Fezz

Ingredients-

Beer is made up of four ingredients. The four ingredients are; malt, hops, water, and yeast. The Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516, "Reinheitsgebot", decreed that only barley, hops, and water may be used in the production of beer. It was not until 1841, when Mitcherlich discovered the role of yeast in fermentation, that yeast was included in the four main ingredients. Other ingredients that can be used in the production of beer are; wheat, rye, corn, rice, cane-beet-corn sugars, potatoes, fruits, spices, and a host of many other flavoring agents.

Malt-

The common source of fermentable sugars that are used in the production of beer is barley malt. It is made from the raw barley malt going through a process called malting. Malting begins with the wetting of the grains and keeping them at specific temperatures until it germinates. After the correct amount of growth, the grain is kilned(heated and dried in a kiln). The grain is then cleaned. Malting is important because it releases enzymes which are later used to convert proteins, starch, and other compounds into nutrients and sugars that are needed during the beer making process. There are two main varieties of barley grown for malting: 2-row and 6-row. 2-row barley has two rows of kernels on each ear of barley whereas 6-row has 6. There are base malts and specialty malts used in beer making. Most beers start with a base malt and add various specialty malts to impart color, mouthfeel, head retention, and additional sugars for fermentation. The malts are steeped in warm, or hot water to extract the fermentable sugars.

To be continued......