|
Ingredients
Click for Quick Reference
Malt Extract | Malt |
Adjuncts | Hops
| Yeast | Water
Malt Extract
Malt extract is made from malted barley or malted wheat. It is used as the
basis for most homebrews, providing the sugars that yeast consume to produce
alcohol and carbon dioxide. Malt extract comes in a variety of forms. You can
purchase malt extract as a hopped kit in a can, plain liquid, or in dried
powdered form. Malt extract also comes in a variety of colors for making
different styles of beer, including extra light, light, amber, and dark.
Though homebrew can be made just with extracts, most homebrew recipes
include some form of malted grain. Specialty malts, such as crystal malt,
chocolate malt (not the stuff you get at the baseball park), and black malt,
can be added to extract brews to create different styles of beers like pale
ales, porters, and stouts. It is possible to brew without any extracts by
mashing malted grains. All grain brewing involves mashing base malts such as
pilsner or pale ale malts in place of the extract. Unmalted grains such as
oats, wheat, or roasted barley are sometimes used in the brewing process as
well.
Adjuncts
Rice or corn, referred to as adjuncts in brewing
terminology, can be used to produce fermentable sugars without adding body or
flavor to beer. Adjuncts used in place of malt or malt extract make thinner
less flavorful beers. Sugars, such as corn sugar or table sugar, can be used
with the same effect.
Hops
Hops are a flowers used to season beer.
Bittering hops, meaning adding hops early on in the boil process, provide
bitterness to the beer to balance the sweetness of the malt. Hops added at the
end of the boil, referred to as finishing hops, add flavor and aroma to the
beer. Adding hops directly to the fermenter, or dry hopping, lends additional
hop aroma to the beer. Hops also serve as a natural preservative, helping to
prevent spoilage in beer. Hops comes as either whole flowers or compressed
pellets (think rabbit food). There are many varieties of hops available to
homebrewers, allowing for great diversity of flavors and aromas. Different hops
are used to brew different styles of beer. For example, cascade hops give
American pale ales their distinct citrusy quality, fuggles have an earthiness
common in English-style ales, and saaz lend the spicy/herbal character found in
European Pilsners
Yeast
Yeast makes beer by converting sugars from malt or malt extract into
alcohol and carbon dioxide. There are two major classes of yeast, ale and
lager. Ale yeast is a top fermenting yeast (meaning it is most active near the
surface of the fermenting beer) that ferments at warmer temperatures, generally
between 55 and 75 degrees F (13-24 degrees C). Ale yeast tend to produce fruity
flavors and aromas, which vary depending on the yeast. Lager yeast is a bottom
fermenting yeast (meaning it is most active near the bottom of the fermenting
beer) that ferments at colder temperatures, generally between 32 and 55 degrees
F (0-13 degrees C). Lager yeasts tend to be neutral in flavor and aroma and
thus do not produce the fruity esters found in ale yeasts. Beers fermented with
lager yeasts are usually cold stored at temperatures below 45 degrees F (7
degrees C) following primary fermentation for a period of a few weeks to
several months-a process known as lagering. Beer yeast is sold in two forms,
dried and liquid.
Water
Making up 90-95 percent of beer, water is an important ingredient in
the brewing process. Tap water will work, but overly chlorinated water can
result in harsh flavors in the finished beer. Chlorine can be removed by
boiling or filtering, or you may choose to use bottled water. Factors such as
mineral content and pH of brewing water can a have significant effect upon the
final product, although these are of less concern in extract beers than in all
grain beers. Certain minerals may be added to beer to achieve flavors found in
beers brewed in certain areas of the world, for example the famous English pale
ales of Burton-on-Trent are brewed with the very hard water found in that
region. The more common mineral used in brewing include Calcium Sulfate
(gypsum), Calcium Chloride, Sodium Chloride (table salt) and Magnesium Sulfate
(Epsom salt).
 |
