Last weekend, many returning students rang in the new semester by consuming copious amounts of that classic college favorite: beer.
However, many of those students, in their zeal to drink and socialize as vigorously as possible, failed to consider just what went into producing the liquid that filled their 16-ounce red cups. Yet, it's a shame that more beer drinkers do not take the time to ponder the drink's complex brewing process or its rich history. A little knowledge about beer and its creation can go a long way toward developing a new appreciation for one of humankind's most popular beverages.
Beer begins with barley, a grain Americans don't consume much of in its solid form. First, brewers soak the barley grains in water until they sprout. After the sprouted grains dry, they cast off the name "barley" in favor of the slightly more refined-sounding "malt." This malting process is critical in making beer because it converts some of the grain's starch into fermentable sugars. Because yeast cannot ferment starch, a would-be-brewer attempting to make beer from unmalted barley would be left with a pile of grains and dead yeast sitting in a pool of cloudy water.
Thankfully, all profitable brewers choose to malt their barley. After doing so, they boil the malted barley and then strain the leftover solids to produce a sweet liquid called "wort." They then boil the wort with hops, a coniferous flower that gives beer its pleasant bitterness and kills any bacteria that may be left in the wort. After these initial steps, beer is just a short fermentation around the corner.
Alcoholic fermentation, as those of us who stayed awake in high school biology know, is the process in which yeasts digest sugars and produce alcohol. One thing that many people do not know, however, is that there are two different strains of yeast that produce entirely different kinds of beer. Ale yeasts are a variety that sit on top of the beer and ferments it at around room temperature in under a week. Lager yeasts sit on the bottom of the beer and require more time and a cooler temperature to ferment the beer. The difference between these two varieties of yeast is why beer enthusiasts refer to ales as "top-fermented" and lagers as "bottom-fermented." Largely because of their milder flavor, lagers are the most popular variety in the United States.
After fermentation, ales undergo a process called "conditioning," while lagers are (surprise) "lagered." Conditioning involves putting the ale into a cask and refermenting it with some fresh wort in order to produce carbonation. Lagering, which is derived from a German verb that means "to lie down," is the simple process of letting the beer age in a cold environment from anywhere between two weeks to several months. During this time, the yeast produces the carbonation that all beer drinkers know and love. After conditioning or lagering, brewers filter out the yeast and bottle, can, or keg the beer.
A brew by any other name?
A brief overview of the brewing process would lead one to believe there is little variation in beer beyond the ale/lager distinction. However, it doesn't take the refined palate of a food columnist to tell that there is a difference between, say, a Guinness and a Miller Lite. Brewers make this diverse spectrum of beers by tinkering with every step of the process. To make a dark beer like a porter or a stout, a brewer can replace a portion of the dried malt with roasted malt. Hazy, fruity wheat beers are the result of a mixture of malted barley and malted wheat. Brewers can also affect the flavor of beer by altering the quantity or variety of hops used.
There are many ways for brewers to create new, unique flavors in beer. However, not all of the deviations from the standard brewing process result in desirable changes. For example, the addition of starch-digesting enzymes in a beer that is relatively low in malt results in a beverage that is tragically deficient in both calories and flavor. Additives are another case of a somewhat undesirable revision to beer's old recipe. American brewers are allowed to put more than 50 types of these additives into their beers in order to preserve flavor, affect the beer's texture or improve its clarity. One notable all-natural additive that many brewers use is isinglass, which is just a fancy word for fish gelatin. The addition of isinglass gives the beer a more attractive, clear appearance.
Like it or not, additives and alterations are the hallmarks of modern beer. Some feel that this is a negative development; however, before humankind made all its alterations to the beverage, it was a simple drink. Historical evidence suggests the ancient Sumerians brewed the first beer in the third century B.C. These trailblazing brewmasters would bake malted barley into a sort of wafer, reconstitute it with water and allow wild yeast to collect on the surface of the liquid. The result was certainly beer, but it probably bore little resemblance to the fizzy, hop-laden lagers Americans enjoy today. Even a brief pondering of that crude Sumerian brew defeats the notion that all change is bad when it comes to beer.
Fortunately, many microbreweries and some large breweries in the United States have embraced new developments while still using basic ingredients. Consumers that are willing to do a little digging will find that this country is full of beer made from the simple, classic combination of barley (and sometimes wheat), water, hops, yeast and a little bit of love. A whole slew of delicious beers are out there just waiting to be discovered by of-age college students. Drinking beer in moderation because it tastes good may seem like an unappealing idea to some, but to steal the words of the daredevil next-door neighbor on every after-school television special, "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."
Jason Engelhart is a senior majoring in economics and history. Aspiring masterbrewers should send samples to ([email protected]).
