100 Beers #1: Spider's Idiosyncratic Intro to Beer (Part 1 OMG)
This is the first post in my series of 100 Beers. I figure before we even get into the tastings, we need to know what we're talking about.
First up: Ale versus Beer. This is the most important concept!
Ale, basically, is any beverage made from fermented grain. It is far, far older than beer. Traces of ale have been found in the archaeological record of almost every culture on Earth that uses pottery jars, soon after the domestication of cereal crops. Anthropologists consider the creation of some kind of ale (or wine in southern climates) and bread to be the most important development in biochemical engineering since the discovery of cooking, as well as a necessary condition for the transition from paleolithic to neolithic civilization.
We are talking as long as 7000 years ago, people! By the rise of Babylon a few thousand years later, the Code of Hammurabi contained regulations for the production of ale and the running of taverns. Ale is mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh as the beverage given to Enkidu as part of the taming of the Wild Man. The Sumerian goddess of brewing is Ninkasi, and Sumerian brewers were exclusively priestesses of Ninkasi. Next time you raise a pint, give a toast to the Sumerians and a libation to Ninkasi.
Why didn't ale appear until after cereal domestication? Because you have to leave grain sitting around in a damp place long enough to attract moisture and airborne yeasts. That takes time and a stored surplus of grain. And speaking of grain plus water plus yeast plus time, what does that remind you of? BREAD. Yes, ale truly is liquid bread. Now you understand my parallel obsessions with beer and bread. It's a yeast infection. (*rimshot*)
The thing is, ale can go bad. You know how if you leave a loaf of bread lying around it gets moldy? Ale does that too. If you want to store your ale for any length of time, or use it as a trade commodity, you need a preserving agent. That brings us to one of the fundamental, technical differences between ale and beer: hops. Hops is a flavoring, an aromatic, a soporific, and -- most important for our purposes -- a preservative. Using hops in ale to create what was eventually called beer was a process perfected in Germany and the Netherlands some time around the 13th century.
--> Fun fact! Hops (Humulus lupulus) is part of the taxonomic family known as Cannabaceae. There are only two other members of this family: hackberries (celtis) and .... you guessed it! The closest known relative of hops is cannabis. Thus completing the circle of Spider's Favorite Pastimes: bread, beer and cannabis. LOGICS - I CAN HAZ.
The other technical, fundamental difference between beer and ale is the strain of yeast. Ale uses my dear old friend Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a "top-fermenting" yeast also known as brewer's yeast and baker's yeast. S. cerevisiae is happiest at warmer temperatures and foams on the top of its liquid medium. (Remember, when you bloom yeast for baking, you add it to warm water and it foams on top. MORE LOGICS!) Beer, on the other hand, uses the "bottom-fermenting" yeast S. pastorianus. It's happiest at cold temperatures and sinks to the bottom of the medium.
These days, though, ale contains hops and beer might contain top-fermenting yeast, so it's more of a style difference than anything else.
That's more than enough for this time. Next time I'll start in on beer styles, beer terminology and how to taste beer.
Until then, my friends,
Carpe Cerevisi -- seize the beer!
This entry was originally posted at http://spiderine.dreamwidth.org/529753.html. There are
comments over there. I've disabled LJ's Facebook and Twitter cross-posting idiocy as much as I can, but if you're especially concerned, feel free to comment there.
First up: Ale versus Beer. This is the most important concept!
Ale, basically, is any beverage made from fermented grain. It is far, far older than beer. Traces of ale have been found in the archaeological record of almost every culture on Earth that uses pottery jars, soon after the domestication of cereal crops. Anthropologists consider the creation of some kind of ale (or wine in southern climates) and bread to be the most important development in biochemical engineering since the discovery of cooking, as well as a necessary condition for the transition from paleolithic to neolithic civilization.
We are talking as long as 7000 years ago, people! By the rise of Babylon a few thousand years later, the Code of Hammurabi contained regulations for the production of ale and the running of taverns. Ale is mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh as the beverage given to Enkidu as part of the taming of the Wild Man. The Sumerian goddess of brewing is Ninkasi, and Sumerian brewers were exclusively priestesses of Ninkasi. Next time you raise a pint, give a toast to the Sumerians and a libation to Ninkasi.
Why didn't ale appear until after cereal domestication? Because you have to leave grain sitting around in a damp place long enough to attract moisture and airborne yeasts. That takes time and a stored surplus of grain. And speaking of grain plus water plus yeast plus time, what does that remind you of? BREAD. Yes, ale truly is liquid bread. Now you understand my parallel obsessions with beer and bread. It's a yeast infection. (*rimshot*)
The thing is, ale can go bad. You know how if you leave a loaf of bread lying around it gets moldy? Ale does that too. If you want to store your ale for any length of time, or use it as a trade commodity, you need a preserving agent. That brings us to one of the fundamental, technical differences between ale and beer: hops. Hops is a flavoring, an aromatic, a soporific, and -- most important for our purposes -- a preservative. Using hops in ale to create what was eventually called beer was a process perfected in Germany and the Netherlands some time around the 13th century.
--> Fun fact! Hops (Humulus lupulus) is part of the taxonomic family known as Cannabaceae. There are only two other members of this family: hackberries (celtis) and .... you guessed it! The closest known relative of hops is cannabis. Thus completing the circle of Spider's Favorite Pastimes: bread, beer and cannabis. LOGICS - I CAN HAZ.
The other technical, fundamental difference between beer and ale is the strain of yeast. Ale uses my dear old friend Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a "top-fermenting" yeast also known as brewer's yeast and baker's yeast. S. cerevisiae is happiest at warmer temperatures and foams on the top of its liquid medium. (Remember, when you bloom yeast for baking, you add it to warm water and it foams on top. MORE LOGICS!) Beer, on the other hand, uses the "bottom-fermenting" yeast S. pastorianus. It's happiest at cold temperatures and sinks to the bottom of the medium.
These days, though, ale contains hops and beer might contain top-fermenting yeast, so it's more of a style difference than anything else.
That's more than enough for this time. Next time I'll start in on beer styles, beer terminology and how to taste beer.
Until then, my friends,
Carpe Cerevisi -- seize the beer!
This entry was originally posted at http://spiderine.dreamwidth.org/529753.html. There are
comments over there. I've disabled LJ's Facebook and Twitter cross-posting idiocy as much as I can, but if you're especially concerned, feel free to comment there.