Beer /beer making ingredients.

 About of Beer

          Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. Beer is brewed from cereal grains—most commonly from malted barley, though wheat, corn, and rice are also used .

         Throughout history ,people have prepared fermented drinks from cereals.People used wheat in Mesopotamia (Iraq),barley in Egypt,millet and sorghum in other parts of Africa,rise in Asia ,corn in the US to make fermented drinks .Today beer making is a major industry worldwide.

INGREDIENTS FOR BEER PRODUCTION:-

The ingredients necessary for the production of beer are as follows:-

Malt:- 

It is obtained from cereal .Barley is the best cereal for beer production.

Water:-

It is the most important ingredient in the making of beer  as it is the major component of beer.The taste and type of water influences the character of beer . Many breweries have their own springs or wells for water .It is termed as liquor in brewery.

Hops:-

They are obtained from the hemp family (humulus lupulus) .The flower of the hops is used in making the beer.These flowers have resins and essentials oil and bitter dust called lupin. They help to clarify and preserve the beer and provide with Aroma and Dryness.

Example of some of the hops used are Saze from Czech Republic,Cascade for united states,fuggles and Goldings from Britain. Mittel Fusch  and Tettang from Germany.

Sugar:-

Graded and Refined sugars are added fro fermentation and to add sweetness to the beer.

Yeast:-

Yeast is a living organism which is essential to induce fermentation .during the fermentation process,yeast converts the sugar into alcohol and release the carbon dioxide. During fermentation the yeast multiplies and the new yeast is collected and stored for future use .Any one of the two types of brewer's yeast -Saccharomyees cerevisiae and Saccharomyees carlsbergensis is used in beer production.

• Top Yeast for Ales (Saccharomyees cerevisiae)
• Bottom Yeast are used for Lagers.(Saccharomyees carlsbergensis)

Grains:-

Beer can be made from other grain such as wheat,rice,maize,millet and sorghum and from green bananas but barley gives the best beer. To malted barley we can add other cereals like rice corn which called "ADJNCTS".

FININGS:-

These are brightening agents added to clear and brighten the beer. Isinglass is commonly used as a fining agent,which is obtained from air bladders of various fish, especially sturgeon. It attracts tall the sediments to the bottom of the cask ,making the beer clear and bright.

Primings :-

If in case more sugar is added it is then used for making brown beers and Stouts.