Beer Making ingredients - By: ben marcus

Ever wondered what makes your fave bottle of lager taste so good? The key ingredients found in lager are water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. There are other ingredients like flavoring, sugar, and other ingredients that are commonly used. Starches are used as well , as they convert in the mashing process to simply fermentable sugars that will help to increase the alcohol content of lager while adding body and flavour.

Water
Because water is beer's most important ingredient, the source of water and its traits have a vital effect on the character of the lager. Lots of lager styles were influenced by the characteristics of water in the region. Though the effects of minerals in brewing water is complex, hard water is more suitable to dark styles, while soft ware is more suited to light styles.

Malt
Among malts, barley is the most generally used due to its high amylase content, and a digestive enzyme that facilitates the breakdown of starch into sugars. Dependent on what can be cultivated locally, other malts and unmalted grains may be employed, for example wheat, rice, oats, and rye.

Malt is obtained by soaking grain in water, allowing it to germinate, then drying the germinated grain in a kiln. By malting the grain, enzymes will at last convert the starches in the grain into fermentable sugars.

Hops
Since the seventeenth century, hops have been commonly used as a bittering agent in lager. Hops help to contribute a bitterness which will balance the sweetness of the malts. They also contribute aromas which range from citrus to herbal.

Hops also offer an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer's yeast over the less fascinating micro-organisms. The acrimony in lager is normally measured on the International Bitterness Units scale.

Yeast
Yeast is a microorganism that is responsible for fermentation. Precise strains of yeast are selected dependent on the type of lager produced, as the 2 main strains are ale yeast and lager yeast, with other differences available as well .

Yeast helps to metabolise the sugars that are removed from the grains, and produces alcohol and carbon-dioxide as a result. Before the functions of yeast were accepted, all fermentations were done using wild or airborne yeasts.

Clarifying agent
A large amount of brewers like to add one or more clarifying agents to lager that are not required to be put out as ingredients. Examples include Isinglas finings, which are acquired from swim bladders of fish and Irish moss, which is a sort of red alga.

Since these ingredients can be procured from animals, those that are concerned with either the use or consumption of animal products should obtain detailed information from the brewer.

About the Author

Start your own home brewing system by reading more about beer supplies and brew kits, visit the Midwest Brewing website.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/ben-marcus/142263

Additional Articles From - Home | Food & beverage | Home brewing