Ingredients Flashcards
What are the four core ingredients in beer?
Water, malt, hops, yeast
Briefly explain the malting process.
The malting process is essentially where a grain is tricked into sprouting (germination) and dryed out in a Kiln (kilning).
The kilning process dictates which aspects of the beer?
Colour and flavour
Malt is the main ingredient dictating the colour of a finished beer. What scale is the beer colour measured in?
The SRM scale (Standard Reference Method)
What is an adjunct?
A thing added to something else as a supplementary rather than an essential part.
What are some examples of adjuncts used in brewing?
Corn, rice, wheat, oats, rye, spelt, einkorn, sorghum, millet, sugar syrups, plain sugar, candi sugar
What is the scientific name for hops?
Humulus Lupulus
What are the benefits of using corn and rice as adjuncts in beer?
They are both very cheap. Minimal flavour and give a thin body. Perfect for light low-cost lagers.
How does wheat contribute as an adjunct in beer?
Wheat is a very high protein grain, contributing body, texture and often haze to beer.
This protein also helps with foam retention and can aid in head retention.
It also lends it’s famous soft body and bready flavour to styles such as Belgian Witbier, American Wheat Beer, and New England IPA.
What are the benefits of using oats as an adjunct in beer?
Much like wheat, oats are high in protein and complex starches, which can increase body and texture. This is why oats are often used to beef up beers which need big fluffy body such as Oatmeal Stout and New England IPA.
What in hops is responsible for bitterness?
Alpha Acids. Heating these acids changes them into compounds that dissolve into the beer - this is called isomerization. The longer they’re boiled, the more alpha acids are released, making the beer more bitter.
What gives aroma to beer?
Essential oils
Hops added at the end of the boil (final 15 mins) add what to the beer?
Aromas.
The oils in hops are super volatile so can’t take too much heat before evaporating off, so the later the better for extracting essential oils.
Hops added to the boil at 60 minutes to go give which component to the beer?
Bitterness.
Hops added to the boil at 60 minutes to go give us major bitterness components in beer, and almost no aroma.
What is dry hopping?
When the Brewer adds hops to the beer well after the boiling process, either during or after fermentation. The beer is cold at this stage, allowing the hops to soak in the beer and infuse their aromatic oils with no bitterness. This gives the fruity intense aromas we expect in beers like IPAs.
