What Is
BEER?
First, malted barley is mixed with hot water, creating the "mash", an oatmeal-like substance. Next a sugary liquid called wort (pronounced "wert") is drained off. The hops are boiled with the wort to add bitterness, flavor, and aroma. Yeast is mixed with the hopped wort and left to ferment. The yeast converts sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide.
FUN FACTS ABOUT BEER:
- The ancient Babalonians were the first to brew. They took the whole business pretty seriously. Punishment for a bad batch? Being drown in your bad beer.
- Beer is mostly composed of water. Water does contribute quite a bit to the flavor of the beer. Water in certain regions were originally better suited to making certain types of beer. Dublin's mineral-rich hard water is great for making stouts such as Guiness. In the middle ages CLEAN water was harder to come by. More people chose beer over water, because it was simply safer.
- In 1814 a brewery tank containing 3500 barrels of beer ruptured causing a tidal wave of beer through a London parish. Two houses were demoloshed and nine people were killed.
- In legend and lore, Vikings believed that a giant goat whose udders provided an endless supply of beer was waiting for them in Valhalla (Viking Heaven).
- Always store beer upright. This reduces oxidation and contamination from the cap.
- Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty glass.
- Pilgrims on the mayflower stopped at plymoth rock rather than continuting on to Virginia because they ran out of beer.
