Portal:Beer/Selected article/2006 archive
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This is an archive of article summaries that have appeared in the Selected article section of Portal:Beer in 2006. For past archives, see the complete archive page.
History of beer - beer is one of the oldest beverages humans have produced, dating back to at least the 5th millennium BC and recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.
As almost any cereal containing certain sugars can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to wild yeasts in the air, it is possible that beer-like beverages were independently developed throughout the world soon after a tribe or culture had domesticated cereal. Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced about 7,000 years ago in what is today Iran, and was one of the first-known biological engineering tasks where the biological process of fermentation is used in a process.
In Mesopotamia, the oldest evidence of beer is believed to be a 6,000-year-old Sumerian tablet depicting people drinking a beverage through reed straws from a communal bowl. A 3900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread.
The relationship between alcohol consumption and health has been the subject of formal scientific research since at least 1926, when Dr. Raymond Pearl published his book, Alcohol and Longevity, in which he reported his finding that drinking alcohol in moderation was associated with greater longevity than either abstaining or drinking heavily. Subsequently, various studies have examined the health effects of different degrees of alcoholic beverage consumption (Blackwelder et al., Ellison, Hennekens, Rimm et al., Rogers, Trevisan et al.). While it is widely recognized that alcoholism has negative health effects, moderate consumption, frequently defined as the consumption of 1-4 alcoholic drinks in a day (depending on the age and gender of the subjects) has been found to have a positive effect on longevity (Camargo et al., Yuan et al., Coate, Doll & Peto, Klatsky). See Alcoholic beverages — recommended maximum intake for a list of governments' guidances on alcohol intake which, for a man, range from two to six drinks per day.
A number of independent peer-reviewed studies in modern medical literature support the finding that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with benefits in longevity because of reductions in coronary heart disease, stroke, and some other diseases (Dairdron et al.; Ely & Berne; Facchini et al.; Langer et al.; Mennen et al,; Paassilta et al.; Rimm et al.; Thun et al,; Wang & Barker; Zhang et al.). Proposed mechanisms of these benefits include the effect of alcohol on cholesterol levels, insulin activity, blood pressure, and the chemistry of blood clotting. Frequently, such studies qualify these findings with admonitions against heavy alcohol consumption or abuse, due to the negative health effects often associated with this behavior.
Hops are a flavouring and stability agent in beer. The first documented use in beer is from the eleventh century. Hops comes from the flowers of Humulus lupulus, and contain several characteristics very favourable to beer: (a) hops contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt, (b) hops also contribute aromas which range from flowery to citrus to herbal and, (c) hops have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms. While hop plants are grown by farmers all around the world in many different varieties, there is no major commercial use for hops other than in beer.
Today, the principal production centres for the UK are in Kent (which produces Kent Golding hops) and Worcestershire. Other important production areas include the state of Washington in the USA, Belgium, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation. This is the method used in beer production, although the term can be used for other drinks such as sake, mead and wine. The term is also sometimes used to refer to any chemical mixing process.
Brewing has a very long history, and archeological evidence tells us 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.
The brewing industry is part of most western economies.
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. 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 produce large amounts of acetic acid. Brettanomyces is important to both the brewing and wine industries due to the sensory compounds it produces.
In most beer styles, Brettanomyces is viewed as a contaminant and the characteristics it imparts are considered unwelcome "off-flavours". However, in some styles -- particularly certain traditional Belgian ales -- it is appreciated and encouraged. Lambic and gueuze owe their unique flavour profiles to Brettanomyces.
Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless, mildly toxic chemical compound with a distinctive perfume-like odor, and is the alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol. Its molecular formula is variously represented as EtOH, C2H5OH or as its empirical formula C2H6O.
Ethanol for use in alcoholic beverages, and the vast majority of ethanol for use as fuel, is produced by fermentation: when certain species of yeast (most importantly, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) metabolize sugar in the absence of oxygen, they produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. The overall chemical reaction conducted by the yeast may be represented by the chemical equation
The process of culturing yeast under conditions to produce alcohol is referred to as brewing. Brewing can only produce relatively dilute concentrations of ethanol in water; concentrated ethanol solutions are toxic to yeast. The most ethanol-tolerant strains of yeast can survive in up to about 25% ethanol (by volume).
Belgian beer comprises the most varied and numerous collection of beers in the world. Belgian beer-brewing's origins go back to the Middle-Ages, when monasteries began producing beers. Unlike in other European countries, Belgian beer production remained alive due to the 1919 Belgian "Vandervelde Act", that prohibited the sale of spirits in pubs, inducing the market to produce beers with a higher level of alcohol. The Vandervelde Act was lifted as late as 1983.
High esteem of Belgian beer is supported by beer experts such as Michael Jackson. Although beer production in Belgium is now dominated by Inbev (the world's largest brewer by volume) and Alken Maes, there remain 125 breweries in the country, producing about 500 standard beers. When special one-off beer styles are included, the total number of types of Belgian beer exceeds 1000.
These days, Belgian beers are sold in brown (or sometimes dark green) tinted glass bottles (to avoid negative effects of light on the beverage) and sealed with a cork, a metal crown cap, or sometimes both. Some beers are refermented (subjected to a final fermentation phase) in the bottle. These are often labeled "bottle-conditioned." Although many major brands of beer are available at most supermarkets, beverage centers located throughout the country generally offer a far wider selection, albeit at somewhat higher prices.
