ===Europe=== *Albanian beer *Belgian beer *Czech beer *French beer *German beer *Italian beer *Spanish beer *Beer in the United Kingdom **English beer **Scottish beer **Welsh beer == Related beverages == * Africa: Hundreds of local drinks made from millet, sorghum, and other available starch crops. * Andes, South America: Chicha, an Andean beverage made from germinated maize. * Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim: Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalaya. * Finland: Sahti, a traditional Finnish beer. * Japan: Sake, a rice-wine. * Korea: Soju * Mexico: Pulque, an indigenous beer made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. * Russia/Ukraine: Kvass, a fermented non-alcoholic or mildly alcoholic beverage. * Various regions: Rye beer, mead (made from water and honey), cider (made from apple juice) == See also == * Brewery * List of breweries and :Category:Brewers and breweries * List of commercial brands of beer and :Category:Brands of beer. * Beer and nationality ==References== * ''The Complete Guide to World Beer'', Roger Protz. ISBN 1844428656. * [http://www.roadshow.org/html/resources/scientists/coutts/article.html Morton Coutts's Continuous Fermentation System], from [http://www.roadshow.org/ The National Science-Technology Roadshow Trust website] Alcoholic beverages Beer Herbal & fungal drugs/medicines als:Bier ga:Beoir la:Cervisia lv:Alus simple:Beer th:เบียร์
Beer
==Purge== I have purged a whole lot of stuff - see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Beer. It is all in other places. Please restore anything that really adds value to this article. User:Justinc 16:32, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) == External Links == There are far too many external links many of which are at best irrelevant and at worst spam. == The song "John Barleycorn" == Some mention should be made of the song "John Barleycorn" :) User:DryGrain 17:06, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC) == The effect of different waters on the taste == "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." - the first clause of this sentence is somwhat misleading. The reason that water has a major effect on the taste of beer is that the mineral content of the water affects the chemistry of the mash tun. If you were to mash and boil, and then split the wort into two gyles, one of which was topped up with hard water and one with soft water, then the resulting beers would be pretty similar. If however, the two batches were mashed and boiled separately, one with hard water and one with soft water, then there would be a much more noticeable difference in taste. User:MattF 08:49 Feb 19, 2003 : Some breweries, particularly microbreweries, go as far as to purify the water with reverse osmosis, and then adding minerals manually. This is used both to optimize flavor, and to emulate the water of various regions (for instance, emulating water from Plzen when making a Czech style pilsener). Maybe worth mentioning in the article? User:Kvan 11:00, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC) :Actually, the water source is much less important in beer-brewing than in liquor-distilling. Obviously huge differences in hardness or a large amount of chlorine (which can inhibit yeast) in the water supply will influence brewing process, but the subtle water source variations are not going to shine through the malt and hop flavors in the finished product even in the lighter beers, certainly not the way they do in vodka, for instance. It's worth noting that blind taste tests on bottled water have surprising results,--many tests have shown municipal water supplies preferred to even premium mineral or spring water brands. In any event, most brewers--even craft or microbrewers--are content to simply pass tap water through an activated carbon filter once to remove chlorine and any obvious off-odors or flavors in the supply. User:NTK 06:31, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC) == The distinctions between lager, ale and wheat beer == User:Rethunk correctly pointed out that Hefeweizen is only a variant of wheat beer, so we may consider making it a subentry. The other subentry would be what we call in German "Kristallweizen". Not sure about the correct English term, tho. BTW, I also don't quite understand why the distinction betw Lager and Ale is so fundamental. Maybe we should add "wheat beer" as another fundamental category? This way, we wouldn't have to go three levels deep. :Part of the ale vs lager problem is that there are really two issues involved -- yeast strain and fermentation temperature/duration. (See table below) "Lager" is German for "store", and the name literally refers to a (cool) slow-fermented beer. (The higher the temperature, the faster the fermentation completes, so duration and temperature are closely related.) However, modern usage is that beer innoculated with ''S. cerevisiae'' is an "ale" while beer innoculated with ''S. uvarum'' is considered a "lager". Ales that are slow-fermented (the tricky case in the table below) can be considered lagers, but in my experience they are usually classified as ales.
