At some point in germination, barley’s nutrients are made into sugars. The malted barley is now ready to be made into beer. Hops are another ingredient utilized in beer. They supply the bitter flavor frequently associated with beer. Yeast is a single-celled microorganism. There are a couple of classifications of yeast used in beer making. Ale yeast floats near the surface of the beer during fermentation, so it is termed top fermenting. Conversely, lager yeasts are bottom fermenting, and normally ferment more slowly. They normally ferment at approximately 50 degrees F (10 degrees C). Hops, yeast and barley are the three core ingredients that you’re going to have to purchase if you’re intending to brew beer at home.
Filed under beer, beer recipe, home brewing, home brewing beer recipes by Greg Holmes
Home brewing is becoming more popular during the economic downturn. Craft brewing has a long history, which archeological evidence. Mashing is the first stage. You crush the malted grains and soak in warm water to create an extract of the malt. The fourth stage is fermentation. Cover and leave the home craft brew and let it ferment. What remains is how to package your home brew After it has been brewed, the beer is normally a finished product. Many craft brewing enthusiasts choose a long conditioning period for various strong beers like barley and wines
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Filed under beer, beer recipe, home brewing, home brewing beer recipes by Emily Goodman
The origins of beer can be traced back to the Sumerians who occupied southern Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) in 6000 BC. Weihenstephan – founded in 725 AD Benedictine Weihenstephan Abbey in southern Germany has the oldest, functioning brewery in the world (built 1040AD). Augustiner – the Augustinian Brotherhood started brewing Augustiner beer in 1328, 600 years after Welhenstephan. The brewery soon moved to Neuhauser Strae. Stella Artois – a world renowned brand with global appeal, Stella Artois (Stella) is the most famous of all Belgian beers.
Only the Czechs and the Irish consume more beer per capita than the people of Germany. Water and hops are the only other ingredients used in most modern and classic German beer. Among the top fermenting brews are the Altbier, a darker brew that has a rich taste. German bottom fermenting brews include Helles, which is a pale beer with a malty taste, and Schwarzbier, a dark lager that has a taste similar to chocolate.
Filed under beer by Greg Holmes
If you want to drink beer that’s perfectly chilled, why not consider buying a beer cooler. If you have a beer cooler, you won’t have to drink warm beer every again. Beer coolers are quite popular right now. Many people love drinking cold beer and are tired of drinking warm beer. With a beer chiller, you never have to worry about that. Look online to buy your beer cooler – there are quite a few stores that specialize in speciality beer products like beer coolers.
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Filed under beer by Jason Tanner
Oktoberfest is the worlds largest fair taking place every year in Bavaria. You can also throw your own Oktoberfest party using the following Oktoberfest party ideas:
1. Get some cardboard to make your invitations. Cut out shapes of lederhosen, beer goggles, beer glasses, beer kegs, beer steins and bratwurst. Remember to say on your invites that they will be charged an admittance fee if they fail to dress up!
2. For costumes, the guys are expected to wear lederhosen leather shorts. They are truly horrible but very funny. Get some braces to hold them up! Also you’ll need some knee height white socks and a hat with a feather in!
3. For the ladies, you should consider dressing up in a traditional alpine peasant girl costume. This includes a tight bodice and a lacy blouse.
4. The Bavarian flag is of blue and white, so get plenty of decorations including balloons in these colors.
5. To make your venue look like a traditional brau haus bier keller, you need long wooden tables and benches. If necessary fix them together, but they should be in a long line!
6. Cut out bratwursts, lederhosen, beer glasses and beer kegs from cardboard and hang them from the ceiling. If you’re ambitious, you can also hang gingerbread men up too.
7. Dont forget the German flag to hang on the walls and miniature versions for the tables. It may not be pretty, but its traditional!
8. Consider hiring out a brass band to play traditional beer hall music. This of course is budget dependant!
9. You should make some of the many famous German dishes such as; garlic bread, weiner schnitzel, sausage stuffed mushrooms, pretzels, sauerkraut, nuremburgers, meatloaf, bratwurst, black forest cake, apple strudel and gingerbread.
10. Finally on to the beer! Germany makes the best beer in the world! Get in a wide variety of German beer as people will be wanting to sample many different kinds of beer. Make sure you have plenty of glasses and even beer steins.
