What is Beer?
Beer is a globally popular alcoholic beverage that is mostly made with water, malted barley, hops and yeast.
I once saw someone describe beer as ‘little green flower water’ due to it being made with hops. I’ve also seen it described as ‘bread juice’ which I don’t hate but it is decidedly more reductive and certainly less romantic than the former.
Beer is incredibly diverse. It’s fizzy, it’s flat, it’s cheap, it’s expensive, it’s ancient, it’s ever-changing. It can be weak, strong, light, dark, fruity, sour, bitter or sweet. Sometimes people put adjuncts (additional ingredients) in it like oats or edible glitter. It’s for drinking in the bath, for celebrating special occasions, for smashing in the garden on the first sunny day of Spring. It’s for sharing with people you love, or want to impress. Sometimes beer lets you down, but sometimes it’s exactly what it is you need it to be.
Beer has been on a journey from as far back as 15000 BCE (1), and across that time as humans' understanding of technology and science has progressed, beer has changed in every way possible. There was once a time where beer styles were totally localised to where they were brewed, now we live in a world where brewers can make almost any style of beer anywhere. Hops are sent all over the world, water profiles can be adjusted, even yeast variants can be transported.
This extensive history, diversity in flavour and production, and the fact that it changes year on year, can make trying to understand exactly “what beer is” very overwhelming. Let me put you at ease by telling you that, at the end of the day beer is just a drink.
I also believe that it can bring people together and can foster community. I’m not trying to downplay the importance of beer, if I wasn’t working in a bar then Burum Collective wouldn’t exist. What I’m trying to say is, beer should never be intimidating, it should always be for everyone.
Over the course of our Burum Basics series, the team is going to help you to get to grips with the basics of beer. In this first module we will take a look at ingredients, the brewing process, how to taste beer, packaging and storing, serving, home brewing and then get you ready to start learning about styles. Plus some honest advice on learning about beer.
The most important thing for you to remember right now are those four main ingredients: water, malted barley, hops and yeast. The rest will follow.
(1) Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher
