What's in Beer?

What's in Beer?


There are four main ingredients in beer: malt, hops, yeast, and water. Some beers also employ adjuncts, like wheat, corn and rice, to further influence the flavor or color of the beer.

Most beer recipes include some form of malted grain. Specialty malts, such as crystal malt, chocolate malt, and black malt, can be added to extract flavors to create different styles of beers like pale ales, porters, and stouts. Brewing involves mashing (steeping malted grains in hot water at a certain temperature) base malts such as pilsner or pale ale malts with desired specialty malts in order to develop fermentable sugars and desired beer character. Unmalted grains such as oats, wheat, or roasted barley are sometimes used in the brewing process as well. Malt is typically produced off-site by a maltster, who germinates then kilns, roasts, or dries it to achieve a certain flavor.

Hops

Hops are flowers used to season beer. Bittering hops, or hops added early in the boil process, provide bitterness to the beer to balance the sweetness of malt. Hops added at the end of the boil, or finishing hops, add flavor and aroma to beer. There are many varieties of hops available to to brewers, which allows for great diversity in flavors and aromas. For example, American-grown hops such as Cascade hops give American pale ales their distinct citrusy quality, fuggles have an earthiness common in English-style ales, and saaz lend the spice and herbal character found in European pilsners.  


Yeast    

Yeast's role in the beer-making process is to convert the malt's sugars into alcohol, carbon dioxide and beer flavors. Ale yeast is a top-fermenting yeast that ferments at warmer temperatures, generally between 55 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Lager yeast us a bottom-fermenting yeast that ferments at colder temperatures, generally between 32 and 55 degrees fahrenheit. Accordingly, beers fermented with ale yeasts tend to be stored and served at higher temperatures than beers fermented with lager yeasts. 


Water

Water comprises over 90 percent of beer and is thus an important ingredient in the brewing process. Factors such as mineral content and the pH of the water can significantly affect the end product. Minerals can be added to water to mimic the taste of beers produced in other parts of the world.

   Information on beer ingredients courtesy of the Brewers Association