Beer 101
Garrett Oliver, the Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster, gives The Saturday Early Show a lesson in beer.
Oliver covers the basic ingredients in the alcoholic drink and explains how it's brewed. He also explains that there are different types of beer. And just as with wine, different beers go better with particular foods.
The basic recipe for beer hasn't changed all that much since the first batches were brewed centuries ago in Mesopotamia. The ingredients are barley malt, yeast, hops and water. But from there, a brewmaster must choose from a long list of malts, roasted grains, unmalted grains, sugars, dozens of hops and hundreds of strains of yeast to create a unique taste.
The first step in making beer is malting the barley. Barley is a tall grass, grown in temperate climates all over the world. It gives local beers a distinct flavor. Some of the best malts in the world come from the United States, England, Scotland, Canada, Belgium and Germany. Malted barley is barley that has been germinated until it starts to sprout a new plant, then dried out in a kiln. Malting turns the starch inside the seed into a soft, white powder.
The second ingredient in beer is hops. Despite what most people think, hops are not grain but the ripe, dried flowers of the hop plant. They provide spice for the beer. Hops grow on vines and come in dozens of varieties. In the United States, farmers in the Pacific Northwest are the largest producers of hops. Hops also grow well in England, Germany, China, Australia and New Zealand.
Next comes the yeast. It is a single-celled organism in the fungi class. There are many species of yeast, but for brewing purposes, the two most important types are ale yeasts and lager yeasts. When a brewmaster is choosing yeast for a particular beer, the most important question is whether the yeast rises to the top of the vessel at the end of the fermentation or does it drop to the bottom? Ales are brewed with "top-fermenting" yeasts at close to room temperatures, typically between 62 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Ales encompass the broadest range of beer styles including bitters, pale ales, porters, stouts, barley wines, Trappist, lambic, and alt. The British are famous for their ales. It is also a popular style with homebrewers and microbreweries in the United States.
Lagers are brewed with "bottom-fermenting" yeasts at much colder temperatures, down to 32 degrees and over a longer period of time. This is called "lagering". Lagers run from dark-colored amber beers to pilsners, which are more golden colored.
Oliver displays five different beers on The Saturday Early Show:
- Schneider Weisse
Schneider Weisse (Pronounced: SCHNEYE-der vice) is a German wheat beer. It goes well with salads and brunch.
- Paulaner Oktoberfest
The Paulaner Oktoberfest (Pronounced: Paul-AH-ner) is also a German beer. It has a sweet floral smell and a hint of spices, reminiscent of nutmeg.
- The Brooklyn Lager
Next is a beer from Oliver's own brewery, The Brooklyn Lager. The beer is an American Amber Lager. Very versatile, it goes well with meat, matching the meat's caramelized flavors.
- Chimay Cinq Cents
The fourth beer shown by Oliver is a Chimay Cinq Cents (Pronounced: SHE-may sank sahnt). It is a Belgian Trappist Ale made by monks. It goes well with cheeses and complex dishes.
- Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout
Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout is strong and black with chocolate/coffee flavors. Oliver says the beer is perfect for dessert.
Oliver has been a brewmaster at The Brooklyn Brewery since 1993. The Brooklyn Brewery was founded in 1987 by Steve Hundy and Tom Potter, who brewed their first batch of beer in the basement of their brownstone.
Since joining the brewery, Garrett helped design a new building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where the company now brews all of its beers. The beer from the Brooklyn Brewery is based on a recipe developed by a fourth-generation German-American brewmaster whose grandfather was a Brooklyn brewer.