The Making of Beer
By Steve Hobman
The art of brewing: mash some malted barley, chuck in some water, bit of yeast and a add a few hops, maybe a little brewing sugar - and there you have it. Job is done: beer.
Can't think why more people don't do it. Come to think of it, they used to. Before the advent of breweries women - alewives - would brew the beer at home because the water wasn't fit to drink. Happy days, eh?
However, in the 19th century brewing moved on a pace. Eventually we ended up with a raft of big family regional brewers. Many of these, in the mid-to-late 20th century, were eaten up by mergers and take-over to morph into the present day 'big boys' of brewing - vast global brewers who are more interested in flooding the planet with the fizzy stuff than nurturing the heritage of those busy alewives.
But, it's not all bad. At the same time that the global Goliaths have grown like topsy, a mighty little army of micro 'David' brewers have also bred and thrived to throw slingshots of thousands of different brews. So how do they do it?
Well, maybe it is not quite so simple as we first thought. In fact, apparently, it can be quite tricky. A new brewer just starting up these days has first to decide what sort of ale he wants to brew and buy the appropriate kit; what will drinkers want to drink and - for most - what will be commercially successful. Mainly, and thankfully, they opt for cask-conditioned beer, although some do brew acceptable lager and a few others the pasteurised stuff that will receive no succour from these columns.
Having got this far, fledgling brewers have then to decide what sort of cask beer: traditional bitter ales, mild, paler 'summer' beer, or stouts and porters. Within these broad categories there's a whole raft of flavours and styles that demand a wide variety of hops and malts.
So then there is then the matter of where to source the malt, and what type, what sort of hops should be used for to achieve the hundreds of different aromas and flavours that are to be found in good quality cask-ale. And there's the water. It can and does make a huge difference to beer. Some brewers, lucky enough to have their own supply of spring water, swear by the stuff and the characteristics it gives their brews. Oh, and another little chap that has a big say in the outcome is the yeast - the origin of which for some brewers is a jealously guarded secret. Others swear by brewing sugars that help the fermentation process.
Well, beer making, it seems, is not just a craft but quite an art. The intention in these pages is to examine just what goes into that artistry. Just what really is in that pint of wallop? And how does it become a pint of that juicy, delectable, creamy, orgasmic liquid whose restorative power knows no bounds. So relax, sit back and pour yourself a glass and enjoy.
What is cask-conditioned beer or real ale?
Cask-conditioned beer is brewed from traditional ingredients and allowed to mature naturally in the cask in the pub cellar. It does this because the beer in the cask contains live yeast which continues to condition the beer and create characteristic flavours right until it is served as a pint. This means that it has much more richness of flavour, aroma and character than keg beer, which has been pasteurised and is served with the help of gas - yucky, yuk!