Beer Recipes

After water, beer is the most widely consumed beverage on the planet. The history and development of beer is long and fruitful. In 2005 Penn Museum Archaeochemists and others concluded that cultures in the Middle East began brewing barley beer as early as 7000 B.C.http://www.penn.museum/press-releases/31-9000-year-history-of-chinese-fermented-beverages-confirmed-by-penn-museum-archaeochemist-and-an-international-team-of-scholars.html Over time many different types of beer recipes have emerged.

Today, the basics of beer recipes and preparation methods are shared worldwide and break cultural barriers. There are three basic categories of beer recipes:

Malt extract recipes
All grain recipes
Partial mash recipes

MALT EXTRACT RECIPES

A malt extract syrup is a thick, sticky substance, resembling molasses. It is created when malted barley is soaked in hot water allowing the water to quickly converts the barley's starches into sugars. The sugar solution is then drawn off, pasteurized, and dehydrated in a vacuum environment. By boiling the water within a partial vacuum, the sugars do not caramelize, which results in a lighter tasting extract. There is also a dry malt extract which is a malt extract in a powder form.http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter3.html

A malt extract recipe will use ONLY malt extract as a main source of sugars for the brewing process.

ALL GRAIN RECIPE

An all grain recipe utilizes the principle discussed above in the process of creating a malt extract. In an all grain recipe, the barley is steeped in hot water to remove the sugars and produce a liquid known as the "wort." The grains are then removed from the wort, strained to extract all possible liquid and discarded.

An all grain recipe will use ONLY grains as a main source of sugars for the brewing process.

PARTIAL MASH RECIPE

A partial mash recipe incorporates both malt extract and whole grains into the same recipe. The wort is created with the grains and the extract is added to increase the sugar concentration.

A partial mash recipe will use BOTH grains and malt extract as a main source of sugars for the brewing process.

Common Recipe Variations

BASIC INGREDIENTS:

Malt Extract or Grain
Water
Hops
Yeast
Priming Sugar

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

The only necessary ingredients to a basic beer recipe are grains, water and yeast. Everything else is used to specialize the recipe and create beer belonging to a specific style. Some ingredients you will run into during your recipe search may include:

BEER STYLES

The beauty of creating a beer recipe are the limitless possibilities. While there are many different ways to create a beer recipe for a certain beer style, there are also many styles to choose from. Beers are commonly categorized into two main types: lagers and ales. These two main categories are then further categorized into styles. The beer style is going to greatly influence the recipe. Some of the most popular beer recipes belong to these beer styles: