Book Excerpts

The following topics provide links to excerpts of each chapter of The Brewers' Handbook.

• Chapter 1: U.S. Beer Industry
  The U.S. beer industry got its start in the 1840s and 1850s with the introduction of lager beer. Before that point, beers were heavily oriented toward ale, porter, and stout and were mostly brewed at home. At about the same time, several technological advances occurred that led to the development of the U.S. beer industry as we know it today.
• Chapter 2: Barley Malts
  Barley malt is to beer as grapes are to wine. It is ideally suited to brewing for many reasons.
• Chapter 3: Hops
  Hops, a minor ingredient in beer, are used for their bittering, flavoring, and aroma-enhancing powers.
• Chapter 4: Brewers Yeast
  Yeast are single-celled microorganisms that reproduce by budding. They are biologically classified as fungi and are responsible for converting fermentable sugars into alcohol and other byproducts. There are literally hundreds of varieties and strains of yeast. In the past, there were two types of beer yeast: ale yeast (the "top-fermenting" type, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lager yeast (the "bottom-fermenting" type, Saccharomyces uvarum, formerly known as Saccharomyces carlsbergensis).
• Chapter 5: Brewing Water
  The mineral content of brewing water has long been recognized as making an important contribution to the flavor of beer. This is especially important since water composes more than 90% of the beer.
• Chapter 6: Beer Adjuncts
  Adjuncts are nothing more than unmalted grains such as corn, rice, rye, oats, barley, and wheat. Although adjuncts are used mainly because they provide extract at a lower cost (a cheaper form of carbohydrate) than is available from malted barley and because they are readily available, other definite advantages are also achieved.
• Chapter 7: Brewery Cleaning and Sanitation
  All brewing equipment must be kept scrupulously clean and sanitized to avoid contamination by microorganisms.
• Chapter 8: Malt Milling
  The object of milling is to split the husk, preferably lengthwise, in order to expose the starchy endosperm for milling and allow for efficient extraction and subsequent filtration of the wort.
• Chapter 9: Mashing
  Mashing is the process of converting starch from the milled malt and solid adjuncts into fermentable and unfermentable sugars to produce wort of the desired composition.
• Chapter 10: Wort Separation
  After mashing, when all the starch has been broken down, it is necessary to separate the liquid extract (the wort) from the solids (spent grain particles and adjuncts). Wort separation is important because the solids contain large amounts of protein, poorly modified starch, fatty material, silicates, and polyphenols (tannins).
• Chapter 11: Wort Boiling
  Following extraction of the carbohydrates, proteins, and yeast nutrients from the mash, the clear wort must be conditioned by boiling the wort in the kettle.
• Chapter 12: Wort Cooling
  After boiling and clarification, the wort is cooled in preparation for the addition of yeast and subsequent fermentation.
• Chapter 13: Beer Fermentation
  Fermentation is the process by which fermentable carbohydrates are converted by yeast into alcohol, carbon dioxide, and numerous byproducts. The byproducts have a considerable effect on the taste, aroma, and other characteristic properties of the beer. Fermentation is dependent upon the composition of the wort, the yeast, and fermentation conditions.
• Chapter 14: Beer Conditioning
  Following primary fermentation, many undesirable flavors and aromas are present in the "green" or immature beer. Conditioning reduces the levels of these undesirable compounds to produce a more finished product.
• Chapter 15: Beer Filtration
  Extended lagering periods and the addition of flocculation aids both greatly reduce yeast and haze loadings. Centrifuges are mainly used in the preliminary reduction of suspended particles, primarily in yeast before sending to the conditioning tanks. Although these methods are very effective in prefiltering the beer, a final filtration is needed to remove residual yeast, other turbidity-causing materials, and microorganisms in order to achieve colloidal and microbiological stability.
• Chapter 16: Beer Carbonation
  The next major process which takes place after filtration and prior to packaging is carbonation. Carbon dioxide not only contributes to perceived "fullness" or "body" and enhances foaming potential, it also acts as a flavor enhancer and plays an important role in extending the shelf life of the product.
• Chapter 17: Bottling Beer
  Once the final quality of the beer has been achieved, it is ready for packaging. The packaging of beer is one of the most complex aspects of brewery operations and the most labor intensive of the entire production process.
• Chapter 18: Kegging Beer
  Kegs, another option in packaging beer, are used in bars and catering establishments where beer is served "on draught." Kegging involves filling carbonated pasteurized beer into sterile aluminum or stainless steel kegs of various sizes.
• Chapter 19: Beer Spoilage Organisms
  Microorganisms causing spoilage during brewing and beer processing are limited to a few genera of bacteria, wild yeasts, and molds.
• Chapter 20: Beer Styles
  Although beers are brewed from similar materials, beers throughout the world have distinctive styles. Their uniqueness comes from the mineral content of the water used, the types of ingredients employed, and the difference in brewing methods. In a strict sense, there are two classical beer styles, ales and lagers. However, in addition to ales and lagers, there are other classical beer styles such as wheat beers, porters, stouts, and lambics— to name a few— that merit differentiation.