Liquid bread - what you should know about beer
The Sumerians are to blame. Or the Egyptians. They left half-baked bread in the water, it was fermenting and the first beer was ready. The Celts also brewed a simple barley beer called Kurma and? Asterix fans beware? the cervisia made of wheat and honey. Today there is more than beer: pils, export, lager, wheat, old, Kölsch, Bock, Märzen, smoked beer, steam beer. Who knows the difference?
What is beer?
Everyone knows the German Purity Law: "What we particularly want is that in all of our cities, markets and in the countryside there should be no more beer than barley, hops and water used and needed for any beer." The Bavarian Duke William IV wanted in 1516 to achieve that his subjects no longer threatened by the brewed potions, because in the past the beer was seasoned with everything possible: juniper, herbs, rosemary and also with poisonous henbane, which can cause hallucinations. No wonder that brewing was also associated with witchcraft! So when they discovered the hops as a seasoning ingredient, that was a relief, especially since this made the beer more durable.
Barley was written in the list of ingredients, so that the wheat was reserved for bread baking. Also, the barley was digestible by the brewing process and the beer contributed to the calorie supply. Later it was discovered that sprouted barley, dried at high temperatures, is more suitable for brewing. And as famine no longer threatened, the Purity Law was extended over the years to other crops such as wheat and spoke only of "malt".
But why did not Wilhelm mention the yeast? Because he did not know her. In the opinion of the people back then, the beer fermented just like that. Yeasts used to be abundant in the air. The brewing process was therefore often a matter of luck, because the mash, the barley-water mixture was left open and began to ferment by itself. It was not until Louis Pasteur described yeast as crucial to the fermentation process in the 19th century that it was included in the purity law.
Beer in Germany is therefore brewed only from four ingredients: water, malt, hops, yeast.
Where does it ferment: top or bottom fermented beer?
Surely everyone has heard the term top- or bottom-fermented beer. That does not mean that one foams more or the other needs more time. The yeast is the ultimate. Top-fermented yeasts rise during the fermentation process to the surface, untergärige on the ground. Until the 19th century, the cold stores were invented, there were almost only top-fermented beers, as these yeasts at higher temperatures (15-20 ° C) work as the bottom-fermented (4-9 ° C). The weather determined what was brewed: it was warm, top-fermented, it was cold, bottom-fermented, it was too cold, not even one. Although there were also beer cellars, but was brewed before 1800 mostly at home (beer was? Daily liquid bread?) And then only in winter? also because it was mostly forbidden in the summer because of the fire danger. A landmark in the history of bottom-fermented beers was the Pilsener brewing style: in 1842, Josef Groll presented a bottom-fermented beer brewed with only slightly malted malt and whose fermentation in deep cellars was extremely slow.
The original wort
This term refers to the proportion of fermentable extract in the liquid? So practically how much strength the mash contains. The more original wort, the higher the alcohol content. If you know the wort content, for example 15%, you divide this number by three and get the alcohol content. Then divide then the German beer types under tax law (!). Mainly that
Single beer (original wort 1.5% to 6.9%), draft beer (7.0% to 10.9%), full beer (11.0% to 15.9%) and strong beer (at least 16.0%).
Export, Pils, Lager. Where's the difference?
First in the fermentation garden? see above.
- Untergärige beers are for example: Export, Pilsener, Lager, Bock beer, Märzen
- Top-fermented beers are: Old, Kölsch, Ale, Wheat, Berliner Weiße.
Then in the original wort or alcohol content and the recipe.
Here are the most important bottom-fermented beers:
Pilsener
With 60% market share the most-drunk beer in Germany. Original wort 11-12%, relatively high, but regionally different bitter values by the hops.
Bright, dark, bearing, export
In the past, all bottom-fermented beers were called lager (in England this is still the case today), as they could be stored longer in the ice cellar by the brewing process. Today it is called bottom-fermented beers with the original wort content of Pilsener and significantly less hop content. A "bright" one There are mainly in Bavaria, here is the beer filtered and golden yellow. The dark is made with dark malt, the brewing process emphasizes the caramel notes. Finally, export also refers to the shelf life: a bottom-fermented beer with 6% alcohol and hop content lasts longer, which was of great importance for the export!
Marches
In the past brewing time was only in winter, in summer it was not possible or it was forbidden. Therefore, the last brews were brewed stronger in March, with more original wort and more hops. This kept the strong, full-bodied March beers over the summer.
Bock beer
Bock beer is strong beer with a wort content of 16 to 18%. ?Inventor? is the brewery Einbeck, but also the monasteries were active: For the monks was the rich Bockbier dietary supplement in Lent.
Kellerbier
What comes unfiltered directly from the cellar into the pitcher is Kellerbier.
Trend Craftbeer: Can you also brew beer yourself?
More and more beer connoisseurs are turning their backs on the big uniform beers and are once again relying on small, regional breweries. As a result, many "craft berries", artisanal beers developed. Beer does not always have to taste like advertising! If you feel like it, you can even try to brew your own beer. There are beer brewing sets for that? can you order on the internet? that make it a bit easier to make your own beer. A little tip: provide time, patience, a Einkochautomat and a cool basement room, in advance before a few boxes of beer in ironing bottles empty and pick up. And then: off to the mash!
Tips for beer
If you like to drink strong beer and do not want to quench your thirst, you should try Belgian Trappist beer. Attention: a lot of alcohol and absolutely delicious!
Beer as a punch: Altbierbowle
Perfect in the strawberry time: For 8 people 250g strawberries clean and cut, sprinkle with sugar syrup (4 tablespoons sugar with 250ml of water boil and let cool). Add one liter of cold Altbier. The sugar syrup can be replaced with diluted raspberry syrup, the punch can be supplemented with canned peaches and spiced up on request with Grand Marnier.
You can pack everything in beer batter
Mix 200g flour, 1 tbsp oil, 1/8 l light beer, and 5 tbsp milk until smooth. 2 eggs and 1/1 tsp salt. Let it swell for half an hour. Then pull pieces of vegetables, fish or meat through the dough and fry in hot fat.
Pig likes malt
Beer sauces for roast pork are full-bodied, if you use dark export beer or malt beer for extinguishing.
Chicken with beer, I advise you
If you regularly roast fried chicken with beer during roasting, the skin will be pretty crispy.