We hope you have found some useful Oktoberfest Party Ideas here as well as inspiration for your party! We also have many more Oktoberfest Party Ideas to help you with your party preparations and enable you to throw the best Oktoberfest party possible that your guests and yourself will remember forever!
Filed under beer by Damian Jackson
Ale yeast is said to be ‘top-fermenting’ since the yeast cells tend to accumulate (’flocculate’) at the top. Lager yeast migrates to the bottom of the tank during fermentation and so is called ‘bottom-fermenting’. In the case of ale yeast, some interaction with oxygen takes place during fermentation. Ale yeast ferments quicker, a few days to two. Temperature ranges vary, though, and can easily be in the higher range. Many ale yeasts have a full-bodied, fruity aroma and taste. Wheat beer yeast goes into this ale-style brew, where it helps produce a fruity, intense character.
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer recipe, home brewing by jamesjohn
The character of the malts, hops and the brewing process in total contribute to the feel of the brew in the mouth. Carbon dioxide bubbles interact with receptors on the tongue and influence whether the brew feels thick or light, creamy or thin. Brews run the gamut from metallic to astringent to warm and gentle. Often the aspect focused on most, flavor is rightly so the center of the beer tasting experience. Research suggests there are over a 1000 identifiable flavors in a given brew. Of these, professional tasters can identify around 100 distinct flavors.
Filed under Beer News, Wine-Spirts, beer by jamesjohn
Start with a clean, dry glass for each brew being considered. Appearance, aroma, mouthfeel, flavor and aftertaste all play a part in the experience, along with more subtle aspects. Humans are visual creatures. What they see strongly influences their subsequent perceptions. A glass of dark brown with a creamy brown two-inch head will create another. But, blind taste tests often produce surprising results. Many have identified their favorite brew as dull or even distasteful aroma.
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
Beer tasting professionals have developed practices over decades that can easily be used by anyone wanting to maximize their tasting experience. Begin with a fresh brew. Use a clean, air-dried glass. Cotton and paper particles can introduce unwanted character, can interfere with head production and oils and dirt can interfere with aromas and alter head retention. For extra foamy brews, pause mid-way then finish. Experience the aroma.
Filed under Beer News, Wine-Spirts, beer by jamesjohn
Which glass looks best for beer presentation is largely a subjective issue. For the utmost in tasting, hand-wash your glass in warm water and rinse well. Allow to air dry. Hand towels, and especially paper towels, can introduce bits of cloth or paper.
Purists will avoid frosting the glass, since that can change the temperature and introduce moisture into the brew. The Weizen is named for Weizenbier (wheat beer), a Bavarian brew. The traditional English serving glass is the Pint Glass (or Becker), a tall, round, tumbler-shaped container with thin walls. The Stange is a traditional German-style, a straight cylinder used to serve delicate beers. They function well to concentrate volatiles, leading to a heady aroma. Malt and hop complexity is easier to judge using these fine serving vessels
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
Even so simple an act as pouring a glass of beer is surrounded with controversy. When the glass is half-full, (not half-empty, there are no pessimists among beer pouring specialists!), tip the glass upright and continue to pour into the middle.
Gentle pouring down the side of the tilted glass helps keep the foam down to moderate height. Steepen the angle or pour from a higher distance for thicker foam. For those who want the maximum that a beer offers, pour some of the settled yeast out of the bottle into the glass. See, nothing about pouring escapes controversy!
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
With the mashing process of malted grain completed, certain duties have been relieved in order to continue the beer brewing process. It is at this stage commonly that the amateur home brewer can enter the process of beer brewing with readily available liquid malt extract in a can. Whether the raw ingredients of barley grain are more difficult to come by, or the brewer wishes to bypass the elementary level of mashing, these canned syrups which just require the addition of water can certainly make the whole brewing process more convenient to the average consumer brewer.
Brewing beer has its basic fundamentals, although they are not entirely a set of rules which must be adhered to precisely. Manipulating each part of the brewing process can result in various outcomes, and in changing these, a brewer can determine the characteristics desired in the brew.
