Microbrew Craftbrew Beers

Beer is the world's oldest and most popular alcoholic beverage. Some of the earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer and it is produced by the fermentation of sugars derived from starch-based material, the most common being malted barley; however, wheat, corn, and rice are also widely used, usually in conjunction with barley.

The starch source is steeped in water. Enzymes in the malt break down the starch molecules, producing a sugary liquid known as wort, which is then flavored with hops, which acts as a natural preservative. Other ingredients such as herbs or fruit may be added. Yeast is then used to cause fermentation, which produces alcohol and other waste products from anaerobic respiration of the yeast as it consumes the sugars. The process of beer production is called brewing.

Beer uses many varying ingredients, production methods and traditions. Different types of yeast and production methods may be used to classify beer as ale, lager or spontaneously fermented beer. Some beer writers and organizations differentiate and categorize beers by various factors into beer styles. Alcoholic beverages fermented from non-starch sources such as grape juice (wine) or honey (mead), as well as distilled beverages, are not classified as beer.

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Beer, Beer and More Beer in Brussels, Belgium

A microbrewery, or craft brewery, is a modern brewery which produces a limited amount of beer. The maximum amount of beer a brewery can produce and still be classed as a microbrewery varies by region and by authority, though is usually around 15,000 barrels (18,000 hectolitres/ 475,000 US gallons) a year. Microbrewery Definition: A brewpub is a type of microbrewery.

The term and trend originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s to describe the new generation of small breweries which had a focus on producing traditional cask ale. Though originally used to reflect the size of the breweries it gradually came to reflect an alternative attitude and approach to brewing of flexibility, adaptability, experimentation and customer service. The term and trend spread to the United States in the 1980s where it eventually was used to indicate a brewery that produces fewer than 15,000 barrels of beer annually.

Micro or craft breweries have adopted a different marketing strategy than large, mass-market breweries, offering products that compete on the basis of quality and diversity, instead of low price and advertising. Their influence has been much greater than their market share (which amounts to only 2% in the UK), indicated by the fact that large commercial breweries have introduced new brands intended to compete for some of the microbrewery market, and when this failed, they have invested in or bought some microbreweries.

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German Woman Holding Stein of Beer, Oktoberfest

Many historians believe that the ancient Sumerians and Mesopotamians were brewing as early back as 10,000 B.C. Even though this product would have
been different from the bottled varieties of today, it would have still been recognizable.

The ancient Egyptians and the Chinese brewed their beer, as did civilizations in America, where they used corn instead of barley. Back then, thousands of years ago, microbrews were very popular and on their way to what we now know and love today.

In the middle ages, European monks were the guardians of literature and science, as well as the art of making beer. They refined the process to perfection, and even institutionalized the use of hops as both flavoring and a preservative.

It wasn't however, until Louis Pasteur came along that a final, important development was determined. Until this time, brewers had to depend on the wild yet airborne yeast for fermentation. By establishing that yeast is actually a living organism, he opened the gates for controlling the conversion of sugar into alcohol.

Grapes grow well in warmer climates, while barley grows better in cool climates. This is how the northern areas of Germany and England first became famous for their beers.

4 Beers and 4000 Years Ago

Everything in America went dim until the dark day of 1920, when prohibition took effect. A lot of breweries went out of business or switched their production to soda pop. Not everyone stopped drinking, but gangster related products weren't known for high quality.

During prohibition the majority of the breweries went into bankruptcy because they couldn't rely on selling bogus wine as wineries of that era previously did. After going through several decades of consolidation of breweries, most commercial American beer produced by a few large companies, resulting in a mild tasting lager of which Budweiser is a great example.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, he quickly appealed the very unpopular law. The new breeds of now famous beer came after World War 2 were generally mass produced and very bland.

In the United States, a microbrewery is a brewery that produces no less than 15,000 barrels of beer per year. The term microbrewery is now falling out of touch in the United States, as the term craft brewer is preferred.

Some beer drinks will consequently crave a variety and turn to homebrewing and eventually start doing it on a much larger scale. When they need inspiration they'll turn to Britain, Germany, and Belgium where centuries old tradition of artisan beer and cask ale production have never died out.

The popularity behind these products was the fact that they trend was spread quickly, and hundreds of smaller breweries popped up, attached to a bar where the product could be enjoyed by all. As microbrews gained in popularity, some became more than just simple microbrews, as they catered to a broader range of beer.

