A girl's guide to beer (with video)

Beer is as varied and as complex as wine in colour, texture, aroma, flavour and alcoholic content. This variety is steadily becoming better appreciated by the public at large as hundreds of micro-breweries in Britain alone are lovingly producing an ever expanding range of high quality 'real ales'. The following information all relates to real ales which are beers virtually always produced WITHOUT artificial preservatives or additives in contrast tothe bulk of mass-produced beers and lagers that are the main fare of public houses and restaurants.

A major source of information has been a publication 'The Best Long Drink in the World' from a non-profit organisation the 'Beer Academy'. (See later for further sources of information.)

What makes beer?

Barley

Barley is the main constituent of beer - as grapes are to wine, so barley is to beer. Barley grains are low in fat and protein but rich in starch. In growing barley it is the starch which is the plant food, but in harvested barley the starch is used to make beer.

Hops

Hops are a close botanical relative of cannabis and contain over 200 natural flavour compounds in resins and essential oils that give beer its distinctive hop flavour and degrees of bitterness. To enjoy some DIY aromatherapy, buy some hops and try to detect the 'spicy', 'floral', 'resinous', 'citrus' and other unexpected scents.

Water

Four to six pints of water are needed to produce every pint of beer. Naturally dissolved salts characterise different beers. The famous beers of Burton on Trent use water with dissolved gypsum which invest them with excellent 'keeping' qualities (hence many were exported to India).

Yeast

Yeast is a microscopic fungus that grows on sugar, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide in a process called fermentation. Different yeasts create a wide variety of flavour compounds that again characterise different beers.

How is beer made?

Malting

Barley is steeped in water and germinates. This 'malt' is heated to different degrees to stop further germination and to produce different colours and flavours.

Milling

The malt is milled to a mixture of fine flour and husks, called grist.

Mashing

The grist is mixed with hot water and left to stand, allowing enzymes to break down the starch to release soluble sugars. The clear sugary solution, the wort, is run off and the spent grains sold off for animal feed.

Boiling

The wort is boiled with hops and then cooled and aerated to dissolve oxygen which will be needed at the start of fermentation.

Fermentation

Yeast is added to the cooled bitter wort and feeds off the sugars and nutrients in the malt, producing carbon dioxide and alcohol.

Conditioning

If going into casks, some yeast fungus and extra sugar, are added. A carbon dioxide 'tingle' is produced and the fungus attract the yeast cells to form sediment at the base of the cask.

Filtration and Pasteurisation

If going into a bottle, can or keg, the beer is first conditioned and then filtered. These 'bright' beers are pasteurised for longer life.

Describing beers

• ABV - Alcohol by Volume – the percentage of alcohol in beer.
• Abbey beer - A strong beer brewed in the fashion of monastic beers but by commercial companies. Only Trappist monasteries have the legal right to call their beers 'Trappist'. Beers produced in a similar style under licence from a clerical order have adopted the term 'Abbey'.
• Ale - A beer brewed with the yeast sitting on top of the wort during fermentation (compare to a lager).
• Barley Wine - A very strong, often sweet beer.
• Bitter - A well-hopped ale.
Bottle-conditioned - Beer which undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle (most real ales) and hence has a bottom sediment in the bottle.
• Bright - Filtered and usually pasteurised beer, in contrast to bottle-conditioned beer in that it has no bottom sediment in the bottle.
• CAMRA - The Campaign for Real Ale – British consumer organisation founded in 1971.
• IPA - Indian Pale Ale
• Lager - A beer brewed where the yeast sinks to the bottom of the wort during fermentation and which is matured for several weeks or months at low temperatures. The word 'lager' is derived from the German word for 'store'.
• Mild - A lightly hopped, low strength ale (normally under 4% but can be up to 6% ABV). Pale milds have a fruity aroma and gentle hoppiness. Dark milds have a roast malt or caramel flavour.
• Pasteurised - Beer which has been heat treated to kill remaining yeast cells and prevent further fermentation.
• Porter - A light predecessor of stout, usually with a sweet taste.
• Real Ale - An unpasteurised, unfiltered beer which continues to ferment in the vessel from which it is served ('cask-conditioned' or 'bottle-conditioned').
• Stout - A heavy, strong beer, usually dark in colour, tasting dry and bitter, often with roasted barley flavour.

Wheat Beer - A beer brewed with a high percentage of wheat and often served cloudy with yeast in suspension. Sometimes called 'white' beers.

Health Benefits

There are many facts and claims which have been published regarding the benefits to health from drinking real ale in moderation. Even if you are not convinced about some, the following list of positive attributes of beer is impressive.

• Zero fat and zero cholesterol in beer.
• Full of vitamins and minerals.
• A litre of beer can supply 10% of your daily protein needs (whereas wine has none).
• Alcohol in general can benefit the heart and circulatory systems
• Polyphenols in beer act as scavenger of cancer-inducing free radicals like those in red wine.
• Soluble fibres in beer have the same type of benefits as those in cereals.
Moderate alcohol consumption leads to stronger bones, as you grow older.
• The malt in dark real ales can prevent tooth decay.
• A beer a day is linked to a 40% lower risk of kidney stones forming.

Calorie counting!

If you are an avid calorie counter, note where beer sits in the following calorie league table.

• Beer 4.5% ABV - Half pint - 110 cals
• Gin and Tonic - 25ml gin & 180ml tonic - 121 cals
• Sparkling wine 125ml - 131 cals
• Cola/soft drinks - Half pint - 136 cals
• Table wine - 175ml - 175 cals
• Sweet wine or Vermouth - 125ml - 200 cals
• Bacardi Breezer - 330ml - 220 cals
• Milk Shake - Half pint - 284 cals

Buying, storing, pouring beer

While its impressive to know the definitions of the different beer containers, such as:

Butt - 108 gallons*
Hogshead - 54 gallons
Barrel - 36 gallons
Half Hogshead - 27 gallons
Kilderkin - 18 gallons
Firkin - 9 gallons
Pin - 4.5 gallons
(*8 pints in a gallon)

You are more likely to purchase your real ale in demi-pins (18 pints) or bottles of 500 ml (about 0.9 pint) or 750 ml (about 1.25 pints).

When purchasing your real ale remember to ask whether it is 'bright' (has no sediment) or is 'bottle conditioned'. The latter type is more common and has some yeast sediment and therefore needs to be decanted carefully into a glass or pitcher, retaining the sediment for disposal in the bottle.

Ideally, pour the real ale with a head and let it breath to enjoy the aromas to best advantage. The same sorts of rules apply as do to drinking good wines.

If you are not consuming your real ale soon after purchase, ideally store it in a cool environment. It should also be away from light; it is for this reason that most beer bottles are dark brown to minimise light induced chemical reactions. Beer in clear or green glass bottles will not have the equivalent 'keeping' properties.

Bottled beers should be stored vertically unless the bottle has a cork, in which case lay it down like a wine to keep the cork moist and then stand it up a day or two before drinking to let the sediment settle.

Remember, the production of real ales is a complex process, with many variables at play and, occasionally, if one is a little off, treat it like your best friend and be understanding! The pleasures will far outweigh any disappointments.