Brewing methods

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Beer is produced through steeping a sugar source (commonly Malted cereal grains) in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt. Descriptions of various beer recipes can be found in Sumerian writings, some of the oldest known writing of any sort. [1] [2] [3] Brewing is done in a brewery by a brewer, and the brewing industry is part of most western economies. In 19th century Britain, technological discoveries and improvements such as Burtonisation and the Burton Union system significantly changed beer brewing.

Contents

The methods used to produce beer may be unique to a beer style, geographic region, or company.

Barrel aging

The barrel cellar at The Rare Barrel Barrel Cellar at The Rare Barrel.jpg
The barrel cellar at The Rare Barrel

Barrel aging is a process used to add maturity and character and additional flavour to a beer. Beers are aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel. Typically, these barrels once housed wine, rum, whiskey, bourbon, tequila, and other wines and spirits. Beers are sometimes aged in barrels to achieve a variety of effects in the final product. Sour beers such as lambics are fully fermented in wood (usually oak) barrels similar to those used to ferment wine, usually including microflora other than Saccharomyces cerevisiae .

Other beers are aged in barrels which were previously used for maturing spirits. Stouts (particularly Russian Imperial Stouts ) are sometimes aged in bourbon barrels. Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout was one of the first bourbon barrel-aged beers in the U.S., [4] but the method has now spread to other companies, who have also experimented with aging other styles of beer in bourbon barrels.

By the early twenty-first century, the method of aging beer in used wine barrels had expanded beyond lambic beers to include saison, [5] barleywine, [6] and blonde ale. [7] Commonly, the barrels used for this had previously aged red wine (particularly cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and pinot noir). [8]

Some breweries produce exclusively barrel-aged beers, notably Belgian lambic producer Cantillon, and sour beer company The Rare Barrel in Berkeley, California. [9]

In 2016 "Craft Beer and Brewing" wrote: "Barrel-aged beers are so trendy that nearly every taphouse and beer store has a section of them. [10] "Food & Wine" wrote of barrel-aging in 2018: "A process that was once niche has become not just mainstream, but ubiquitous." [11]

In 2017 Innis & Gunn decided that barrel aging didn't need to take place in a barrel and could be done in as little as 5 days. They attempted to redefine the term to include a forced, wood flavouring process that only they use and that the rest of the industry doesn't recognise as barrel aging. A backlash from other brewers using the term in its traditionally understood sense ensued and the outcome is, to date, unresolved. [12] [13]

Burtonisation

Thomas Salt & Co. was one of over 30 breweries in Burton upon Trent Thomas Salt & Co. Burton Ales.jpg
Thomas Salt & Co. was one of over 30 breweries in Burton upon Trent

Burtonisation is the act of adding sulphate, often in the form of gypsum, to the water used for the brewing of beer, to bring out the flavour of the hops. The name comes from the town of Burton upon Trent which had several very successful breweries due to the chemical composition of the local water. [14]

In the early 19th century, pale ale was being successfully brewed in London. In 1822, the method had been copied by the Burton upon Trent brewer Samuel Allsopp, who got a more hoppy tasting version of the beer because of the sulphate-rich local water. The clean, crisp, bitter flavour of beer brewed by Allsopp in Burton became very popular and by 1888 there were 31 breweries in the town supplying demand for Burton Ale. The characteristic whiff of sulphur indicating the presence of sulphate ions became known as the "Burton snatch". [14] Later, the chemist C. W. Vincent analysed the waters of Burton and identified the calcium sulphate content as being responsible for accenting the hop bitterness in Burton Ale.

Burtonisation is used when a brewer wishes to accent the hops in a pale beer, such as a pale ale. It is not used for dark beers such as stout. A degree of sulphate ions in the water is also appropriate for emulation of the Czech Pilsener style, and sulphate ions are also distinctive of Dortmunder Export.

Introducing magnesium sulphate into the brewing water, or "liquor", creates a rounder, fuller taste that enhances other flavours in the beer. However, excessive dosage must be avoided to prevent undesirable consequences, which could include a laxative effect. [15]

Burton Union

An example of the Burton Union system Burton Union fermentation system, Coors Visitor Centre - geograph.org.uk - 476438.jpg
An example of the Burton Union system

The Burton breweries were known for a recirculating fermentation system known as the Burton Union. Invented in the 1830s, the Union system is a row of wood casks connected to a common trough by way of a series of pipes. The practical purpose of the Union system is to allow excess barm (yeast foam) to be expelled from the casks without leaving excessive amounts of head space within the casks; the system was quickly refined to separate any expelled beer from the wasted yeast, allowing it to flow back into the casks to continue fermentation.

