Digital Underground - uXu - Underground eXperts United #uxu-298

### ### ### ### ### #### ### ### ### #### ### ### ##### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ##### ### ### ########## ### ### ########## ### ### ### ### Underground eXperts United Presents... ####### ## ## ####### # # ####### ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## #### ## ## #### # # ####### ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## ## ####### ####### # # ####### ####### ####### [ An Introduction To Beer ] [ By Ralph 124C41+ ] ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ An Introduction to Beer by Ralph 124C41+ of PowerDrive released through underground eXperts united "-What's the likeness between American beer and making love in a canoe? -They're both fucking close to water." / Monthy Python "Beer should be thick as blood and dark as the soul." / A wise man Perhaps you think you know something about beer. Well, you don't but that is nothing to worry about because in this file I will tell you everything about good beer. You see, in the US of A there is as far as I know only one beer that really deserve to be called beer, that is Anchor Steam Beer that is made in San Francisco. Yes, I have tried Michelob, Slitz and quite frankly they are nothing more than dirty water. I've also tried the American Budweiser (it's more like Budwasser really) and it was so bad I had to put in some Young's Oatmeal Stout to get it down. It's amazing how much better the original Czechoslovakian Budvar is. HISTORY Now, let's start at the beginning. Perhaps you think beer is something that is quite new. Wrong! That is just something the wine snobs want you to think. In fact beer is probably one of the oldest beverages known to man. We know for a fact that beer has been known for over 7000 years. People like the sumers and Babylonians knew about beer, the pharaohs also knew about beer. For more than 2000 years ago the centre of beer production moved from the Eufrat/Tigris-area (in modern Iraq) to the Nile and northern Europe. In those days the beer was quite dark, often sweet and spiced with herbs and honey. In the 15th century a beer revolution started! It began in Germany, Bavaria to be exact. Then they started flavouring the beer with hops and developed a new fermentation method, the so called bottom fermentation. They had discovered that in a low temperature another type of yeast was encouraged that gave a different beer. This new beer with strong taste of hops could be stored and then it got more carbonated and greater aroma. In Germany it got the name "lager", a name which lives even today. The method with bottom fermenting became more widely popular in the 19th century when artificial cooling techniques became available. The bottom fermented beer was lighter and clearer than the top fermented which often had yeast sediment. QUALITY A beer don't get better with more alcohol. The quality is a result of the balance between malt and hops, the foam that comes from long storage, the fresh smell and the colour. The ingredients are also of vital importance as well as the procedure of making. A beer should only be made with malt, hops, yeast and fresh water preferably spring water), nothing else (unless it's some kind of special beer like oatmeal or cherry beer). Some breweries cheat and add all sorts of cheaper ingredients like maize, sugar, ascorbic acid and so on. But this of course gives a "beer" with a much lower class, in some countries it's not even allowed to call it beer or to sell it as such. THE MAKING OF BEER As mentioned above the ingredients of beer are malt (from barley), water, yeast and hops. In the making of beer you use barley that have a high rate of starch. A good water for beer should be soft. The old breweries were built close to springs of brooks that were known to have soft, clear water. The yeast is also important. Yeast is a fungus that are everywhere in nature. To be comfortable and start working it needs warmth and sugar. The two main types of beer is top fermented and bottom fermented. The choice of yeast type is important. The yeast not only convert sugar to alcohol - it also gives the beer it's flavour. Every type of yeast gives a different type of beer. Hops is an up to six meter high wine. The female plants have spikes that looks like cones. They contains cridous (not acid), aromatic oils and tanning agents. The hops are used in beer to with it's bitter taste give balance to the sweetness of the malt. It also gives better tenability and a clearer beer. Hop cones are dried before they are used to make beer. There are several different hops and every one gives it's special aroma and bitterness to the beer. Now, let's get to the actual making of the beer! Before the barley can be used it must be malted. This happens in the maltery. The barley are being wet with water and are then allowed to lie in a warm place to sprout. It is then roasted usually with hot air (about 70 centigrades), how hard it is roasted determines the darkness of the beer. The roasted barley is called malt. The malt is then crushed and mixed with hot water (50-80 centigrades) to produce mash which contains malt sugar. The mash is filtered and you get the sweet wort which basically is sugar and water. The sweet wort is boiled with hops to make the final wort with the typical bitter taste. The wort is then fermented for about two weeks and is turned to beer. To mature the beer is stored at a low temperature for a couple of weeks. After that it may be filtered and is then ready to be enjoyed. HOW TO DRINK BEER Of course you can just grab a beer and drink it as it is but if you want to get maximum enjoyment from it you should be more careful. A beer should be served cool, 6-8 centigrades for light beer and higher the darker it is. When you pour the beer first directly into the glass and then fill up slowly, a little each time and let it settle between the times to produce a good head. Grab the beer, study it. What it the colour? Does it have yeast sediment? Smell it! Spin the glass gently and put it under your nose. The smell of a beer can say more about a beer than the flavour. Take a sip. Let the beer roll on the tongue. And then swallow in a couple of gulps. First you feel the sweetness on the top of the tongue, then there is a fireworks of different flavours. Aromatic, fruity... When you have swallowed comes the aftertaste. It can be light or "maltey", rich or not, more or less bitter. A good aftertaste must make you want to have another go. AFTERWORDS I hoped this has served as an introduction to what beer is all about. This is only to be seen as a very simple first step for greater understanding of the noble art of beer and I hope it has inspired you to go on and continue to study the subject. Cheers! --- This file is (c)opyrighted material, but spreading if free under certain conditions. Se the uXu index for details. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- uXu #298 Underground eXperts United 1996 uXu #298 Call LHDy -> +1-818-546-2332 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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