Everything needs energy to grow and our friend Barley is no exception. The inside bit of the grain is being broken down to provide energy for growth and our good old Brewer, is going to convert that energy into sugar simply by mixing it with water at about the right temperature. It’s an enzyme kind of thing that converts the starch in the grain into lovely sweet Maltose.
Hops. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Hops are immigrants to this country but exactly when they made the tortuous journey into Blighty from mainland Europe, it’s more difficult to say. It’s not just Poppies that grow in Flanders fields but also hops. The consensus is that they arrived over here from what is now Belgium in the 16th Century, where they had been used in beer production since the 10th Century. These Johnny-come-lately plants took over from other indigenous plants with similar uses such as Sweet Gale, Bog Myrtle, Costmary and wait for it… Ale Hoof! What are the desirable things these plants and especially hops, give us.
Well obviously, bitterness. That thing that makes the adult palate like Sprouts! Without it, this brown beer liquid would have a cloying sweetness that could be pleasant but probably wouldn’t leave you wanting a second pint. Bitterness cuts through and excites all those little taste buds.
Just as important is the preserving action of hops. Without them, beer would go off in a couple of weeks and this is why some beers are very heavily hopped to keep them happy and in good nick. Think India Pale Ale (I.P.A.). It should be both strong and very hoppy to withstand the journey by ship down to the Sub-Continent. As it turned out, it was probably pretty ropey by the time it got there, which is why they all drank gin and tonic! Hops also give a delightful aroma and in a minor way, help to clear or clarify the beer.
Yeast. This little miracle of nature is all around us. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes not so much. What yeast is of course, is a single celled micro-organism that’s classed as a fungus. It’s what gives you your daily bread and a bit like water we, or the whole world could not function without it.
There’s a hell of a lot of them but the particular yeast I’m interested in has been found to be perfect for the production of beer because it has a serious hunger for a particular type of sugar (Maltose) and lucky for us, will convert all that sickly sweetness into alcohol. Hooray! Without going into it too deeply, my little darling yeast is called Saccharomyces cerevisiae and that’s an “Ale” yeast. Now… If you want to make a lager (which of course is a type of beer), you would use a different yeast and until it was re-classified, was called, believe it or not, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis but that’s another story.
So, there you have it. The big four. This is just a taster of what it’s all about and there’s so much more I can tell you about all the many many types and styles of this wonderful beverage called beer. Don’t forget to drink responsibly and above all else enjoy this thing that has been an integral part of our heritage since the year dot. Cheers!