Beer & Sake Flashcards
What is Calvados?
An eau de vie distilled from apple and pear and produced in the Normandy region of northern France.
What are the three appellations of Calvados?
- Calvados AOC
- Calvados Domfrontais AOC
- Calvados Pays d’Auge AOC
What is the oldest alcoholic beverage known to man?
Mead
Where does the fermentable sugar for beer production come from?
The conversion of the starch of a grain (usually barley).
What is wort?
Sugar-rich liquid derived from malted grain that is the source of fermentable sugars in the production of beer.
What are the four basic ingredients used for beer production?
Water, yeast, a starch source, and hops
What is the purpose of adding hops to beer?
To add flavor and bitterness while also lending preservative and antiseptic qualities that prohibit bacterial growth and spoilage.
When was the Bavarian Purity Law enacted and what did it codify?
1516; codified the three ingredients for beer production as barley, hops, and water
What is the first step of the modern brewing process?
Creating the malt
How is the malt created?
1) The cereal grain of choice, usually barley, is steeped in water for approximately two days to promote germination of the grain
2) Once grain begins to germinate, or sprout, it is transferred to compartments with controlled temperature and moisture levels.
3) As the sprout grows to near an inch in length the enzyme amylase is produced which converts the starches of the grain into fermentable sugars.
4) The “green malt” is thin roasted in a kiln to prevent further growth. The end product of this step is called the malt.
What process is heavily influenced by the style of beer desired?
The length and degree that the green malt is roasted.
What is grist? And what is used for?
The product resulting from the malt being ground, or cracked in a mill. The grist is combined with hot water during the mashing process to extract the sugar and flavor rich wort that will be fermented into the finished beer.
What is the sparge?
Additional sugar and flavor extracted from spent grains left over from the mashing process that is extracted by rinsing with more water (sparging). This is then added to the wort in the copper to be fermented into the finished beer.
What is a drawback of sparging?
It can add unwanted bitterness to the finished brew.
What happens to the wort prior to fermentation? Why?
The wort is boiled to sterilize and stabilize the brew, darken the color, and cause the excess water to evaporate.
At what times during the brewing process are hops introduced?
- Hops are usually first introduced prior to boiling the wort. During the boiling process the hops contribute more bitterness the longer they are boiled, but the longer they are boiled the more the hops’ aroma is lost.
- Hops may again be introduced to the wort following the boiling process where the wort will be passed through a hop back chamber reintroducing hop aromas as a result of contact with the fresh hops.
Once the wort is ready for fermentation, what two factors will be decided that will determine whether an ale or a lager will be produced?
The temperature to which the wort is cooled and also the strain of yeast that is selected for inoculation.
What temperatures of and lengths of fermentation are more ideal for lager fermentation? Ales?
Longer fermentations at cooler temperatures for lagers. Shorter fermentations at higher temperatures for ales.
What strain of yeast is more ideal for ale fermentation?
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
What strain of yeast is more ideal for lager fermentation?
Saccharomyces pastorianus formerly called Saccharomyces carlsbergensis.
What is the general difference in style between ales vs lagers?
Ales tend to be more fruity and rich-flavored whereas lagers are more delicate and cleaner in style.
What happens to the beer immediately following fermentation?
The beer is transferred to conditioning tanks or casks, and often pasteurized prior to bottling.
What does bottle-conditioned mean?
It means that the beer is unfiltered and undergoes partial fermentation in the bottle which it is sold in.
Which beers is most commonly unpasteurized?
Cask ales sold as draughts.
What are the two native wild yeasts that are most commonly responsible for lambic fermentation?
Brettanomyces lambicus and Brettanomyces bruxellensis
What are lambics and how are they fermented? How do they taste?
A specialty of Belgium, lambics are spontaneously fermented in open top containers with native wild yeasts. They are vinous in character, distinctively sour, and aged prior to release.
How long are lambics aged?
Lambics are aged often for up to 3 years in casks.
What is Geuze?
Geuze is a style of lambic produced by mixing one-year-old lambics with beers that have age for two to three years. The blend is then refermented with aged hops in bottle, giving the beer its sparkle.
What does the use of aged hops rather than fresh hops contribute to the aroma profile of lambics?
Lambics often have a cheese-like old hop smell as opposed to the resiny, bitter, earthy smell that fresh hops would otherwise contribute.
What is the name of the layer of yeast that forms over the top of lambics during maturation?
velo de flor
Other than the formation of a flor-like layer of yeast during maturation, how else is lambic production similar to sherry or vin jaune production?
Barrels are not topped-up during maturation.
What components typically are present in the grist used for lambic production?
60-70% barley malt and 30-40% unmalted wheat
What is the name of the open-air flat metal pan used to cool the wort and expose it to the microorganisms responsible for fermentation in lambic production?
koelschip (pronounced “quell-sheep”)
How are fruit lambics produced?
Fruits are added to a base lambic beer and refermentation of the sugars available in the fruit occurs. After fermentation the fruit is removed and further maturation takes place prior to release. The resulting product has additional flavor contributed by the fruit used.
