Archive for the ‘Science’ Category

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How do I do that? Mashing pt. 1

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

I have barely started this, and I have already determined that this will be at least a three part post. Mashing is that big, and that important. It takes into account understandings of botany, chemistry, thermodynamics, physics, fluid motion… a lot of science. Which is actually pretty funny considering that at its core, mashing is putting hot water on crushed grain and waiting.

What’s happening in the mash?

The biggest action we’re most concerned about in the mash is the enzymatic breakdown of starch to sugar. This involves two diastatic enzymes knows as αAmylase —Alpha Amylase, and βAmylase — Beta Amylase. If you took basic biology in high school, you may have done an experiment using a chewed up saltine cracker to demonstrate that enzymes — αAmylase to be precise — in your mouth break down the starch of the cracker into sugars. These  enzymes — the same as in your mouth — break down the starchy molecules from the grain into sugar molecules that yeast can ferment. (more…)

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Posted in Brewing, Chemistry, How do I do that?, Science, Uncategorized | No Comments »

How do I do that? Modifying Water Profiles

Friday, August 7th, 2009

It should seem pretty obvious that water profiles have a significant effect on a brewer’s final product. The mineral content of the water used to brew beer can affect mouthfeel, flavor, aroma, and appearance. Every sensation we experience when drinking a beer can be changed and even improved with an altered water profile. It’s between 85% and 97% of your beer! Oddly — as you may have noted in one of my questions with Les — a lot of brewers don’t even think about it until they’ve reached a certain level of experience. Why not?

The answer? Because a lot of effort, science, and money goes into controlling this aspect of your final product. Keep reading and you’ll see what I mean.

First and foremost, it’s important to understand what the chemical salts, ions, and minerals dissolved in water do to your beer, it’s also important to note what NOT having them present does to your beer. Using pure water is not only almost unheard of in beermaking — due to the cost of distilled water — it actually doesn’t really make good beer. More on that later. Water as we know it out of the tap, out of the spring, out of the well, out of anywhere but a still is not just water — it’s a solution that contains minerals, salts, and metals that all have an effect on what we use it for, and how it tastes. (more…)

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Posted in Brewing, How do I do that?, Science | 3 Comments »

How do I/They do that? Malting

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

I wrote about malting a little bit in a post about the first BJCP class. You may notice the slight difference in the title from previous “How do I do that?” posts. The explanation comes down to my honest belief that malting, while something you can do yourself, should be left to the experts. This shouldn’t deter anyone from wanting to know how it’s done, what’s going on in the process, and ultimately how they might do it at home. But I can tell you that I probably won’t ever do this myself. Why? Lack of patience, lack of practical experience, a genuine respect for the companies that do it well; any of these reasons is enough to discourage me from trying it. But don’t let that stop you if you’re interested in it.

What I find most interesting about the malting process is that it’s done so well that it’s made techniques like decoction mashing obsolete. Grains are now so well modified that we don’t need to go to the trouble that brewers of the past did to achieve the same results. But let’s get down to brass tacks. What is the malting process?

At its core, malting is a controlled germination of the grain. What this germination does is convert some of the starch contained within each kernel of grain into sugar, but most importantly is the production of enzymes within the infant plant  — or Acrospire — that are then activated during the mashing process. (more…)

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Beer Apps

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Having the good fortune to be an iPhone owner, I was directed by my BJCP class president to check out the BJCP style guide app. But without a link, I simply searched iTunes for BJCP and not only did the app I was interested in come up, but a couple others appeared too.

The BJCP style guide app is exactly the same as the paper or PDF version available at bjcp.org. It’s searchable, which comes in handy while you’re out and about, trying a beer and doing your best to narrow down what style it might be, or maybe trying to come up with a classic example of a style to compare to the one you’re drinking. Or maybe you’re wondering if you should be tasting butterscotch notes in a Stella? A quick search, and you’ll know for sure.

Yeah, it’s a bit of overkill but if you’re taking the BJCP course, and you own an iPhone it’s free, so why not download it as a study aid? (more…)

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BJCP 8: Flaws & Taints + Strong Ales

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Sunday’s class involved some nastiness. As part of our training, Les doctored a number of Miller Lites with various chemicals and extracts that we then had to taste in order to become familiar with the specific flavors, odors, and mouthfeels associated with them. Les specifically said that this week’s tainted beers were significantly jacked up, mainly so we could become familiar with the flavors, aromas/odors, and moutfeels associated with them. We also tasted some flawed homebrews presented by MALT member Jeff Heneks, and my fellow Wootowner, Dave Bradley.

FOAM member Bill Heverly presented our tasters.

Of course we started with “Guess that beer,” and tried Kona’s Longboard Lager. I guessed lager but didn’t quite get the style. We also tried Wee Beast, which was a Scottish Ale. (more…)

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Posted in BJCP, Brew History, Geek-Out, How do I do that?, Science | 1 Comment »

BJCP 6: Mashing + Porters and Stouts

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Class six was in the seventh week thanks to Easter, and the nice holiday that Les gave us. The weather warmed up quite a bit, and I was initially not looking forward to drinking a ton of heavy, darker beers so far into April. Maryland Homebrew Day member Stefin Clapham presented a flight of excellent beers, and I have to say that I enjoyed this tasting session pretty thoroughly despite not feeling like I was in the right season to drink them. The technical topic presented by CRABS member Glenn Quinting — mashing — is probably the most important activity we’ve discussed so far, and I hope to put as much of what I’ve learned from this session to use in my own brewing.

As usual, we started with some questions to answer, and we also did our first legitimate scoring of a beer. Then we moved into “Guess that beer,” and most of us — even the more experienced folks who had already been through the course — were completely stumped. We tasted a beer that featured almost no hop character, but was still pretty malty. There was some light ester going on, but without that hop character it was difficult to pinpoint what the style was, let alone what kind of beer it was. I guessed bock, as there was some minor alcohol heat to it, and the color seemed appropriate, and I was totally off the mark. It turned out to be Morland’s Hens Tooth Strong English Ale, but the bottles were a bit old, per Les’s admission. Despite the age on the bottles, this was a great exercise. (more…)

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