| Fermentation temp, duration | ''S. cerevisiae'' | ''S. uvarum'' |
| Cool (~1-7° C), 30-50 days | The tricky case | Lager beer |
| Warm (~10-15° C), 10-20 days | Ale | (Probably nasty tasting) |
User:KeyStorm 18:59, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Largest Brewers == A recent edit claims "Heineken is the world's second-largest brewer of beer." However, both Heineken and SABMiller make that claim. Anyone have data to back it up? My money is on SABMiller, but Heineken's production volume is formidable. Interbrew is also a contender If I find anything on the web I'll do the update -- User:Kaszeta 14:02, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC) Interbrew has recently (in August 2004) completed its merger with AmBev. According to its Website, the new company InBev "forms the No.1 brewer in the world by volume with a global market share of 13% (on a pro forma basis for the year ended December 31, 2003)". In terms of sales, InBev reported "on a 2003 consolidated pro forma basis, a net turnover of ?9,287 million (USD 10,521 million)" (this includes soft drink operations). For first half 2004, the company reported volume of 54.7 million hectolitres. In its annual report, Anheuserbusch reported 2003 net sales of about $11,600 million from its brewery operations (the company also has other business lines) and 129,8 million barrels of beer sold. SABMiller reported (not sure whether gross or net) turnover (all operations) for the FY ending March 31st 2004 as $12,645 million and 47.2 million hectolitres of beer sold. Heineken reported net turnover for 2003 of ?9,255 million and beer sales of 109.0 hectolitres. The company claims a global market share (I assume by sales) of 7%. So you could probably argue that any of the above is the world's largest brewer - but we should leave it to a beer industry analyst to give a definitive view. It would probably be more accurate to separately describe companies as the largest (2nd largest etc.) brewer by volume or by sales. User:Scott Moore 11:31, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) OK, just did a Web search a found a beer analyst (www. euromonitor.com). According to Euromonitor: "Belgium's Interbrew SA and Brazil's Companhia de Bebidas das Américas (AmBev) announced plans to merge on March 3, 2004, unveiling a complicated stock swap that will create the world's largest brewer by volume....with a 9% share of the global beer market. It will sell in excess of 13 billion litres annually (excluding sales of licensed brands and sales through non majority held subsidiaries), taking over Anheuser-Busch?s mantle as top brewer". User:Scott Moore 11:37, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Length == The article is 45 kilobytes long, which I think shouldn't be the case with a featured article. Perhaps Beer and nationality could be moved to a separate article? User:Nikola Smolenski 09:20, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) : So if noone disagrees, I'd do it in a few days. User:Nikola Smolenski 23:27, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC) :: I agree, however please change the title. The text is NOT about beer and nationality, but rather a desription of beers in various countries of the world. User:Scott Moore 12:18, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) :: See my comments on beer project; I am splitting Beer and nationality into seperate articles. User:Justinc 14:18, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) == sumerians and mesoptamians == The ancient sumerians inhabited Ancient mesopotamia, So saying "historicly, beer was known to the sumerians, egyptians, and mesopotimians" would be like saying " the U.S.A, Egyptians, and americans"! == Beer Tasting Notes == I have a list of 280+ beers that I tasted in the UK, belgium, Austria and the US. I'd be interetsed in sharing these notes. == How alcoholic can beer get? == Recently, someone added, :The average beer contains 4–6% alcohol, although alcohol content can be as low as 2% and as high as 20%+. I was under the impression that the highest beer can get is around 12%, at which point the yeast can no longer survive. Any extra alcohol has to be added in. Does anyone know if this is true? A minor point; it'd still be nice to know. --User:Sean Kelly User_talk:Sean Kelly 05:34, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::I dont see any technical reason why it shouldnt get as strong as wine if you used wine yeasts (there is one Belgian beer refermented with champagne yests, but it is 12%, like Champagne). 20% seems rather high though. I cant remember what the strongest beer in the world is, I will look it up, they sell it in my local beer shop.User:Justinc 09:53, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: The highest that I've seen is about 10% (specifically barley wine), which requires the use of specialized yeast. Anything with a greater must be distilled, and I think then qualifies as a distilled beverage, and is no longer (I think) beer. – User:ClockworkSoulUser talk:ClockworkSoul 13:30, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::: More info, taken from the distilled beverage article: ''Beer and wine are limited to a maximum 15 percent alcohol, beyond which yeast is adversely affected and can not ferment.''