Beer & Brewing

Hardiness

Calcium & magnesium levels

Alkalinity

Carbonate levels & pH scale

What pH should the mash have

5.2-5.6

Calcium: Name 4 important aspects HARDINESS

1. Essential nutrient for yeast

2. Needed for isomerization of hop acids

3. Formation of hot break & flocculation

4. Forms foam

Magnesium: Name 3 important aspects

1. Second ion creating hardness

2. Essential nutrient for yeast

3. High levels can be bitter or astringent

Sodium: Name one important aspect

Rounds out malt flavors

Chloride: importance

Accentuates fullness & perception of malt flavors

Carbonates & Bicarbonates: Importance

Increases pH & alkalinity

Sulfates: Importance

Creates drier mouthfeel & enhances perception of bitter hop taste

Sulfate:Chloride ratio

More C: mouthfeel & malt flavors

More S: hop bitterness, drier & crispier beer

How to decrease pH?

Acids

Dextrin malt

Caramel malt made to have unfermentable sugars (dextrins)

Enhances mouthfeel & foam

What is roasted barley used for? Made from?

Provides color & dry roasted coffee-like flavors

Unmalted barley

What is used acid malt & smoked malts used for?

Decrease mash pH

Give smoky flavor to beer

Why would wheat be used in high amounts

Haze

Rye flavor

Earthy/spicy flavor

Oat flavor

Gums & fats give silky mouthfeel

Rice & Corn

Rice: flavor & color; light lagers

Corn: color & flavor

Name the 5 steps of malting & briefly describe

1. Harvesting

2. Drying

3. Cleaning & screening: remove any debris, cleaning drum

4. Sorting: by size

5. Steeping: seeds soaked in room temp water

6. Germination

7. Kilning: stops germination

8. Cooling & rootlet removal

Two-row barley

Larger, contains more starch & less protein

Six-row barley

Higher protein, higher crop yield & cheaper

Why steep barley seeds in water?

Seed breaks dormancy & begins to germinate

Name 3 methods of helping barley seeds germinate?

1. Drum: air blown into tubes

2. Saladin box: cement box w/ perforated base for air flow

3. Floor-malting: turned periodically, creates uniform modification

When is barley considered fully modified?

When acrospire is nearly same length as entire seed

Modification

Extent of endosperm breakdown

Green malt

raw, grassy, beany

Which barley is most commonly used for brewing?

two-row

Diastatic power

enzymatic content of malted grain, ability to convert starches to sugar during mashing

Diastatic power: specialty malts

Little to none

How are caramel malts made?

Skip drying process & steep in warm water before kilning

What forms do hops come in?

1. Whole cone

2. Pellets

3. Extracts

What are the 3 types of extracts?

1. Pure resin: all components, no leaf material

2. Aroma: just oils, no bitterness contribution (no acids)

3. Iso-extracts: isomerized alpha acids

Nutrients need to be added all the time for yeast to be functional T/F

F

Where does yeast get its nutrients?

Wort

Yeast ____ in presence of oxygen & ___ w/o oxygen

Multiply, ferment

When does yeast stop fermenting?

When they get tired, sugar runs out, alcohol too high

What 2 flavor compounds can yeast produce?

1. esters (fruity)

2. phenols (spicy)

Acetaldehyde

Precursor for ethanol

Diacetyl

Butter or butterscotch flavor

Flocculation

Yeast sticks together & forms large mass when dormant then precipitate & collect at bottom

If yeast flocculates slowly…

Remain suspended- cloudy

If yeast flocculates too quickly…

Won’t convert all sugars into alcohol, won’t aabsorb all off-flavors

Attenuation

Ability of yeast to continue to ferment sugars until they are all gone