The History of Beer

It is known that beer was first brewed by the Mesopotamians and the Sumerians around 10,000 B.C. No one knows today exactly how this occurred, but it could be that a piece of bread or grain became wet and a short time later, it began to ferment and a inebriating pulp resulted. Throughout the middle ages the process of beer making has been refined and improved, but it wasn't until a guy by the name of Louis Pasteur came along that the process became final. He established that yeast is a living microorganism. Now brewers could control the conversion of sugar to alcohol.

The Process of Beer Making

Although all beers have their own taste and have their own special touch of ingredient, each brewing company uses the same four step process.
1) Barley is the first and main ingredient to come into play. These seeds are soaked and then begin their development into plants. Enzymes are released that will break down the protein and starches in each grain (or seed) into sugar that will nourish the baby plant. When this process has started, the barley is cooked in Kiln, stopping the growth process while the enzymes are at their peak production. This process is known as malting.

2) The second step is known as the mashing stage. This is the stage when grain is transformed into sugar. To do this, the grains are crushed and then soaked in water. This breaks down the proteins which will eventually give the beer its body. Starches are also broken down into sugars that will nourish the yeast. The "mash" is heated and strained to stop a substance known as wort.

3) The third step is just bringing the wort to a boil, adding the flowers of the female hop plant. Bitter resins and aromatic hop oils are released when boiling. The beer then gets cooled and the yeast is added allowing it to soak up all or most of the sugars in the wort. This process is called fermentation (producing the alcohol).

4) The last step is separating the beer from the yeast and putting it in a container for a second fermentation allowing it to get aged and carbonated. Artificial carbon dioxide is used sometimes instead.