. – User:ClockworkSoulUser talk:ClockworkSoul 13:32, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) :The strongest beer in the world Samichlaus is 14%. I might write a little article on it... User:Justinc 13:36, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: there, read all about it... User:Justinc 13:45, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::: There are actually stronger beers in existance -- Dogfish Brewery's 120 minute IPA is 21% ABV; Samuel Adams has also brewed some high alcohol specialty beverages. This was where my original "20%+" reference comes from; I think this is a minor quibble, however -- in most cases beer yeast will rarely ferment a beverage over 12-14%. --User:Soundwave106 13:32, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::That's odd... their [http://www.dogfish.com/beer/120minuteipa.cfm website] doesn't mention any special process. It claims that they get the wort to 45 degree Plato... that's a 1.180 original gravity!! I suppose that corresponds to 20% alcohol, if the final gravity dips below 1.020. The question is how the hell to they get that to happen? This is completely challanging my conceptions of the brewing process! (also, the beer has 120 IBU.. this is beginning to sound more like rubbing alcohol). —User:Sean Kelly User_talk:Sean Kelly 14:42, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::::It's actually not bad, but it's syrupy and thick, impossible to do anything but sip. Kind of like beery-hopped port, I guess. Scientifically, from poking around the Homebrew Digest, it seems like this may be possible based on the large amount of interest from brewers in high-gravity brewing (where you brew with a high wort concentration and then dilute the final product). There's a few references I've found: an old one ("Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Sept 1984, p 639-646, Vol 48, No 3., Casey, Magnus, Ingledew") plus some online papers ([http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/bile/2003/00000025/00000014/05140475 (1)] [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/bile/2004/00000026/00000023/00005133 (2)] [http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0104-66322001000400010&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en (3)]. I haven't coughed up the cash for these papers, or poked around further. But the industrial interest in high gravity brewing may explain how yeast tolerance has been pushed by modern craft brewers. Homebrew yeast supplier [http://www.whitelabs.com/gravity.html White Labs] does have some more practical brewing information for their "super high gravity ale yeast" that they claim can go up to 25%, and how to get that yield. As an additional note, the keys seem to be in yeast nutrition and oxygen aeration; one can debate on how "natural" such techniques really are. --User:Soundwave106 20:05, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::::Well, from the looks of that White Labs website, you can get 25% by simply pushing the yeast to its limit. Still, I suspect what you are doing is dramatically shortening the lifespan of a yeast cell, and giving it just enough time to reproduce before it keels over from alcohol poisoning. Anyone here a biologist/professional brewer? —User:Sean Kelly User_talk:Sean Kelly 20:29, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) :The strongest an alcaholic drink can get without distilling it (getting rid of the water, basically concentratnig the alcohol) is about 12%. At least thats what I though, i can quite believe however that it can get up to 14% but not any higher. If there is a beer that is over that percentage then it has been distilled. The yeast get killed by the alcohol when it reaches about 11% thats why you cant get beer any higher as someone else rightly said. User:Borb 20:10, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) I've found the Belzebuth - Grain d'Orge Brewery 13% but a 15% version was sold before. It seems that you can't go to this only with adding some sugar without sugar beer will go around 6% User:Ericd 16:03, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC) : Probably more like 10% without pushing the yeast (traditional brewing), just a minor quibble :) Examples of all-malt styles that are high alcohol include doppelbock (7%-8% typically) and English / American barleywine (8-10%). Most of the imperial styles (e.g. imperial IPA, imperial stout) are also around 7-9% and are sometimes all-grain. I've homebrewed a 7% all malt doppelbock before (and it won a gold medal in the category, so I did *something* right :) ). Sugar is usually used to lighten the heavy nature of the all malt styles (Belgian dubbel / trippels are the best example) and I think above a certain ABV that really becomes important, if not for the process than for the taste. --User:Soundwave106 15:40, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC) --- Although there are no commercial beer styles (that I am aware of) which appoach 20%ABV, it is possible to make such beers without fortification. Modern incremental