Normally, American microbreweries will distribute through wholesalers in traditional three tier systems, then act as their own distributor and sell to retailers. Selling includes tap rooms, restaurants, or even off premise sales.

Beer, Always On Tap

The normal batch of homebrewed beer is five gallons in volume, which is enough for 2 cases, or 48 12 ounce bottle of beer.

The typical homebrewed beer is produced by boiling water, malt extract and hops together in a large kettle and then cooling the resulting wort and adding yeast for fermenting. Experienced homebrewers will make their own extract from crushed malt barley by a more complicated process of mashing the grain in boiling hot water.

With both cases, the wort is boiled for 15 min to an hour, to help remove some impurities, dissolve the character of the hops, then break down some of the sugar. The wort is then cooled down to a pitching temperature.

The cooled wort is then poured into the primary fermenter in a manner of aggression, as to aerate the wort. Sufficient oxygen is also necessary for the yeast's growth stage. The yeast is then put into the wort.

The primary fermentation will take place in a large food bucket or carboy. Sometimes it is left open but often stoppered with the carbon dioxide gas that's produced by venting through a fermentation lock.

The process of making microbrews takes a lot of time indeed, although you can take the necessary short cuts once you learn more about how the process works. If this is your first time brewing, you should always use common sense and know what you are doing.

One of the best things about making your own homebrews is the fact that you can experiment with ingredients and brew your own creations. You can brew almost anything, providing you have the right type of equipment - which can easily be found.

European Beer Glasses with Pretzels

With their varying flavor intensities and alcohol contents, microbrews are here because beer distributors noticed a market demand and took a gamble on imports like Corona in the 70s. This type of flavorful beer sold to a limited yet very enthusiastic crowd.

Beer manufacturers create what sells, therefore they didn't believe there would be a significant market with those types of beers. Consumer studies and sales showed that the biggest part of the American audiences enjoyed watery brew.

Then, out of nowhere, microbrews popped up after the first successful brew, Samuel Adams, fought with import distributors to try and convince them that a flavorful American beer would sell. Now, we have more microbrews than ever before with more coming out each and every day.

Microbrews really hit when distributors really believed that at least some people would buy them. On the other hand, home brewers and brewpubs had legal wars. In 1968, home brewing was legalized and home brewers now had the support and assistance of supply and advice stores.

Until 1983, brewpubs were illegal in all states. Late in 1983, California first began to allow brewpubs to brew and distribute their brands of beer on site. These charming, yet small batch breweries experienced high sales, especially in restaurants.

Around a century ago, the United States had more than 2,000 breweries making many different styles and variations. By the 80's, there were only 40 brewing companies that offered a brand of American Pilsner.

Today, there are over 500 microbreweries and brewpubs in the United States. Over the past few years, brewpubs have been popping up all over the place,

Beer Kegs

Brewing is the actual process of alcoholic beverages and alcohol through fermentation. This method is used with beer production, although the term can also be used for other drinks as well. The term brewing is also used to refer to any chemical mixing process as well.

The process of brewing has a long history indeed, which archeological evidence tells us that this technique was actually used in ancient Egypt as well. Many descriptions of various beer recipes can be found in Sumerian writings, which are some of the oldest writings of any type.

Even though the process of brewing is complex and varies greatly, Below, you'll find the basic stages relating to brewing.

1. Mashing - This is the first phase of brewing, in which the malted grains are crushed and soaked in warm water in order to create an extract of the malt. The mash is then held at constant temperature long enough for the enzymes to convert starches into fermentable sugar.

2. Sparging - At this stage, water is filtered through the mash to dissolve all of the sugars. The darker, sugar heavy liquid is known as the wort.

3. Boiling - The wort is boiled along with any remaining ingredients to remove any excess water and kill any type of microorganisms. The hops, either whole or extract are added at some point during this stage.

4. Fermentation - The yeast is now added and the beer is left to ferment. After it has fermented, the beer may be allowed to ferment again, which will allow further settling of the yeast and other particulate matter which may have been introduced earlier in the process.

5. Packaging - At the final stage, the beer will contain alcohol, but not too much carbon dioxide. The brewer will have a few options to increase the levels of carbon dioxide. The most common approach is force carbonation, via the direct addition of CO2 gas to the keg or bottle.

After it has been brewed, the beer in normally a finished product. At this point, the beer is kegged, casked, bottled, or canned. Beers that are unfiltered may be stored for further fermentation in conditioning tanks, casks, or bottles to allow smoothing of harsh alcohol or heavy hops.

