Brewing Up Some Chemistry!

Carla with some of the Barley!

The four types of barley/malt.

Double Bock Beer

Centenniel Hops

Hallertau Hops

Citra and Centenniel Hops

Carla with one of the  beers, but not drinking it of course!

Brewing Up Some Chemistry!

     Today we had a guest speaker, Andrew Van Til, who is a professional beer brewer and taster. I came into this day with basically zero knowledge about beer, so I was interested to learn more about the process of beer brewing. We had the opportunity to not only learn about what goes into beer, but we also had the opportunity to taste some barley and smell various types of beers. I came away from the day with a much better understanding of beer brewing and the overall field of beer production.

     In the first part of the presentation Mr. Van Til talked about malt. This is also known as barley and gives beer a sweet taste. This was very interesting to me because I didn’t even know that malt and barley was the same thing! We were able to taste four different kinds of barley and also boil some in water, which is the mashing part of the beer making process. He also provided a little history on barley. He said that over the centuries bakers have come to prefer wheat because there is no husk. However, brewers have come to prefer barley because they need the husk material to get the beer right in centrifuge. We also made a mash, which was when we mixed water with the barley. This is done in order to unlock enzymes in order for the beer to later ferment. I also learned that the color of the malt determines the color of the beer. For example, a pale malt is going to yield a very yellow colored beer.

     We also had the chance to smell some beers. We smelled a “Double Bock” beer which smelled very strong to me. To me, it smelled like a fruity wine. I was shocked at how this beer and the next one we smelled were extremely dark colored. Both of these beers looked like a dark colored pop rather than beer. The second beer did not smell as bitter. It smelled rather smoky. Mr. Van Til told us that this malt had been smoked, which gave the beer a smoky smell and consequently also has a smoky taste.

     The next part of the presentation was about hops. I was not at all aware of what hops were prior to this day. I found out that they are a plant that grows about 2 feet per day! It is also much harder to come by than barley and there has even been a hops shortage. We looked at Centenniel Hops, Fuggulls, Citra, and Hallertau Hops. They all smelled very sour to me. The Citra had a citrucy smell to me, but I still had to wrinkle my nose at the smell of it. The Fuggulls had an earthy smell to it that reminded me of freshly cut hay. They all had a very strong smell to me and I really did not enjoy smelling these different types of hops. Mr. Van Til told us that Hops have been used for centuries in beers and are now used universally. Hops are much more bitter and are put into beer to balance out the sweetness of the malt. They also have an antiseptic quality.

     We were able to smell two more beers that were more focused on the Hops characteristic. The first was “Hops Stupid”. This was a sweeter smelling beer. It was fruity smelling and reminded me of tropical fruit. This beer was much lighter in color, reminding me of the color of apple juice. I thought this juice smelled much nicer than I expected, considering the foul smell of the hops! The second beer was “Prima Hills”. This was also a yellow-gold color and had more of a spicy, peppery smell to it. This is a beer made by hops from Germany, and is more characteristic of hops grown there. I was also interested to learn about the term “skunky” beer. This is when the taste and smell of beer takes on a skunky aroma because it has altered due to UV light. This can happen by beer being exposed to UV light during transport or by simply sitting next to a fridge with UV light. This was an interesting to that I would have never previously been aware of.

      The final part of the presentation was about yeast. This is a single-celled organism in the fungus family. This is what ferments and gives the beer its alcoholic quality. I also learned about the difference between ale and lager. Ale is made with ale yeast. However, lager is made with a lager yeast which ferments at cellar temperature. Lager, in German, literally means “to store”. We had the opportunity to smell two more beers. They were both very light colored, having a yellow-gold color. The first beer smelled like banana or bubble gum. Interestingly, the chemical that makes bananas taste like bananas is also in this type of beer. However, this beer has never neared bananas. This beer also had a hint of a cloves scent. The second beer was a Belgian beer that had more of an earthy smell. It was interesting to learn that this beer is extremely hard to duplicate, as its origins are a small brewery in Belgium.

     The final two beers we got to smell were “Dragon’s Milk” and “Gail’s Prize Old Ale”. These were also dark colored, like coke pop color. The “Dragon’s Milk” had more of a carmel smell that was rather strong, accurately living up to its name. The other beer had more of a sweet smell; I would describe its smell as a tamer version of the first. They are both more aged beers made in giant old oak tubs called Bourbon barrels. I was also interested to learn that beer cannot make you sick. Microbes that can make humans ill cannot really survive in beer and that is why they are able do aging processes like this one. Overall, I came away from the day with a much better understanding of beer and the complexity of the brewing process. It is a much wider field than I had previously thought and the types of beer are endless. I feel that as I approach my 21st birthday next week, I will be better able to make an informed beer decision!