Sir Lucky Day
Beer Columnist, Crush Magazine
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Beer, Good!
Welcome back, friends. Beer is a fascinating beverage. From its rich history of Sumarian goddesses, mysterious monks, sunken pirate ships, and Colonial Americans to its magical abilities to increase speaking volume, turn uggos pretty, and make men borderline interesting beer is a subject and a companion all should know. Beer, Good is designed to educate and entertain, to expound and extrapolate on the wonderful nessecity that is beer. We cover a bevy of frothy topics, but only to give you a taste. Our hope is that you will hoist the glass and find your own answers and inspiration at the bottom of the pint.
World Beer Cup®
What is the World Beer Cup®?: "Every two years a highly qualified professional panel of beer judges honors the top three beers in 91 beer style categories with gold, silver and bronze awards. The World Beer Cup is often referred to as "the Olympics of Beer Competitions" because it is one of the very few international beer competitions awarding only one gold, silver and bronze in each category."
In a never-ending effort to encourage you to drink fantastice beer I have posted the winners of the 2008 World Beer Cup® here.
Beer Basics (Terms & Definitions)
| Adjuncts | Fermentable material (such as corn, rice, rye, oats, barley, or wheat) used as a substitute for traditional grains often used to cut cost or to create a specific flovor profile. |
|---|---|
Barley |
Cereal grains that are milled and malted for the brewing of beer. |
Hops |
The female flower cones of the hop plant (Humulus lupulus) used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent (preservative) in beer. Added to fermenting beer, hops impart a bitter aroma and flavor to balance the sweetness of the malt. (SLD loves a bitter beer!) |
| Malt(ing) | The process by which barley is soaked in water, germinated, then kilned (dried or heated with hot air) to convert insoluble starch to soluble substances and sugar. |
| Mash | The resultant mixture of malt sugars released by the soaking of grains in water. |
Water |
Uhm, you should really know what this is. A substantial portion of beer is water, and a great many flavor characteristics can be derived from the source water that the beer is made from. Different minerals, chemicals, etc. will put their own unique stamp on a beer. This makes style emulation difficult from region to region. |
| Wort | The liquid solution of grain sugars extracted from the mashing process that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol. |
| Yeast | Yeast metabolises the sugars extracted from grains, which produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. |