fermentation methods have been used in laboratory settings to make 'beer' of such strength. Also the "eisbock' process can readily make beers of such strength without evaporative distillation. Tim Rastetter, then brewer at Breworks of Covington Kentucky made such a beer by the eisbock process, circa 1997. It was to appear in the Guinness book of records as the strongest commercial beer, however that beer was never sold commercially as the Microbrewery ceased business operation before it was made available. I've tasted this beer myself - and it's very strong, but also amazingly smooth and balanced. == mixed beers == apart for the last catch all category, specialty beers, all these types are as far as I know traditional brewing methods. The only difference is that they're not pilsners. Anybody got a good reason to keep them? User:Henna 23:48, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC) : I personally would consider everything in the "mixed beers" category differences of *ingrediants* or *process*, not of the yeast. The master style is always determined by yeast type, either top-flocculating (ale) or bottom-flocculating (pilsner). "Hybrids" in fact may not be worth mentioning, as its usually just using a yeast in a non-traditional brewing process (e.g. California Common or "steam" beer, lager yeast fermented at near ale temperatures; alt beers or kolsch beers, ale yeast that is fermented with a cold-conditioning process). It's debateable whether we need to get this technical, at least without going off on the myriad of lager / ale styles. --User:Soundwave106 00:12, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Picture== The main picture on this page might cause some confusion. It is a pint of lager but it is a glass labelled Tetley's, which purports to be a bitter although I have another name for it. User:Jooler 11:42, 15 May 2005 (UTC) :The caption says nothing about being a lager or an ale... can you tell just by looking at it? —User:Sean Kelly User_talk:Sean Kelly 16:57, 15 May 2005 (UTC) ::Of course. You must be an American, where all beer looks the same. The main point of what I said was that it is clearly not a pint of Tetley's User:Jooler 18:08, 15 May 2005 (UTC) ::So now the picture has been replaced with something that could be washing up liquid in a glass. I'll have to take my own picture User:Jooler 17:12, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::: Hey, I've just used what is available between en.wp and the commons; if you have a better picture/caption, please feel free to replace it. User:Dewet 18:56, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC) == Trouble in beerland == I can see there are numerous points of confusion here as non-brewers attempt to explain the brewing process. One major gaffe - the Morton Coutts continuous brewing process should be a very minor footnote on alternative brewing processes. Apparently the Coutts fan club is active on Wikipedia. I have read a total of 3 papers on this N.Z. process in the past 12 years and all indicated unaddressed problems with the method. Namely excessive fusel production (off flavor volatiles) and systemic sanitation problems preventing commecrially viable long operation times. I do not believe that Guinness or any other major Northern hemishere brewery has ever relied on any continuous process for production. There are numerous differences between lager beers and ales. The primary difference (already noted) is the yeast used. Yeasts used for ales include many varients of Saccaromyces cerevisiae selected for their brewing properties. The modern taxonomy, based on recent genetic studies, have caused lager yeast to be classified as Saccharomyces pastorianus. This is the fourth or fifth reclassification or re-naming for lager yeasts since the 1970s, but perhaps the most definitive. The names "Saccharomyces uvarum", and "Saccaromyces cerevisiae var. uvarum" are no longer accepted, although these still appear in many non-technical publications. The other major difference is that lager beers are fermented at generally much cooler temperatures and then stored, or "lagered" for some period. California Common style beers (aka Steam Beer, for example 'Anchor Steam' of San Francisco) is made using a single carefully selected lager yeast which is capable of fermenting without excessive off-flavor byproducts at a higher temperature than is typical of lager yeast. One comment here, that beers made from lager yeast at elevated temperatures would taste aweful, is generally correct. Ale yeasts cannot grow at typical lager fermentation temperatures. German Weizen beers (and many American wheats and belgian style 'Wit' or white beers) beers are fermented with strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ale yeast) which is able to produce a flavor active product call 4-vinyl guiaicol from a minor organic acid in grain (ferulic acid). This product gives a spicey flavor often described as "clove-like". Bottle conditioned weizens are often refermented with a different yeast. Weizen beers are ales. As an aside weizen is said to have greater sales in Southern Germany than lager beer ! Kristallweizen and Berliner Weiss are wheat beers that