What is Beer?
Beer is a widely used alcoholic beverage with a pronounced taste, aroma and low alcohol content. The great popularity of beer was ensured by the fact that the combination of only two ingredients of this drink - malt and hops of various varieties, made it possible to create thousands of unique versions of this drink. Today, beer is produced and consumed all over the world, not giving way to such a drink as wine, and sometimes even surpassing it both in terms of the range of varieties offered and in terms of consumption. At the same time, the popularity of beer is growing day by day - beer production volumes are increasing, new breweries are opening, craft beers produced at small breweries are becoming popular, in addition, home brewing has become quite popular in the world.
Industrial Production of Beer
Hundreds and thousands of varieties of beer are produced industrially - from world-famous brands such as Carlsberg or Guinness, which sell their beer all over the world, to small breweries and breweries that provide their cities and adjacent regions with their products. Virtually all beer produced by the industry is a variety of lager - beer, fermentation of which occurs at temperatures close to zero degrees Celsius. In addition, industrially produced beer necessarily goes through the process of pasteurization - heating to a temperature of about 80 degrees Celsius, due to which the beer is stored much longer than live, not pasteurized. True, almost all carbon dioxide is removed from beer during one heating, so all industrial beer is artificially saturated with carbon dioxide, without which any beer is not beer. Industrially produced beer in various packaging. Beer in glass bottles and cans is widely available in retail, cheaper varieties may be sold in PET bottles to reduce the cost. For large consumers of beer - cafes, restaurants, pubs and others - beer is supplied in stainless steel barrels - kegs. Kegs are reusable containers for beer, and as they are empty, they are sent back to the brewery, where they are refilled with a new batch of fresh beer.
Craft Brewing
In view of the great popularity of beer, small breweries located at pubs, cafes or restaurants in which beer is brewed for their own consumption, or rather, for visitors to these establishments, have recently gained popularity. Craft brewing differs from industrial brewing in its flexibility and the ability to quickly change the types of beer produced. Small volumes of beer brewing allow the production of a wide range of craft beer varieties, the main thing is that there are enough containers for its fermentation and storage. In addition, craft breweries produce predominantly live unpasteurized beer, which has a unique taste and aroma that distinguishes such beer from industrial beer. Also, small breweries can brew not only lagers, but also ales - beers that ferment at room temperature, which industrial beer production cannot do due to technological and economic considerations. Craft beer is usually bottled in kegs and sold on tap to cafes, pubs and restaurants.
Home Brewing
Along with the growing popularity of beer itself, not only the production of craft beer has spread, but also brewing beer at home. It is quite possible to brew beer at home, it does not require as much equipment, raw materials and skills as it might seem. The easiest way to brew beer at home is to use ready-made concentrates. Commercially available malt extracts are made in-house, which already contain a certain combination of extracts from various malts, and are also already flavored with the necessary types of hops. The whole process of home brewing comes down to dilution of the malt extract with the necessary amount of water, the addition of yeast and subsequent fermentation. Brewing grain beer at home is not as easy as using ready-made extracts, but it is quite possible. Brewing beer at home requires at least a large vessel in which the beer will be brewed, and a small amount of additional equipment for mixing, filtering, measuring temperature, etc. To facilitate the work of home brewers, home breweries of various types and designs are produced, which greatly simplify the process of brewing beer. At home, mostly ale beers are brewed, which do not need special cooling equipment during fermentation, and carbon dioxide saturation occurs naturally. The easiest and safest way to pack homemade beer is PET bottles, which are not afraid of shocks and slight overpressure. Home brewing seems to be the only way to taste really real live beer.