ABOUT BEER

BEER

Beer and wines are FERMENTED beverages. All alcoholic beverages begin with liquid food product containing SUGAR. Fermentation is the process wherby the sugar in a liquid food product is broken down into two subtances :
1. Carbon Dioxide
2. Alcohol
When this process takes place, alcohol remain behind in liquid form and the cabon dioxide, which is a gas, is release into the air. the remaining alcohol is called a FERMENTED beverage.

YEAST is the catalyst that begins to transform a liquid food product into a fermented beverage. any liquid containing sugar can be fermented, if yeast is available to begin the process. historians tell us that ancient man may have made grain into beer long before he learned to bake grain into bread. For century both beer and bread were staples in the diet of the common man.

Beer is made from fermented grains while wines are made of fermented grapes n other fruits. Depending upon the sugar content in the base grain or fruit, this sugar is converted into alcohol content ranging from 4 to 14%. as a general rule of thumb, beers and ales contain 2 1/2 to 8% alcohol by weight, table wines contain 7 to 14% and aperitif and dessert wines contain 14 to 24%.

Water is the most important ingredients affecting the specific flavor and taste of individual beers. comprising 9/10 of the beverage.Other than water, there are four additional ingredients that greatly affect the finished product. These are malt, hops, Yeast and adjuncts.

MALT
Is " sprouted grain " Barley malt, which has been dried or roasted, provides the sugar necessary for the process of fermentation.

HOPS
Hops are the " Blossoms of the female hop vine ".hops provide the bitter flavor unique to all beers.

YEAST
Yeast is the catalyst or agent that begins the process fermentation by breaking down the sugar in the malt into alcohol.

ADJUNCTS
Adjuncts are primarily added only in the United States to give beer lighter color and a milder flavor. Corn, rice, soybeans, and potato starch are some of the adjuncts used in American Breweries. in general, the less adjuncts added, the more flavor and body a beer has.