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Filed under Beer News, beer, beer recipe, home brewing by jamesjohn
Interested in expanding your horizons, as far as your beer consumption is concerned? Learn about the different beers out there and how they are made. Beer has been in our midst for as long as anyone can remember it is one of the most common alcohol beverage to be consumed in the world. But its worth a thought as to how beer is actually made.
Wondering why the hobby of home brewing is growing? It isn’t the recession, people will always find ways to afford beer and alcohol. The main reason the hobby of brewing beer at home is becoming so popular is because it is fun.
Filed under beer by jamesjohn
I ran across a nice little article that talks about some of the simple differences of starter home beer making kits. The most basic of basic kits will only have just the most limited instructions that will be kind of hard to follow. The new home brewer should read a home brewing for dummies type book first. It will make the first time much easier. On the other hand there are some deluxe beer making kits that even include the sanitizer and the malts, just short of the stainless steel pot to brew it in. The important thing to remember when ordering a home brewing kit, is there is two types, the refill kit when you have all the basic equipment to brew beer and the other is the true starter kit.
Quote from Source Article
“Please be aware that some instruction sets that come with starter beer kits are very basic and hard to follow, you’ll stand a far better chance of great tasting beer when using your beer kit first time round by following the instructions from a resource designed to help beginners, where you’ll get all the facts to get you ready to brew.”
article source http://homebrewingmastery.com/31/beer-kit-10-facts-you-need-to-know/
Filed under beer, home brewing by jamesjohn
The good thing about a beer brewing machine is that it is basically a plug and go situation. When you buy the machine, it comes complete with all the ingredients and detailed instructions. You go through the steps and make one good batch of beer. Also a beer brewing machine is sold to make one and only one batch of beer and then, in theory, you are supposed to throw it away.
Filed under beer by Greg Holmes
There are several word that you will be introduced to when brewing beer. Some of them are probably things that you have heard before such as pH, Ale, and Lager. This article will give a more in depth description of these terms as well as give you a variety of new homebrewing vocabulary that you may not have heard yet.
Filed under Beer News, beer, home brewing by jamesjohn
Not many people realize that there are different types of beer glasses. However, even less people know that there are many types of beer glasses that are geared for German-style beer!
More on Let Me Explain The Number of Styles of German Beer Glasses
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
German Beer Glasses: German beers tend to get their own special type of drinking glass, and the beer glasses are configured to enhance the taste of the beer. Hefeweizen, Kristallweizen and Dunkles are served in glasses that are tall and elegant, with a narrow base broadening toward the top before tapering slightly again. There is often a spiralling effect ascending from the bottom of the glass.
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Filed under Beer News, Wine-Spirts, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
People wonder if they should have a beer keg at home. Here are some of the reasons you should have a beer keg at home. If you do not drink beer, you need not need to read this.
Filed under Wine-Spirts, beer, beer dispensers, home brewing storage by jamesjohn
There’s nothing better than a crisp, cold beer at the end of a long day. But if you’ve just got them from the store, they’re going to be lukewarm by the time you get them home. Dilemma. How do you avoid that? By investing in a beer chiller of course! There are few things in life that come as a bigger disappointment than a warm beer. We have all experienced this, at a party perhaps or a summer barbeque, and it happens time and time again!
Filed under beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
Mashing is the process of soaking the grains in the water at a particular temperature, which is dictated by the type of beer you are brewing. Lautering, as it is often called, may be followed by the running of more hot water over the grains. Simply run the hot water through the grain bed so as to make sure that you extract all of the sugar that is hidden within the grains. Once the malt sugar has been included, bring the water back to a boil. Simply aim to boil the water for about 80 minutes or so. Having done so, reduce the temperature of the water to approximately 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Filed under beer, home brewing by Greg Holmes
A 12 ounce tapered glass that is tall and slender. Pilsner glasses are good for showing a beer’s color, carbonation level, and for head retention. Designed to be used with “pilsner” beers. These are tall, with a shape that evenly tapers from a wider mouth to a narrower base with no curves. The shape of the Pilsner glass provides a stage for the light, gold color of the traditional pilsner beer while the wide mouth allows formation of a foamy head to keep in the flavor and aroma of the hops.
Filed under Beer News, Wine-Spirts, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
