Beer making or brewing requires a very short list of ingredients compared to some other recipes. However, even though the list of ingredients is relatively small, the process of beer making or brewing can be complicated at points. It is simply not a matter of adding the right amount of these ingredients together to make beer. There are complex biochemical reactions taking place during the brewing process. The ingredients that are needed to start this complicated process are malt from barley, water, hops, and yeast. These four simple ingredients are combined to make the popular beverage known as beer.
Barley is merely the seed of a grain that is very similar in appearance to wheat. Before we can use this barley to make the beer it must be malted. Malting involves a natural conversion process which consists of germinating the barley. During this germination process there are enzymes released from the barley that convert its own nutrients into sugars. The hops that are used to make beer are a flower of the hop vine. This plant is a member of the hemp family and contains acids that help give beer its bitterness as well as oils that give it certain flavors and aromas. Adding hops to beer will also help inhibit the forming of particular bacteria that can spoil the beer. There are several different kinds of hops that all have their different tastes, aromas, and level of bitterness. Yeast is simply a single celled micro organism which is responsible for creating the carbon dioxide and the alcohol that is found in beer. There is not only one kind of yeast that is used to make beer and just as hops, every different kind of yeast gives the beer it is used in a different taste. The two main categories of beer yeast are ale yeast and lager yeast. The ale yeast is top fermenting which means it rises near the surface of the beer during the fermentation process. The ale yeast is also more favorable in warmer temperatures in the brewing process. Lager yeasts, on the other hand, are bottom fermenting. This means they ferment more slowly and prefer more of the colder temperatures.