deserve separate coverage. Despite one comment here, water is critically important in beer's historic development and production. The mash procedure isn't merely a matter of washing malt extract free from crushed malt, but instead involves stepping the mash through temperature ranges which allow various enzymes to act on the malt and make sugars and amino acids (among other things) available in the wort. The activity of enzymes is critically dependent on the pH (acidity) of the mash. Adding conventional amounts of light colored malt to distilled water achieves a reasonable mash pH, however if hard water is used the pH will remain too high (too basic) for a successful mash. Darker roasted malt and dark roast (unmalted) barley can be added to the hard water mash to overcome the buffering and lower the mash pH. This fact is reflecting in all sorts of traditional beer styles from Plzen, Munich, Dortmund, London and Dublin (to name a few) where the hardness of local water is reflected in the amount of roast malt (and therefore color) in the local traditional beer. Modern breweries can control mash pH with acid additions or other measures to reduce hardness (the comment that reverse osmosis is used for commercial brewing is dubious, it's a very expensive and wasteful process on commercial scale). Biological acidulation of the mash (using acetic acid bacteria) has been used where Reinheitsgebot prohibits direct acid additions. Aside from hardness, iron, nickle and a few other minerals may add an unattractive flavor or inhibit fermentation and these must be controlled in brewing water. Reinheitsgebot, although it is nominally a food purity law, seems to have been devised with altogether different motives. This law was primarily about fixing beer prices for various venues at various times of year, and assigned penalties for over-charging. The restriction to barley, hops and water may also have made to prevent the use of wheat for brewing. Other contemporaneous central European laws prohibited the use of wheat for purposes other than bread making. It appears that wheat beers were sufficiently popular to cause supply problems for bread production. The Reinheitsgebot was extended as an economic concession to Bavaria for joining Bismark's 1871 German Unification. This had the unfortunate effect of decimating historical regional beer styles . More recent varients on German beer laws permitted other (non-barley) malted grains, and sugar adjunct in top fermented beers(ales), but not in lagers. This explains German weizen, wheat based ales. Because (until EU regulations changed matters) unmalted grains were not permitted in German beers, this created a market for chit-malts; grains which were so minimally malted that they were effectively raw kilned grains. To say that Reinheitsgebot is controversion is a vast understatement. fwiw,
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{| class="Talk-Notice" |align="center"| |align="center"|''This article is part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Beer, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to beers and breweries on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can choose to edit the article attached to this page, or visit the Wikipedia:WikiProject Beer, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.'' |}
Beer
Wow, that's a good looking project notice. ;) – User:ClockworkSoulUser talk:ClockworkSoul 07:25, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC) :I'll say ;) --User:Daniel11 07:50, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)
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Beer,_Devon
Beer,_England
Beer-Lambert_law
Beer-Sheba
Beer-Sheva
Beer-sheva
Beer-stub
Beer-stub
Beeramid
Beeramid
Beerbohm_Tree
BeerBox
BeerBoxEnd
BeerBoxStart
BeerBoxVariety
BeerBoxVarietyPic
Beerd
Beerden
Beerenauslese
Beerenberg
Beerenburg
Beergarden
BeerGuy
BeerHall_Putsch
Beerhunter
Beerlao
Beermat
Beernem
Beernem
Beernut
Beernuts
Beers
Beers,_Steers,_and_Queers
Beerse
Beersel
Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba_Springs,_Tennessee
Beersheba_Springs,_TN
Beersheva
Beerslurpy
Beerslurpy
Beerst
Beers_of_Canada
Beerwah
Beerware
Beer_(crater)
Beer_(crater_on_Mars)
Beer_(Lunar_crater)
Beer_(Mars_crater)
Beer_and_brewery_stubs
Beer_and_brewery_stubs
Beer_and_nationality
Beer_and_nationality
Beer_Bad
Beer_Bad
Beer_Bad_(Buffy_episode)
Beer_Bad_(Buffy_episode)
Beer_Bad_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer)
Beer_Barrel_Polka
Beer_bellies
Beer_belly
Beer_belly
Beer_bong
Beer_can
Beer_Can_Chicken
Beer_cheese
Beer_crater
Beer_crater_(Mars)
Beer_crater_(Moon)
Beer_day
Beer_Die
Beer_die
Beer_Distribution_Game
Beer_games
Beer_garden
Beer_goggles
Beer_gut
Beer_Hackett
Beer_hall
Beer_Hall_Putsch
Beer_Hall_Putsch
Beer_Heights_Light_Railway
Beer_Hunter
Beer_in_Serbia_and_Montenegro
Beer_in_Serbia_and_Montenegro
Beer_Judge_Certification_Program
Beer_knot
Beer_mat
Beer_Money
BEER_NUTS
Beer_Nuts
Beer_of_Canada
Beer_Pong
Beer_Pong
Beer_pong
Beer_Sheba
Beer_Sheva
Beer_Sheva,_Israel
Beer_Sheva_Park
Beer_Sheva_Park_(Seattle)
Beer_stein
Beer_Street
Beer_tap
Beer_Thai_Company
Beer_Walk
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