The Burton Union is credited with maintaining the strains of yeast used in Burton brewing in a relatively stable state until the mid-20th century.

While not widely used in commercial beer production any longer, the Burton Union principle is often looked on as a technical challenge for advanced homebrewers, and a commercial approximation of the design is available for experimenters.

Until February 2024 Marston's Pedigree was produced using the Burton Union system, [16] [17] [18] when, citing declining cask ale sales and profitability concerns, Carlsberg Marston's announced the closure of the last original Burton Union sets. [19] In May 2024, Thornbridge Brewery announced that with the support of Brooklyn Brewery, it had worked with Carlsberg Marston's to save one set of equipment. [20]

Firestone Walker in California uses a patented variation of the system [21] and Barrique Brewing Company in Tennessee uses an unmodified Union system. [22]

Double dropping

Brakspears in Henley-on-Thames developed the double dropping method Brakspear Brewery, Henley-on-Thames-6485611285.jpg
Brakspears in Henley-on-Thames developed the double dropping method

Double dropping, also known as the dropping system is a brewing method used for the production of ales. During the early 20th century it was the most popular method of clearing trub (inactive yeast and excess, staling and haze-forming protein from the malted barley) during fermentation for English ales. It is less commonly used today as it requires additional brewing vessels in a two-tier system. [23]

During the double dropping process the wort (newly brewed, fermenting beer) is first fermented for a period of time before being transferred, under gravity or by other means, into a lower vessel where it continues fermentation. The dropping process has two primary effects on the beer being fermented: the trub that has settled during the first period of fermentation will be left behind, leaving a cleaner beer and a cleaner yeast to crop from the beer for the next fermentation; the second effect is the aeration of the wort, which results in healthy clean yeast growth, and in certain circumstances butterscotch flavours from the production of diacetyl. [24] [25]

Breweries using the double dropping process include Wychwood Brewery who contract brew Brakspear branded beers, [24] and Flack Manor. [26] Marston's use the name Double Drop for one of their beers as they use the related brewing method of the Burton Union system. [27] Wychwood transfers the wort the morning after the day fermentation started – typically about 16 hours later. This process originally took place at the Brakspear brewery in Henley. When Brakspear moved to the Refresh UK's brewery in Witney, a new brewery was built to include the original double dropping system. [28] Brakspear state that some of the flavour common to its beer is due to a combination of its very old complex multi-strain yeast and the dropping method which encourages it to produce the butterscotch-flavoured compound diacetyl.

Yorkshire Square

The 'Round Squares' of Black Sheep Brewery Black Sheep Brewery Tour.jpg
The 'Round Squares' of Black Sheep Brewery

A Yorkshire Square vessel is a two-storey fermentation system developed in Huddersfield by Timothy Bentley, proprietor of the Bentley and Shaw brewery. [29] It is characterised by a shallow chamber approximately two metres high, above which is a walled deck. Cooled wort, the liquid extracted from malted barley, is fermented in the lower chamber, while the yeasty head settles on the deck above. During the first stage of fermentation, the fermenting wort is periodically pumped from the bottom of the chamber over the yeasty head, to keep the yeast mixed in with the wort. Later, the mixing is stopped and the wort in the chamber allowed to settle and cool gently. Most of the yeast rises onto the deck, and is left behind when the beer is drained from the chamber. [30] The whole process takes at least six days. However, beer straight from a Yorkshire Square vessel will still have a harsh flavour, so the residual yeast is allowed to ferment any remaining sugar, producing a little extra alcohol and carbon dioxide, which mellows the beer. This conditioning begins in tanks at the brewery and continues after the beer is filled into casks, hence the phrase 'Cask Conditioned'.

