The North State Brewers' Cooperative

Contact: 315 N. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
nsbc@umich.edu

established 1997

lessons / history /

Lesson 2: History and Basic Equipment/Ingredients/Process

Sources:

Charlie Papazian, The New Joy of Homebrewing, copyright 1991
Stephen Snyder, The Brewmaster's Bible, copyright 1997

Beer History

To pinpoint the brewing of the first beer would be nearly impossible, since the paper trail is written on cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls and stretches clearly beyond the reach of recorded history. What is known for certain is that from beer's first mention in history it was held in high esteem, reserved for kings, priestesses, and pharaohs. It was considered a magical beverage that facilitated religious ecstasy and an entry into a state of euphoria.

It is generally agreed by historians that the first brew was a gorgeous accident. Barley was one of the staple grains of the various Mediterranean cultures. People used barley in various breads and cakes. The story goes that one day some inattentive member of a household left a basket of grain in the rain and then tried to salvage the mess by drying it. Inadvertently what was made was malted barley. The action of allowing the barley to be wetted, germinate, and subsequently dried created malted barley. Over time this malted barley became a popular ingredient in porridges and soon came in a flour form.

It was inevitable then that someone would leave their malted barley flour in the rain. The dissolved sugars and starches were fair game for yeasts in the air. Soon, the wild yeasts began to ferment the "malt soup." When the mysterious bubbly concoction was consumed, it was with pleasant surprise that the household felt a mysteriously deep inner peace with their surroundings. However crude this process was, the first beer was brewed.

As time passed, the art of brewing beer flourished. Soon civilations from around the world began brewing too. In Egypt the lucky ones to brew beer were women, who were called "brewsters" and held extremely high social status.

In America, the recent history of brewing has been more an issue of beer survival than of what sex of brewer would be more respected. Before Prohibition, literally thousands of breweries existed, each supplying their respective regions with distinctive styles. The healthy diversity of beer styles must have been a wonderful experience. Between January 1920 and December 1933, the United States suffered through Prohibition and the dark ages of beer. When it was over, only the larger breweries had survived by making malt products for the food industry. Low-budget operations combined with equipment left idle and in disrepair for over a decade eventually led to the demise of the smaller, local breweries.

What was reborn was an industry of larger breweries. They were still somewhat anxious about the prevailing attitude toward alcohol. As incredible as this may seem, many of the richer styles of American beer were not brewed, in an attempt by the breweries to market beer that would appeal to women.

Mass marketing began to rear its foaming head in search of the perfect beer that appeal to most everyone. Never mind diversity. Never mind tradition. Never mind choice.

Then came World War II. A shortage of war material necessitated the scrapping of steel, some of which was idle brewery equipment. A shortage of food diminished beer production. The beer that was made had less malt in it. Many men were out fighting a war, and the beer drinkers back home were mainly women.

A lighter style of beer was thus beginning to gain populariy in the United States - and justifiably so. With the warm climate that we in the States enjoy for half a year, a lighter beer can be a very refreshing experience. With the agricultural abundance of corn and rice here, these ingredients have found their way more and more into American beer, lightening the taste and body. What has resulted from all of this is the typical American beer - a light-colored, light-bodies pilsener-lager beer.

Realize, however, that this pilsener-lager style is only one of more that 20,000 different styles of beer in the world today. And thanks to the recent resurgance of homebrewing that number is growing.

Today we will be brewing an American Cream Ale. Its essential character is reminiscent of a hoppier, slightly stronger, fruity cousin to a standard American light lager. The following is our recipe for 5 gallons of American Cream Ale:

6.6 lbs light malt extract 1 lb corn sugar (dextrose) 1 tbsp milk sugar (lactose) 1 oz Hallertauer (boiling for 60 minutes) 0.5 oz Tettnanger (aromatic, 10 minutes boil) 0.5 oz Cascade (finish, 10 minutes) 0.5 tsp Irish Moss (15 minutes before end of boil) Wyeast American Ale

Brewing Equipment

In order to brew the above recipe you'll need the following equipment:

• 3 gal or 4 gal enameled canning or stainless steel pot
• 5 gallon glass or plastic carboy
• 6 ft length of 3/8 inch diamter clear plastic hose
• fermentation lock
• rubber stopper with hole for fermentation lock insertion
• large plastic funnel
• thermometer
• hydrometer
• hydrometer container
• sack to boil hops in
• mason jar
• plastic wrap
• sanitizing product like bleach or alcohol
• a means of cooling your 3 gallons of boiling goop or formally "wort" quickly

Brewing Ingredients

There are four basic ingredients in beer and they are as follows:

• malt -> provides bulk of flavor and is the means whereby yeast creates CO2, beer flavor, and alcohol
• hops -> provides the bittering flavor, aroma, and bouquet; also serves as a natural preservative
• yeast -> means of creating alcohol and natural carbonation; drives fermentation process
• water -> 90-95% of beer; responsible for general taste

Brewing Process

The following is the brewing process for our malt extract brew:

• combine & dissolve malt extracts in 1.5 gal water and boil at least 60 minutes
• sanitize fermenter (carboy)
• add 3 gallons clean cold water to fermenter
• add hot malt extracts and water to fermenter
• with temp below 78F, measure specific gravity, pitch yeast
• attach fermentation hose, and after initial fermentation, attach lock
• ferment 8 to 14 days
• bottle and cap
• age for 10 days
• DRINK THE BEER!

Conclusion

This concludes the beautiful brewing lesson of the North State Brewers Co-op at Mich House today. Come back in a couple weeks to gain an in-depth look at malt while brewing an all-grain Octoberfest Lager.

1. basics
2. history
3. malt
4. hops
5. yeast
6. water
7. all_together