The Ingredients – Brewing Process

So, what does your favorite brew have? Here is a look at the process in detail.

Malt

Brewing refers to the process of making the beer. All the ingredients are mixed together and left to ferment for a period. The essential ingredients to making beer are a starch source, yeast, and water. The starch source is the main factor affecting the strength and flavour of beer, and cereal grains are usually the first choice.

Most widely used grains include malted barley, though wheat, maize, and rice. Some brews can also be made with a secondary carbohydrate source, which is termed an adjunct. There are also other less widely used sources such as millet, cassava root in Africa, potato in Brazil, or agave in Mexico.

Most breweries these days use malted barley as its husk offers protection against damage as well as acting as a filter for better fermentation and subsequent flavors. The malting process involves soaking the grains in water and allowing them to germinate, and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln.

Malting is essential to produce enzymes that later converts the starches into fermentable sugars. The same grain can produce malts of different colors by controlling the roasting times and temperatures. Today, you can also find gluten-free beer by substituting gluten-containing grains with sorghum.

Water

Great water makes for great beer. 90-95% of the drink though is water. It is involved in every step of the brewing process and it takes roughly seven gallons of water to produce one gallon of beer. Although it doesn’t bring much to the flavor, its mineral content largely affects the quality and type of beer produced. The ‘hardness’ of water depends on its mineral content. Hard water refers to water with relative quantities of dissolved minerals such as Calcium and Magnesium; Soft water is usually treated and only contains sodium ions.

As different regions have varying mineral contents in their water, different brews can be identifiable by regional characteristics. For example, Guinness originates from the Irish. Regional geology accords that Dublin’s hard water is suitable for making stout. The existence of Gypsum in the waters of Burton, England, makes it suitable to produce pale ale. Different minerals contained in water have different uses. Calcium helps promote flavor and clarity. Sulphates emphasize bitterness, making the beer drier and crisper. Magnesium is an important co-factor for Yeast activity.

Yeast

The fermentation process for beer is catalysed by Yeast as it transforms the starch source into the wort, a sugary liquid. Yeast is added into the wort (liquid from boiling malted grain), which then metabolizes the sugar extracted from grains to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide, ultimately producing beer. Besides fermenting beer, yeast also influences the character and flavor.

There are two types of yeasts used in beer production: Ale yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lager yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus). In the olden days before fermentation and yeast were understood, fermentation occurred naturally via airborne yeasts. Several styles, such as lambic beer, still use this method today. (see How to make a Yeast Starter)

Pure yeast cultures were introduced in 1883 by Danish biochemist Emil Christian Hansen and are now used as the main fermenting source worldwide. Ale yeast is added to the top of the wort at a higher temperature, and it yields more flavor. Lager yeast, on the other hand, is added to the bottom of the wort at low temperatures and usually takes a longer time. This produces “crispier’ beer.

Hops

By the 15th century, another ingredient was discovered that was a gamechanger in the beer industry. Hops, specifically the cone-shaped flower of the female hops plant, gained its popularity in the beer-making industry as the main flavoring ingredient. Before this time period, other plants such as grains of paradise or a mixture of aromatic herbs and berries were used as flavoring.

Some companies such as the Scottish Heather Ales company and French Brasserie-Lancelot company are still using other plants as flavoring in their beers. Hops are added to the boiling stage of the brewing process and usually takes a long time (an hour) for it to release its bitter acid. The choice and timing of beer hops addition will determine the type of brew produced.

Hops bring out the classic bitterness of beer that balances the sweetness of malt, which is usually described as floral, spicy, citrusy, and piney. Hops also have an antibiotic effect that allows the yeast to thrive by minimizing other less desirable microorganisms. The acidity of hops also allows it to act as a preservative, giving beer longer shelf life. Check the IBU level. You can know how much hops to use in a beer.

Varieties of Hops

In the past 50 years, hop-producing countries have developed at least 50 varieties around the world. Today, hops are developed to meet the demands of brewers for improved yields, resistance to diseases, and improved aroma, soft resin content, storage, and stability.

Although slightly different than each other, every variety contains soft resins, which are the acids that contribute to bitterness and aroma. Brewers generally use bitter or “kettle hops”, and aroma hops. Choosing the best hop variety for beer has been a debate among beer enthusiasts and how they impact the IBU scale of each beer since we could start measuring it.

However, it is quite subjective as it depends on each brewer’s preferred taste. Some brewers stress the importance of where the bitterness comes from, while others demand pleasant aroma specific hop variety. Nevertheless, harsh or mild perceived bitterness can also be associated with the number of alpha acid analogs in the brew.

The pros and cons of traditional aroma hops

Traditionally, mildly bitter European aroma hops such as Saazer, Tettnanger, and Goldings and Fuggle were preferred due to their pleasant aroma characteristics. However, the supply of these aroma hops has declined over the years due to its complexity is growing. Most commercial hop growers do not prefer it unless special prices are offered making it more feasible.

Aroma hops have lower yields due to the introduction of off-types by careless planting and lack of resistance. These yields are more susceptible to diseases such as downy mildew, powdery mildew, and Verticillium wilt, which further complicates the growing process.

Problems facing traditional aroma hops and ways to overcome

Hop breeders either select higher yielding clones by mass selection or by selective breeding. It helps produce hops with the desired aroma, giving improved yield potential and disease resistance.

A phenomenon called hybrid vigour is partly responsible for the higher-yielding properties in new hop varieties. For the traditional aroma hops, which are over 100 years old. However, hybrid vigour gradually declines over time, causing it to decrease in yield over the years.

Cutting hops vines at harvest also weakens the plants from growing during the following season, as compared to traditional hand-picking methods. Cutting the vines disrupts the food supply for the entire hops plant. Therefore, traditional hop varieties are more affected by modern machine harvesting techniques than new varieties.

Other factors affecting hop production

Hops are not very adaptable plants. The performance – in terms of quality and agronomics – is affected by geographic area, the season, and specific microclimates. For example, the alpha-acids content in German Perle is 3 to 4% higher in Oregon than Bavaria, where the hop originates. Another example is the Cascade hop variety selected in Oregon.

When grown in Oregon, Cascade has more alpha than beta acids; when grown n the Yakima Valley of Washington, more beta and alpha acids were found. Total levels of alpha acids may fluctuate between seasons and locations, but alpha-acids compositions, as indicated by humulone and co-humulone components, face relatively little change.

Seeded Vs. Seedless Hops

Hops around the world are seedless as they are propagated by cuttings, without the presence of male plants. Growers prefer growing male hops as pollination stimulates the growth of the cone and adds weight in the form of seeds to increase overall yield by 25%. The perianth or seed coating is the maternal tissue, and it develops resin glands found on the cones. This increases the total soft-resin production of seeded hops due to its larger cone size and additional glands on the seed coat. However, when measured as a percentage of weight, the alpha-acids content expressed is slightly lower due to the dilutive effect of larger cone size and higher yields.

Nevertheless, there are increasing industry demands for hops with lower seed content. Seeded hops pose a problem for traditional kettle brewing as the seeds are uncrushed, and little seed fat can be obtained from the intact hop seeds. This also poses a problem for hop processors. Experienced taste panels seem to be able to detect differences in seeded and seedless hops.