Portal:Beer/sandbox

Homebrew beer The Beer Portal A beer keg

Introduction

*At the Café* by Édouard Manet, circa 1879

Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize, rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the grain to sugars, which dissolve in water to form wort. Fermentation of the wort by yeast produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world, and one of the most popular of all drinks. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilizer. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.

Beer is distributed in bottles and cans, and is commonly available on draught in pubs and bars. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational corporations and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of modern beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Some of the earliest writings mention the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC) included laws regulating it, while "The Hymn to Ninkasi", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, contains a recipe for it. Beer forms part of the culture of many nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals, as well as activities like pub games. Beer can cause health issues if consumed often or in excess; alcohol is an IARC group 1 carcinogen. (Full article...)

Selected articles -

Image 1
Stoneware beer steins

A beer stein (/ˈstaɪn/ STYNE), or simply stein, is either a traditional beer mug made out of stoneware or specifically an ornamental beer mug sold as a souvenir or collectible.

Such steins may be made out of stoneware, pewter, porcelain or even silver, wood or crystal glass; they may have open tops or hinged pewter lids with a thumb-lever. Steins usually come in sizes of a half litre, a full litre, or historically the similarly sized pints and quarts. Like decorative tankards, they are often decorated in a nostalgic manner with allusions to Germany. (Full article...)
Image 2
Wooden firkin from Bass Brewery, Burton upon Trent

The Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood (SPBW), founded in 1963, is the oldest consumer-based group interested in stimulating the brewing of, increasing the awareness of, and encouraging the drinking of traditional cask ale. The Society also supports and encourages the use of wooden casks for beer dispense. (Full article...)
Image 3
A dark amber American-brewed pale ale

Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared in England around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Different brewing practices and hop quantities have resulted in a range of tastes and strengths within the pale ale family. Pale ale is a kind of ale. (Full article...)
Image 4
A bottle of Brazilian malt beer (Malzbier)

Malt beer is a sweet, low-alcohol beer (0–2.5% ABV) that is brewed like regular beer but with low or minimal fermentation. To keep the alcohol content low, one of two methods may be used: either the yeast is added at about 0 °C (resulting in an alcohol content of under 0.5% ABV) or fermentation is halted at the desired alcohol content (usually in the range of 1 to 2% ABV). It is made from barley malt syrup, sugar, yeast, hops, and water.

Malt beer is considered to be nutritious and is sometimes given to breastfeeding mothers. Among the ancient Egyptians, their form of malt beer (zythum) was considered to work as both a laxative and antidiarrheal; it was considered dangerous, however, for the sick or pregnant to drink it. (Full article...)
Image 5

Memorial plaque of the author with the song's name in Czech, German and English

"Beer Barrel Polka", originally in Czech "Škoda lásky", also known as "The Barrel Polka", "Roll Out the Barrel", or "Rosamunde", is a 1927 polka composed by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda. Lyrics were added in 1934, subsequently gaining worldwide popularity during World War II as a drinking song. (Full article...)
Image 6
Saison Dupont Vieille Provision, the archetype for modern saisons

Saison (French, "season," French pronunciation: [sɛzɔ̃]) is a pale-colored ale that is highly carbonated, dry, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned. It was historically brewed with low alcohol levels, but modern productions of the style have moderate to high levels of alcohol. Along with several other varieties, it is generally classified as a farmhouse ale. (Full article...)
Image 7

Bottle of Bitburger Winterbock

Bock (German: [bɔk] ) is a strong German beer, usually a dark lager. (Full article...)
Image 8
A seasonal beer is a beer that is typically brewed during or for a particular season, holiday or festival period. Many breweries produce seasonal beers. Seasonal beers may be produced when fresh ingredients are available during various seasons, per climatic conditions during the time of the year, and also as a tradition. Furthermore, seasonal beer is produced based upon seasons, holidays, festivals and events. (Full article...)
Image 9
In brewing, attenuation refers to the conversion of sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide by the fermentation process; the greater the attenuation, the more sugar has been converted into alcohol. A more attenuated beer is drier and more alcoholic than a less attenuated beer made from the same wort.

