Getting to Know your Malted Barley

Two row barley in the field.

With an embarrassingly large variety of grains available to the homebrewer these days, it can be difficult to make choices among them.  There is so much to consider. For instance, a small amount of dark crystal malt will result in the same color as a larger amount of lighter crystal malt, but the flavor and aroma will not be the same.  It is necessary to have some understanding of the malting process, and to develop familiarity with the different types of malts to make choices that will result in the beer ending up the way you want it to.

The Malting Process

A discussion of the malting process could easily consume all of the space intended for this article.  To stay focused, we will cover it as concisely as possible.  The grain (typically barley, but others such as wheat or rye are also used) is steeped and germinated.  Read the rest of this entry »

Video: Home brew beer, the basics of beer brewing

The step by step process used by Jordan M. Wright, to brew a malt extract recipe beer. This is a great video to watch if you’re brewing for the first time, or want to know more about how to home brew.

Home brew beer, the basics of beer brewing

Basic Ingredients of Beer (Home brewed, micro brewed, and commercial)

The main ingredients found in beer are water, malted barley, hops, and yeast.  There are other ingredients such as flavoring, sugar, and other ingredients that are commonly used.  Starches are used as well, as they convert in the mashing process to easily fermentable sugars that will help to increase the alcohol content of beer while adding body and flavor.

Historical Ingredient Reference of Beer
In Germany the “Reinheitsgebot” law, or “German Beer Purity Law” stated in it’s original text written in 1516, that the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley, and hops. The Reinheitsgebot was designed to prevent inferior methods of preserving and flavoring beer that had been used before the introduction of hops, which is a natural bactirial inhibitor and major flavor component of modern beer. Prior to this, medieval brewermasters had used many problematic (and toxic) ingredients to preserve beers, including, for example, soot and fly agaric mushrooms. More commonly, other herbs had been used, such as wormwood, yarrow, stinging nettle and henbane. Pre-hop beers are generally referred to as “Gruit”.

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