14 DAY TRIAL // Beer is a booze as old as human civilization.
Beer abuse has generated many health problems (and not only) but scientists say that moderate consumption is not bad at all, because beer contains many vitamins and minerals, beneficial for the heart and skin.
Beer was first testified 5,000 years ago by ancient Sumerian cuneiform slates from Middle East.
Beer was very popular also among Babylonians and Egyptians from the same period, who knew more than 19 varieties.
The oldest recipe also comes from the ancient Egypt.
From Middle East, beer passed to Europe and at the beginning of the first millennium was consumed by Celts, Germans (including Vikings) and other tribes.
It even entered the Viking-German mythology.
During the Middle Age, beer brewery passed to monasteries, where monks improved the process, adding hop.
Beginning with the 19th century, beer brewery became a mechanized process.
When Louis Pasteur found that yeast was made by living things, scientists were able to improve the sugar transformation to alcohol.
When the Danish researcher Emil Christian Hansen separated a pure yeast strain for beer, he effectively revolutionized brewery.
Making beer needs 4 ingredients: water, barley, yeast and hop and four steps.
First step is malting.
Clean barley is soaked in order to germinate (5-6 days at 14 degrees C).
This green malt is dried in special ovens, being left with 2-5 % humidity, which stops germination.
The sprouts are eliminated and the malt is ground.
Maceration: the malt is mixed with water till a pap emerges, and this one is warmed till the temperature when enzymes are activated and break down starch to glucose.
The process lasts more than 4 hours and the resulting liquid is filtered and boiled for two hours to stop the enzymes.
Now hop is added to give its bitter flavor and the liquid is cooled.
Fermentation: during this process, the glucose is transformed in alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeasts, about a week.
Temperature and time period determine the beer type, ale or lager.
The so-called young beer is put to mature: from three weeks to several meses, depending on the type.
During this period, the beer gets its flavor and accumulates carbon dioxide, which makes it foamy.
Nowadays, the beer variety is huge: sweet or bitter, light or dark, from barley or wheat (white beers, very popular in Germany)...
In U.K., the specialties are represented by "porter" and "stout".
Porter is strong, of superficial fermentation, and well toasted malt, which gives it an intense dark color.
Stout is a very dark beer, famous around the world through the Guinness trademark.
Among stouts, there is a sweet English one, which contains lactose (milk sugar).