There are some beer enthusiasts that consider a long conditioning period attractive for various strong beers such as Barley and wines. Depending on the beer enthusiast and what he likes to drink, it will vary.

AleHouse

The main ingredients found in beer are water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. There are other ingredients such as flavoring, sugar, and other ingredients
that are commonly used. Starches are used as well, as they convert in the mashing process to easily fermentable sugars that will help to increase the
alcohol content of beer while adding body and flavor.


Water
Seeing as how beer is mainly composed of water, the source of water and its characteristics have a very important effect on the character of the beer. A lot of beer styles were influenced by the characteristics of water in the region. Although the effect of minerals in brewing water is complex, hard water is more suited to dark styles, while soft ware is more suited to light styles.


Malt
Among malts, barley is the most widely used due to its high amylase content, and a digestive enzyme that facilitates the breakdown of starch into sugars. Depending on what can be cultivated locally,
other malts and unmalted grains can be used, such as wheat, rice, oats, and rye. Malt is obtained by soaking grain in water, allowing it to germinate, then drying the germinated grain in a kiln. By malting the grain, enzymes will eventually convert the starches in the grain into fermentable sugars.


Hops
Since the seventeenth century, hops have been commonly used as a bittering agent in beer. Hops help to contribute a bitterness that will balance
the sweetness of the malts. They also contribute aromas which range from citrus to herbal. Hops also provide an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer's yeast over the less desirable microorganisms. The bitterness in beer is normally measured on the International Bitterness Units scale.


Yeast
Yeast is a microorganism that's responsible for fermentation. Specific strains of yeast are chosen depending on the type of beer produced, as the
two main strains are ale yeast and lager yeast, with other variations available as well.Yeast helps to metabolise the sugars that are extracted from the grains, and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as a result. Before the functions of yeast were understood, all fermentations were done using wild or airborne yeasts.


Clarifying agent
A lot of brewers prefer to add one or more clarifying agents to beer that aren't required to be published as ingredients. Examples include
Isinglas finings, which are obtained from swim bladders of fish and Irish moss, which is a type of red alga.


Since these ingredients can be obtained from animals, those who are concerned with either the use or consumption of animal products should
obtain detailed information from the brewer.

Hurlimann Bier

Over the years, keg beers have gotten a lot better. If a cask beer is in poor condition, it's actually possible for a fresh keg beer to be much better tasting. Even though this may sound absurd, it's very common for someone who's unfamilar with cask ale to not be able to taste the difference between keg and cask beer.

The warm temperature that cask beer is famous for doesn't apply in the summer months all that often these days, as temperature control units in pubs have beer run through coolers. The fact is, some pubs will run cask ale lines through lager chillers in order to get the beer below the maximum temperature required, so cask ale may very well end up just as cold as a keg lager.

This isn't really a good thing, as ale requires a cool rather than very cold temperature to bring out all of its flavors. In a well run pub however, the cask ale will be served at the right temperature - cool but not too cold.

The smell of cask ale is much fresher and more wholesome than keg beer. Keep in mind, the aroma of cask ale doesn't have the stored up impact of bottled type beers, as this beer has already been exposed to the air for a couple of days - meaning there is no impact when you transfer it to your beer glass.

Normally, the aroma wil be released into the air when it has been warmed up, which will probably happen when you get near the bottom of the glass.

The flavor of cask ale is very similiar to the aroma in it, which is very fresh and delicate. Unlike other bottled beers, the flavor of cask ale is even more noticeable than the aroma. At first, the aroma is very slight, although the flavor more than makes up for it.

The intensity of the flavor will depend on the style of beer. The CO2 bubbles themselves will have very little flavor, therefore a mass of bursting bubbles against your tongue will prevent the actual beer from making contact.

With cask ale, there is little to no carbonation, so more of the flavor will connect with your taste buds. You should be able to note the fruity taste up front, with balance in the middle and bitterness in the end. The flavor of a cask ale is much more noticed than keg or even bottled beer.

Bottle conditioned beers will also have this type of flavor profile, although they'll need to be prepared and conditioned well in advance, meaning that the bottle will need to be opened and allowed to settle for a while. Cask ales offer the conditioning being done for you, so you won't need to do it.

The most important aspect of cask ale is how it feels in your mouth. It shouldn't be fizzy. If it is, it's either a keg beer or a cask ale that's been put on too soon. There will be a natural feel in the beer, a life that makes you want to drink it.