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Ever wonder exactly what goes into creating your favorite brew? While some beers are brewed with added ingredients (orange peels, cinnamon, fruits and berries), there’s only four essential components that make up all beers – water, yeast, barley, and hops. Don’t be fooled by the small amount of ingredients needed to make beer; the brewing process is still an extremely delicate operation. But with so few integral parts, it’s no wonder beer champions as one of the world’s oldest beverages.
Water – Like most beverages around the world, beer mainly consists of water. Most brewers use high-quality water to craft their brews. The chemical make-up of the treated water (i.e. salt level, pH, minerals, etc.) can slightly affect the way your beer tastes. According to A Guide to Brewing Water Treatment, “Water is a deceptively understated and underrated force in the making of any beer. Hugely variable throughout the world, it is abundant with minerals and organic compounds that have the ability to elevate an ordinary recipe to the status of a world classic, or drown it in the shallows of mediocrity. Luckily for brewers, water is also a flexible substance that can be made to order to brew beers of any style – provided it is treated right.” Interested in learning more? We’d recommend giving that in-depth article on brewing water treatment a read.
Yeast – There are two main types of beer yeast: top-fermenting yeast and bottom-fermenting yeast. When added to the brew, the yeast converts fermentable sugars into alcohol through a metabolic process called fermentation. The yeast also produces other byproducts during fermentation, one of which is carbon dioxide (CO2).
Barley – The use of malted barley or other starch sources gives your beer the necessary fermentable material needed to make your beer. The yeast interacts with these sugars or carbohydrates during fermentation to produce alcohol. According to Wikipedia, malted grain is the most common starch source for beer. Other sources may include: wheat, rice, oats, etc. The type of barley and roasting process used gives your beer the distinct flavors and varieties you see on the market today.
Hops – The last main ingredient used in the brewing process is hops. While the hops themselves don’t help during the fermentation process, they do contribute a great deal to the flavor profile (citrus, floral, herbal) and can act as a natural preservative. Farmers grow and harvest the hops from vines, found in a great variety all around the world. The preservative character of hops played a large part in the creation of India Pale Ales (IPA), brewed to last long sea voyages during the eighteenth century.