Beer, Ancient Beginnings, and Brewing Basics

When you sit down to throw back a cold one on aThe kinds of yeast used are responsible for creating
Friday night after a long hard week, you rarelykinds of beer such ale, automatically fermented, and
wonder "how did beer get its start?" Well, sincelager. It is manufactured through a brewing process.
you're not out partying with the gang right now youThere are five steps that go into manufacturing it:
may have some interest. It is likely the oldest humanmashing, sparging, boiling, fermentation, and
made beverage known to civilization. Expertspackaging. To get ferment able sugars a mash of a
estimate that the beverage we know and love gotstarch and water. The mix is heated at least once
its start around 6,000 BCE. The Sumerian's deemed itand sometimes multiple times.
important enough to include in their historicalEnzymes are combined with the mash every time
accounts. Egypt and Mesopotamia also have recordsthe temperature is heightened. The kind of starch
that make references to the beloved beverage.determines how many times the mash is heated.
Experts have stumbled across the chemical remainsSparging takes the wort from the mash mixture.
of it dating to 3500-3100 BC.During this step as much ferment able liquid that can
Beer is created by fermenting sugars that are insidebe gathered is taken from the mash. Boiling takes the
starch type grains such as: corn, malted barley (themicrobes out of the wort and heightens the amount
most widely used), rice, and wheat. More rare formsof sugar. Hops is added at this step to counteract
of starch that may be used are agave (Mexico),bitterness. During fermentation, yeast is put in to
cassava (African), millet, potatoes (Brazil), anddevelop the wort sugars into carbon dioxide and
sorghum. Starch is immersed in water with enzymesalcohol. This is where the wort actually turns into the
that will create a sugar wort. The wort is seasonedactual drink. It is carbonated during the packaging
with fruit, herbs, or hops (most popular). Next, yeastprocess. It's a process worth the wait-cheers!
is mixed in to catalyze the fermentation process.