Historically, the Yorkshire Square vessel was constructed from Yorkshire Sandstone, but Welsh slate quickly proved to be the material of choice. A modern innovation is the so-called 'Round Square' pioneered by the Black Sheep brewery, which is built from stainless steel. The round shape makes it easier to clean out (a task that requires personnel to physically climb into the vessels) between brewing cycles. The Yorkshire Square fermenting system dates back over 200 years ago, and is still used by Samuel Smith's, the Theakston Brewery, Cameron's Brewery, Marston's and the Black Sheep brewery. [31] [32]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer</span> Alcoholic drink made from fermented cereal grains

Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Beer is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brewing</span> Process in beer production

Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, at home by a homebrewer, or communally. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archaeological evidence suggests that emerging civilizations, including ancient Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia, brewed beer. Since the nineteenth century the brewing industry has been part of most western economies.

Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company is a British brewing company. It was formed when Marston's plc disposed of its brewing operations in 2020, selling the assets to a newly formed joint venture with the Carlsberg Group to create the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC), in which Marston's plc holds a 40% share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambic</span> Style of spontaneously fermented beer

Lambic is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself since the 13th century. Types of lambic beer include gueuze, kriek lambic, and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers in that it is fermented through exposure to wild yeasts and bacteria native to the Zenne valley, as opposed to exposure to carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeast. This process gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous, and cidery, often with a tart aftertaste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India pale ale</span> Beer with high hop content

India pale ale (IPA) is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale.

<i>Brettanomyces</i> Genus of fungi

Brettanomyces is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name Dekkera is used interchangeably with Brettanomyces, as it describes the teleomorph or spore forming form of the yeast, but is considered deprecated under the one fungus, one name change. The cellular morphology of the yeast can vary from ovoid to long "sausage" shaped cells. The yeast is acidogenic, and when grown on glucose rich media under aerobic conditions, produces large amounts of acetic acid. Brettanomyces is important to both the brewing and wine industries due to the sensory compounds it produces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wychwood Brewery</span> English brewery

Wychwood Brewery was a brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire, England, owned by Marston's. Hobgoblin, a 5.2% abv brown ale, was the company's flagship brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in England</span> Beer in England

Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adjuncts</span> Unmalted grains that are used in brewing

In brewing, adjuncts are unmalted grains or grain products used in brewing beer which supplement the main mash ingredient. This is often done with the intention of cutting costs, but sometimes also to create an additional feature, such as better foam retention, flavours or nutritional value or additives. Both solid and liquid adjuncts are commonly used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brakspear Brewery</span>

W. H. Brakspear & Sons Ltd. is a brewer in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Since the closure of its original brewery in Henley-on-Thames in 2002, most of its beers have been brewed by Wychwood Brewery in West Oxfordshire. In 1993, beer writer Michael Jackson described its "ordinary" bitter as the best in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allagash Brewing Company</span> Brewery in Portland, Maine, United States of America

Allagash Brewing Company is a brewery in Portland, Maine. The brewery specializes in Belgian style beers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer style</span> Differentiation and categories for different types of beer

Beer styles differentiate and categorise beers by colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of beer</span> History of beer and brewing

Beer is one of the oldest human-produced drinks. The first chemically confirmed barley-beer – from the area of Mesopotamia, part of modern-day Iraq – dates back to the 5th millennium BCE. The written history of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia records the use of beer, and the drink has spread throughout the world; a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem honouring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving beer-recipe, describing the production of beer from barley bread, and in China, residue on pottery dating from around 5,000 years ago shows that beer was brewed using barley and other grains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brewery</span> Business that makes and sells beer

A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer has taken place since at least 2500 BC; in ancient Mesopotamia, brewers derived social sanction and divine protection from the goddess Ninkasi. Brewing was initially a cottage industry, with production taking place at home; by the ninth century, monasteries and farms would produce beer on a larger scale, selling the excess; and by the eleventh and twelfth centuries larger, dedicated breweries with eight to ten workers were being built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vegetarianism and beer</span> Concerns about the use of animal products in beermaking

Beer is often made from barley malt, water, hops and yeast and so is often suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Some beer brewers add finings to clarify the beer when racking into a barrel. Finings can include plant-derived products, like Irish moss, or animal-derived products, like isinglass and gelatin.

When drinking beer, there are many factors to be considered. Principal among them are bitterness, the variety of flavours present in the beverage and their intensity, alcohol content, and colour. Standards for those characteristics allow a more objective and uniform determination to be made on the overall qualities of any beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sour beer</span> Beer with a tart or sour taste

Sour beer is beer which has an intentionally acidic, tart, or sour taste. Sour beer styles include Belgian lambics and Flanders red ale and German Gose and Berliner Weisse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porter (beer)</span> Dark style of beer

Porter is a style of beer first brewed in London, England, in the early 18th century. The name is believed to have originated from its popularity with porters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ale</span> Type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method

Ale is a type of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrel-aged beer</span>

A barrel-aged beer is a beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel. Typically, these barrels once housed bourbon, whisky, wine, or, to a lesser extent, brandy, sherry, or port. There is a particular tradition of barrel ageing beer in Belgium, notably of lambic beers. The first bourbon barrel-aged beers were produced in the United States in the early 1990s.

