BREWING THROUGH THE AGES

A beer is any of a variety of alcoholic beverages produced by the fermentation of starchy material derived from grains or other plant sources. The production of beer and some other alcoholic beverages is often called brewing. Historically, beer was known to the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians, and dates back at least as far as 4,000 BC. Because the ingredients used to make beer differ from place to place, beer characteristics (type, taste, and colour) vary widely.

Unlike some lagers, beer does not deteriorate during long periods of storage and is adaptable to all climates.  For this reason it has always been a popular beverage and especially with sailors of old. With various names and in many forms it has been produced from the earliest times. The brewing and consumption of beer can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece. Archaeological evidence suggests that barley was cultivated in Mesopotamia by 5000BC. Evidence of brewing in Britain is rather sketchy although it has been confirmed that cereal production dates back to 3000BC. Certainly, the practice of brewing was firmly established before Roman rule.

Trivia: the first place in Britain known to have brewed beer on a regular basis is Winchelsea, East Sussex, where that most "British" of drinks was introduced from the Low Countries in 1400.

Beer was first brewed in the home or in monasteries, but had become a commercial product in Europe by the late Middle Ages. Indeed, beer had become an important and staple drink in medieval Britain, given that water was commonly unfit to drink. During this period the only permitted ingredients were water, malt and yeast and, as such, it was known as ale. However, in the early fifteenth century hops were introduced from Flanders. It was originally added to act as a preservative but it also added considerable flavour and aroma. Up until this period beer was brewed and sold on site because it had a very short shelf-life. However, the addition of hops enabled beer producers to increase production and distribute and sell beers over a wider area - it marked the birth of the 'common' brewer and the widespread distribution of beers around the country.

Despite the emergence of large companies, local breweries enjoyed dramatic growth during the late nineteenth century. However, slowly but surely publican-brewers died out to the extent that pubs that brewed their own beer became increasingly rare. One of the oldest to survive in the West Midlands was The Old Swan in Netherton, near Dudley. Over the last decade however, these breweries have re-emerged and form a vital part of independently produced beer on offer to the consumer.

The 1960's marked the biggest change in the UK brewing industry. It was the decade which saw the emergence of the 'big six' brewers and the closure of hundreds of independently-owned breweries. The trend continued until the late 1970's when there was a resurgence of interest in local brewers. The reasons cited for this reversal range from the failure of the 'big six' to enjoy further economies of scale to political resistance. However, the efforts of CAMRA (The Campaign For Real Ale) played an important role in raising consumer awareness and rekindling demand for the individual and unique tastes of the independent breweries. This has resulted in there now being more than 200 commercial home-brewing operations and, coupled with the larger independents, real ale is set to enjoy continued growth through the new millennium.

This is, as the title suggests, only a rough guide on how beer is made. It is not intended to be all-encompassing but may help to enlighten a few newcomers to the delights of beer drinking. In any case, I do not pretend to be an expert in this field - my specialism is in drinking the stuff!  Right, let's start with the raw stuff....the traditional ingredients of beer are malted barley and hops, together with water, yeast and, in some cases, brewing sugars. Beer production begins in a maltings where barley is transformed into malt. Barley is the preferred cereal because of its high quality and because its husks act as a natural filter during the mashing process.

The former Showell's Brewery Maltings at Langley Green, now owned by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries, is one of just a few around the country where the traditional floor malting process is still used. Today, the process is mechanised but at one time they employed a team of men who would turn the barley with big shovels - hence the pub name The Malt Shovel. The raw grain is allowed to partially germinate by steeping it in water. But just as any seedlings start getting ideas above their station, they are whisked off to the brewery because, at this stage, they have the perfect combo of sugars and proteins to give the malt flavour we beer drinkers lust for.

After gentle drying/heating, the grain is then toasted in a kiln before it is prepared for brewing by the milling process. Grain is toasted longer for those dark strong beers that take the enamel off your teeth as you drink the stuff. Not all microbrewers go through the milling process - they prefer to buy in ready made stuff. The mill is used to ground the toasted grain into a coarse powder called grist. No, not the stuff that some Americans eat for breakfast - but probably tasting just as nauseous. The grist is mixed with other malts at this stage depending on which recipe is being followed and is held in a grist case. Don't worry, things get a little more exciting after this bit. Well, almost.

The grist mixture is then mixed further with a pre-heated liquor in a vessel called the mash tun. It is in the mash tun that enzymes in the malt convert the starches into sugar - a process called saccharification. The fermentable sugars contribute strength and flavour to the finished product although a careful balance must be struck. The mash stands for about two hours before the sweet malt sugar solution (now called wort) is run off to the copper where hops are added to it and the mixture is then boiled.

The copper (a.k.a. kettle) is the same sort of thing they sent astronauts up to the moon in those films of the 1950's. There's even a little window on the side so that you can see anyone left inside being boiled to death. Anyway, more hops are added during the boiling process which takes around two hours so I reckon this is the point when brewers pop off and put the other kettle on. Two hours are needed to allow essential oils and flavours to be extracted from the hops and sterilise the wort. Another component may be added at this stage - brewing sugar although care must be taken not to add too much for it can dry out a beer. The hot hopped wort is then cooled quickly to avoid exposure to bacterial infection and mixed with yeast. There's a lot of nasty-sounding stuff going on here it's a wonder that we drink the stuff! Little wonder it does strange things to the brain after a few pints. Right, now for a bit of Len Deighton stuff.

 
If you ask the brewer about the yeast used you get the sort of look that suggests that you have asked for the keys and password for GCHQ. After looking around some breweries I've been imprisoned and deported to Maly Taimyr for three years where cool/smoothpour takes on a completely new meaning. The yeast you see is such a closely guarded secret they'll never tell you where it originated. The fact of the matter is though that many smaller breweries kick-started their own yeast culture from another large brewery many moons ago. But getting them to tell you which one would be like asking Frederick Forsyth to tell you the ending of his next best-seller.

Many small microbrewers simply buy their yeast in powdered form. The yeast is poured into the wort in either this powdered form or as a slurry and within 24 hours it multiplies to form a thick, fluffy yellow-white head or crust on the surface of the wort. Because yeast multiplies five or six times during fermentation, it is necessary to remove the excess yeast head by skimming it off with paddles. The alternative is probably to have some 'blob' thing advancing out of the brewery main gates and consuming innocent passers-by before the bloke who defeated The Triffids is called in to save the world from a huge foaming head of beer.

The fermenting process takes up to a week and the liquid is then run into conditioning tanks where it rests for a further three days. Well, after going through all that you'd want a kip wouldn't you? Finings are added the assist the clearing of the beer which continues in the cask up until consumption. I can't believe that it takes two pints of fish bladder thingybobs for this. There can't be that many fish left in the sea. Before the beer is poured into the cask a priming sugar may be added to promote a second fermentation with the remaining yeast in the barrel to produce the natural carbon dioxide which ensures that the beer is in good condition when served.

Phew, the beer is now finally ready for delivery to your local boozer. Some of the old breweries, such as Adnams or Wadworth like to use the old horse-drawn drays in their local area for a bit of PR. A Yorkie-eating trucky is used to deliver to other parts of the country. They usually have another dray person who has arms like Goliath after six weeks in the job of wielding barrels into your gaffer's cellar. The beer is not ready for serving at this stage and further storage is required after its delivery to the pub. This is where the skills of the cellarperson come in. The cask must be tapped and vented beforehand but some gas must be retained by plugging the cask. It must then 'drop bright' and develop its perfect aroma before it is served.