After the Bob's (BluLightning) thread about "Ok, Now This Has Gone Too Far! " - Don't Mess with my Beer !! posting, I thought a dedicated thread would be good, so we could all be enlightened about our favorite beverage (if in fact that is even required).
Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches. Most beer is flavored with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, though other flavorings such as herbs or fruit may occasionally be included.
The basic ingredients of beer are water; a starch source (mainly derived from cereal grains - the most common of which is malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), and rice are widely used) that are able to be fermented and converted into alcohol; a brewer's yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavoring such as hops.
The strength of beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (abv.) though may range from less than 1% abv., to over 20% abv. in rare cases.
The basics of brewing beer are commonly categorized into two main types - lagers and ales, which are based on the temperature of the brewing which influences the behavior of yeast used during the fermentation stage of the brewing process.
Lagers, use a slower-acting yeast, fermented at lower temperatures, which removes most of the sugars, leaving a clean, dry beer
Ales are brewed at a higher temperature, using a fast-acting yeast which leaves behind residual sugars and are further categorized into other varieties such as pale ale, stout and brown ale.
Alcoholic beverages distilled after fermentation, or fermented from non-starch sources such as grape juice (wine) or honey (mead), are not classified as beer.
.. so there you go. Beer is Good !
;D
From Wikipedia