References

  1. ↑ Arnold, John P. (2005) [1911]. Origin and History of Beer and Brewing: From Prehistoric Times to the Beginning of Brewing Science and Technology. Cleveland, Ohio: BeerBooks. p. 34. ISBN   978-0-9662084-1-2. OCLC   71834130.
  2. ↑ Nelson, Max (2005). The barbarian's beverage: a history of beer in ancient Europe. London: Routledge. p.  6. ISBN   978-0-415-31121-2. OCLC   58387214.
  3. ↑ "Beer". Britannica.com.
  4. ↑ Japhe, Brad (26 November 2014). "For Beer Lovers, "Black" Friday Means the Release of a Very Rare Barrel-Aged Stout". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Draftmag.com. Lessons in beer aging: Saisons.
  6. ↑ "Leviathan (Merlot Barrel Aged) | Fish Brewing Company / Fishbowl Brewpub".
  7. ↑ Allaboutbeer.com. FOUR SAINTS WINE BARREL AGED OMIE BLONDE ALE.
  8. ↑ Vinepair.com. 10 Of The Best Barrel-Aged Beers Available.
  9. ↑ Robertson, Blair Anthony (3 December 2014). "Rare Barrel in Berkeley finds craft beer success in all-sour lineup". The Sacramento Bee. ISSN   0890-5738 . Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  10. ↑ Craft Beer and Brewing. Single Barrel, Double Barrel? No Barrel!
  11. ↑ Foodandwine.com. 25 Exceptional Barrel-Aged Craft Beers.
  12. ↑ "Innis & Gunn new packaging and manufacturing process".
  13. ↑ "Innis & Gunn faces backlash over 'barrel-aged' beer claims".
  14. 1 2 Hampson, Tom. Oliver, Garrett (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Beer. p. 195.
  15. ↑ Alton, Ray. "Water, Water Everywhere". Murphy & Son Limited. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "Burton Union gives Marstons its Pedigree". Real Beer Inc. 2 September 1998. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  17. ↑ Foster, Terry (1999). Classic Beer Style Series: Pale Ale (2nd ed.). Brewers Publications. ISBN   0-937381-69-1.
  18. ↑ "Photo of the fermentation facility at Marston's". Archived from the original on 8 October 2007.
  19. ↑ "Dismay over demise of historic Pedigree union sets". wb.camra.org.uk. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  20. ↑ "Thornbridge Union". Thornbridge Brewery. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  21. ↑ Todd Haefer (26 January 2014). "Firestone Walker gets it right with Sucaba". USA Today. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  22. ↑ Weitz, Grace (24 May 2023). "48 Hours Drinking and Eating in Nashville, TN". Hop Culture. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  23. ↑ "A tasty drop: the history of an almost-vanished fermentation system « Zythophile". zythophile.wordpress.com. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  24. 1 2 "Brakspear Brewing Company – Wychwood Brewery, Witney – Food Processing Technology". www.foodprocessing-technology.com. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  25. ↑ "BT – Diacetyl: Formation, Reduction, and Control". www.brewingtechniques.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  26. ↑ "The Double Drop process – Double Drop traditional method". flackmanor.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  27. ↑ "NEW BOTTLE BEER FROM MARSTON's". www.marstons.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  28. ↑ "Brakspear beer brewing history and double drop fermentation – the Oxfordshire beer from Brakspear". www.brakspear-beers.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  29. ↑ Barnard, Alfred (1891). The Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. IV (PDF). London: Sir Joseph Causton and Sons. p. 64. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  30. ↑ Anon (October 2008). Whitbread's Brewery – Incorporating ... – Google Books. ISBN   9781443759250 . Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  31. ↑ "beer-pages.com – Roger Protz on Traditional brewers of Britain". www.beer-pages.com. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  32. ↑ "Brewing Process – The Black Sheep Brewery, Masham North Yorkshire". www.blacksheepbrewery.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
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