Attenuation can be quantified by comparing the specific gravity — the density of a solution, relative to pure water — of the extract before and after fermentation, quantities termed the original and final gravities. Specific gravity can be measured by buoyancy, with a hydrometer. The higher the specific gravity of a solution, the higher the hydrometer floats. (Full article...)
Image 10
A beer can chicken after being grilled

Beer can chicken (also known as chicken on a throne, beer butt chicken, coq au can, dancing chicken) is a barbecued chicken dish and method of indirect grilling using a partially-filled can of beer that is placed in the chicken's cavity prior to cooking. The chicken is then stood up on the can and its legs vertically, and slow-cooked over indirect heat, usually over a propane gas or charcoal grill. It has been suggested that the dish possibly originated in the U.S. state of Louisiana.

The process is meant to add moisture to the dish, and some believe that steam from the beer serves to steam the chicken from the inside and add flavor to the dish. The efficacy of using the beer has been questioned, and the science behind the cooking process is debatable. (Full article...)
Image 11
Draught beer fonts at the Delirium Café in Brussels

Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as keg beer. (Full article...)
Image 12
Samuel Smith Old Brewery's Imperial Stout – a vegetarian beer

Beer is often made from barley malt, water, hops and yeast and so is often suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Some beer brewers add finings to clarify the beer when racking into a barrel. Finings can include plant-derived products, like Irish moss, or animal-derived products, like isinglass and gelatin.

Most breweries do not reveal if they do or do not use animal products in the processing of their beers; some exceptions are Samuel Smith, Heineken, Harp Lager, Anheuser-Busch, the Marble Brewery in Manchester, the Black Isle Brewery, and Black Sheep Brewery, all of whom have declared they make vegetarian and/or vegan beer. (Full article...)
Image 13
Coors Light, a common American light beer

Light beer is beer with lower calorie or alcohol content than other types of beer. In the United States, "light beer" is beer with reduced calorie content. Prior to the 1970s, "light beer" had other meanings in the United States. In Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom "light beer" is beer with lower alcohol content than regular beer.

Reduced calorie light beer began to be mass marketed in the United States in the 1960s, but the first successful brand, Miller Lite, was not marketed nationally in the United States until 1975. (Full article...)
Image 14
Blow my skull is an alcoholic punch drink that originated in mid-19th century Australia. As listed in The English and Australian Cookery Book by Edward Abbott, it calls for two pints of boiling water, sugar loaf, lime or lemon juice, one pint of ale or porter, one pint rum, and a half a pint of brandy. It has been described as a "notoriously potent alcoholic concoction".

Some alternatively call the drink blow my skull off, which may also refer to a historical version made instead by the mixing of rum, Cocculus indicus, "spirits of wine", cayenne pepper, Turkish opium and water. (Full article...)
Image 15
Unicorn Hotel, Church Street, Manchester, England

A pub (short for public house) is, in several countries, a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns, and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but the Campaign for Real Ale states a pub has four characteristics:
1. is open to the public without membership or residency
2. serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
3. has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
4. allows drinks to be bought at a bar (i.e., not only table service)
The history of pubs can be traced to taverns in Roman Britain, and through Anglo-Saxon alehouses, but it was not until the early 19th century that pubs, as they are today, first began to appear. The model also became popular in countries and regions of British influence, where pubs are often still considered to be an important aspect of their culture. In many places, especially in villages, pubs are the focal point of local communities. In his 17th-century diary, Samuel Pepys described the pub as "the heart of England"; pubs have been established in other countries in modern times. (Full article...)

Selected brand -

Snow beer in a bottle and a can

Snow (Chinese: 雪花啤酒; lit. 'Snowflake beer') is a brand of lager beer from Shenyang, China. It is known popularly as ‘Snowflake’. It is brewed by CR Snow, that (until October 2016) was a joint venture between SABMiller and China Resources Enterprises. When Snow was first released in 1993, it was produced by three breweries. As of 2014, CRSB was the largest brewing company in China with over 90 breweries across the country, brewing more than 10 billion litres of Snow every year.

By 2016, SABMiller owned 49 percent of Snow Beer. Before acquiring SABMiller, Anheuser-Busch InBev had agreed to sell its interests in Snow to China Resources Enterprise (for $1.6 billion) to satisfy regulators. (Full article...)

List of selected brands

Selected biography -

Regina Wauters (1 March 1795 – 24 January 1874) was a Belgian businesswoman and brewer. She was instrumental in founding the Rodenbach Brewery in Roeselare. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

Did you know (auto-generated) -

... that the Vanuatu beer Tusker is named after the tusks of a pig, a traditional symbol of wealth?
... that the patu clubs on the New Zealand threepence were compared to bottles of ginger beer?
... that the basement of the Old Town Hall in Gdańsk was rented by a famous astronomer to store his beers?
... that some online social and "Barstool conservatives" spent their Christmas holidays arguing about whether a beer promotional calendar was "demonic"?
... that the offices of Hamm's Brewery in Saint Paul, Minnesota, were built on the site of the city's third cathedral?
... that Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority general manager Phillip Eng brews his own beer?

