What goes into Beer?

The German Beer Purity Law" referred to as Reinheitsgebot, is the original law for the production of beer.  It dictated that only water, hops, and barley could be used in beer (later yeast was added to this regulation).  Today, the larger breweries use corn and rice. 

Many of the innovative microbreweries are beginning to experiment with different adjuncts such as fruit, spices, and other ‘natural’ ingredients.  We find that merely adjusting quantities and varieties of the four primary ingredients as well as brewing time and temperatures can totally modify the taste of the beer. We note that if two breweries in two different areas of the world brewed the exact same recipe, the two beers could be very different with various hops, water, barley and yeast as well as time and temperature ranges.

WATER. Like so many other foods, is a key ingredient in the brewing process.  Water contains many elements and can be completely different tasting from town to town, city to city, and state to state. Water is something that must be checked constantly. It is important to use only the purest of water in the beer making process!

BARLEY is a grain that must be malted which means it is germinated by soaking it in water, than placed in an oven for baking it.  There are dozens of varieties of barley – all yielding very different beers.  Barley comes in both two row and six row varieties.  Barley provides flavor, aroma, appearance, and together with yeast, alcohol. 

HOPS provide the bitterness and balance to the sweet taste from the Barley.  There are many many types of hops, each producing a different aroma and flavor.  A hop is a flower that appears like a small, soft, green pine cone.   They grow on vines mainly in western USA, Germany, UK, Czech Republic and Australia.  It is important that the brewer knows what bittering, aroma, and flavor the hop will yield to conform for a well balanced finished beer.  Most craft beers have a combination of hops.

YEAST is seldom spoken about when describing a beer, but it is a very important component.  During the fermentation stage, Yeast converts the sugar from the Malted barley into alcohol and also carbonates the beer.  Yeast also adds to the flavor of the beer.  There are dozens of different yeast strains, and the brewer must be sure to use the proper yeast, or his beer will not be consistent.