Selected brewery -

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Selected image -

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General images

The following are images from various beer- and brewing-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Irish Craft Beer Festival, 2015 (from Craft beer)
Image 2A 16th-century brewery (from History of beer)
Image 3Cask ales with gravity dispense at a beer festival (from Brewing)
Image 4Lauter tun (from Brewing)
Image 5Philistine pottery beer jug (from History of beer)
Image 6Bill Urquhart at Litchborough Brewery (from Craft beer)
Image 7Alulu beer receipt recording a purchase of "best" beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BCE, from the Sumerian city of Umma in ancient Iraq. (from History of beer)
Image 8Gambrinus – king of beer (from History of beer)
Image 9Spent grain, a brewing by-product (from Brewing)
Image 10The Alulu beer receipt records a purchase of "best" beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BC, from the Sumerian city of Umma in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). (from Brewing)
Image 11Smoked beer from the Schlenkerla brewpub in Bamberg, Germany (from Craft beer)
Image 12Põhjala Brewery, Estonia (from Craft beer)
Image 13A 16th-century brewery (from Brewing)
Image 14Bottling beer in a modern facility, 1945, Australia (from History of beer)
Image 15A beer sommelier tapping a barrel for a taste at Nebraska Brewing Company (from Craft beer)
Image 16A mash tun at the Bass Museum in Burton-upon-Trent (from Brewing)
Image 17Conditioning tanks at Anchor Brewing Company (from Brewing)
Image 18A hydrometer measures beer's specific gravity (from History of beer)
Image 19D. G. Yuengling & Son is the oldest operating brewing company in the US, established in 1829. It is also the largest craft brewer and the 6th largest brewing company. (from Craft beer)
Image 20Modern closed fermentation vessels (from Brewing)
Image 21Microbreweries, regional breweries, and brew pubs per capita (from Craft beer)
Image 22The Caledonian Brewery, founded in 1869, Edinburgh, Scotland (from History of beer)
Image 23Open vessels showing fermentation taking place (from Brewing)
Image 24Dogo Beer from Minakuchi-shuzō microbrewery in Matsuyama, Japan (from Craft beer)
Image 25Pasteur Street Brewing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (from Craft beer)
Image 26A funerary model of a bakery and brewery, from the Eleventh dynasty of Egypt, c. 2009–1998 BCE (from History of beer)
Image 27Spontaneous fermentation at Timmermans in Belgium (from Brewing)
Image 28A replica of ancient Egyptian beer, brewed from emmer wheat by the Courage brewery in 1996 (from History of beer)
Image 29Zoigl beers from the communal brewhouses of Oberpfalz in Germany (from Craft beer)
Image 30Bergenhus microbrewery, Bergen, Norway (from Craft beer)
Image 31Traditional fermenting building (center) and modern fermenting building (left) in Pilsner Urquell Brewery (Czech Republic) (from History of beer)
Image 32Steamworks Brewing, Vancouver (from Craft beer)
Image 33A yard of ale at Jolly Brewery, Taiwan (from Craft beer)
Image 34Great Leap Brewing operates a chain of brewpubs in China. (from Craft beer)
Image 35Diatomaceous earth, used to create a filtration bed (from Brewing)
Image 36Hop cone grown in a hop field, Hallertau, Germany (from Brewing)
Image 37A growler of beer from Flounder Brewing, a nanobrewery in New Jersey, US (from Craft beer)
Image 38A can of Juicy Ass IPA from Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery in Barrie, Ontario, Canada (from Craft beer)
Image 39Brew kettles at Brasserie La Choulette in France (from Brewing)
Image 40Casks of real ale from British microbreweries at a beer festival (from Craft beer)
Image 41Malted barley before kilning or roasting (from Brewing)
Image 42Robohop, a session IPA from Cervisiam in Oslo, Norway (from Craft beer)
Image 43Rock mortars in Raqefet Cave, used to make beer during the Stone Age. (from History of beer)
Image 44Castaña, a smoked beer with chestnuts from Cerex in Extremadura, Spain (from Craft beer)
Image 45A selection of French craft beers (from Craft beer)
Image 46World beer consumption per capita (from History of beer)