From time immemorial, people drank draft beer, from barrels, or as you can also call it “non-bottled” beer. Usually in a city, fortress, village, etc. There were small breweries, so beer was consumed fresh - immediately after preparation.
Only relatively recently did civilization “give” us pasteurization, filtration, and sterilization. These technological processes aimed mainly at extending the stability of beer and its shelf life have led to the fact that modern bottled beer, with a big stretch, can be called similar to the beer that our forefathers brewed.
Beer can be divided into 4 categories:
1. Sterilized/canned/chemical beer- long-lasting beer, usually imported canned or bottled beer. A true beer connoisseur will never touch such “progress of technological thought.” The shelf life of such beer is up to 12-18 months.
2. Pasteurized beer- with a shelf life of up to 6-12 months. During pasteurization (heating a bottle of beer to a temperature of 60-65C), large yeast cells that were able to “slip” into the beer after it was filtered die. Typically pasteurized ale is bottled beer.
3. Unpasteurized bottled beer- undergoes only filtration, due to which large yeast cells are not destroyed - one of the most important elements in beer, for which true beer lovers value it (not counting, of course, other elements, and especially soft water). The shelf life of such beer is 7-10 days.
4. Unpasteurized draft beer- I don’t even have words for how cool this is!...
5. Unfiltered beer- you can drink it either at a brewery or in a small brewery. Shelf life - no more than 3 days. This beer is not filtered, so “all” yeast is present, the taste and freshness of this beer cannot be expressed in words - you just have to try it!
So why draft?
Because it's always fresh. Draft wine is almost never pasteurized, and even unpasteurized it is stored not for 7 days, like bottled wine, but for 20 days due to the fact that it is poured under pressure without access to oxygen into sealed keg barrels. Beer in kegs is cooled in a special refrigerator (which is usually hidden from us by the bar counter) to the optimal temperature at which the taste and aroma of beer are most fully revealed. Remember the hot summer, warm beer from the store (if there is no refrigerator) or kiosk, or, conversely, too ice-cold beer from the freezer (where we often put it in the summer when we come home to quickly cool it down and don’t know exactly how much it is? keep it there?).
And now let’s remember the three old “Soviet” stereotypes that are still firmly ingrained in our minds and destroy them immediately, without even having time to finish the mug of the good amber drink even halfway:
1. Beer makes you fat - Although beer is called “liquid bread”, it’s not that much... It’s quite difficult to gain weight from beer; people usually get fat from eating a lot of food, “eaten with beer,” because beer causes an increased sense of appetite, activating the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. Beer, like all alcoholic drinks, flushes salts and minerals from the body, which is why we instinctively feel the need for salty... By the way, the calorie content of beer is no higher than the calorie content of, for example, kefir, milk or juice (approximately 35-65 kcal/100 G.)
2. Draft beer has a negative effect on the kidneys- In “Soviet” times, the kidneys were affected by tap water, which unscrupulous sellers used to dilute beer (to catch and drown them in the same diluted beer, one cannot even dare to say). Many people think that even now beer from kegs is diluted with water. I declare with confidence that this is practically impossible to do. The design of the sealed keg and the installation itself are designed in such a way that only the employees of the “Keg Beer Sales Department”, or maybe one or two, can add water (I’ll tell you a secret - in 3 ways) into the keg or directly into the tap. "craftsman". Another thing about your kidneys: you won’t have any stones there if you drink quality beer. Czech scientists have generally proven that, for example, Pilsen beer even destroys kidney stones...
3. The draft works well only in hot and sultry conditions. It’s not true, true connoisseurs and beer lovers will answer you this: In the heat, light, low-calorie beers are especially easy and pleasant to drink, while in the cold, dark, dense beer goes better. Therefore, beer is drunk “not depending on how hot the sun has knocked you into the shade with a bottle of ice-cold beer,” but “depending on whether you are a true connoisseur and lover of good things.” draft beer", which is drunk all year round!
October 1st, 2013
This material is dedicated to the quality of beer in Russia, or rather its complete absence. I want to make a reservation right away. The author of this article is very fond of a drink called beer. Abroad, quite a lot of people drink it with great pleasure. However, at home in Russia, in Tomsk, I practically don’t drink it at all, especially Russian-made beer. I don’t drink for a very simple reason. For some reason, this kind of “beer,” as a rule, even the smallest amount of it, gives you a headache in the morning. German, Czech, Belgian, Dutch, even Turkish and Thai don’t give you a headache, even with a very large amount of it. Noticing this feature, I tried to understand this situation. Why are things like this in Russia?
Why does Russian beer give you a headache?
When I visited small restaurant“Sewing” in the center of Prague, urologist friends told me the following. Our beer contains preservatives, enzyme accelerators, and chemicals that are added to the beer to create “malt.” It is for this reason that almost everyone who drank Russian-made beer had such a reaction to it. The beer itself good drink, you need to drink it, savoring it, and quite slowly. It is useful to use it not often, but in large quantities, before the appearance of the so-called. “urological effect” - to flush stones and sand out of the kidneys.
The headache from drinking a glass of beer produced in Tomsk, and the problem with this, has given rise to a rumor today, which is now often discussed on the Internet - “diphenhydramine” is added to “Tomsk beer”. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised by this fact; you have to sell it somehow and make a profit from its sale.
Most likely, diphenhydramine is probably not added to Tomsk beer, but there is probably quite a lot of crap in there. In general, I scrupulously began to study this issue from a scientific point of view, studying all the information about this product, including using my experience. I will share my observations.
For those who are no longer young, remember our factory, Tomskoe Beer. Many Tomsk residents had familiar employees who worked there and helped them buy cold beer directly from the so-called. "director's vat". I had friends like this, and I remember its taste well. Just recently, the director of Tomsk Beer, Ivan Klein, publicly called them all “drunkards and slackers, whom he dispersed for the reason that they did not know how to work.” These words offend me. Moreover, my friends, unlike some citizens, never went on long-term “binges” and never “filed up.”
We will also omit the fact that Ivan Klein rather rudely “framed” the former director of the plant Leonid Golubev (now a deputy of the City Duma), took his place, which allowed him to subsequently privatize the plant, and then, in my opinion, to rob him, in no other way you say, his own employees (now his family has 71% of the shares of TP and the fortune of the Klein family members is estimated in billions of rubles), this story goes beyond the scope of our research, and it does not directly affect the quality of beer.
One thing can be said - forcing this person to purposefully poison people with his products can only be achieved by the huge profits received from such a business. The income of Ivan Klein’s family, and his personal one, is what apparently makes him forget national pride his own historical homeland...
How to brew good beer
Germany and the Germans can be respected for the fact that they have the oldest law that is still observed - this is the law on the quality of German beer. Let us briefly outline its essence. Beer must be prepared from three components - water, malt, hops. Then they started adding yeast. And this technology is still highly respected and respected in Germany, and besides it - in many European countries where beer is produced. In Tomsk, this law seems to have not been observed for a long time, although we seem to have Kruger beer...
Let's figure out why this is so. Firstly, our legislation on beer today is largely drawn up by beer lobbyists and does not prohibit them from producing not beer, but swill and surrogate. And that is why today there is a very strange GOST for beer. In order to understand, let’s take a short technological excursion into the theory of brewing. According to the old tradition, barley is used for brewing - as the basis of the beer “body”. Regular barley contains a lot of starch, but little sugar fermentable by yeast, so before fermentation, starch is hydrolyzed using amylases (natural enzymes or enzymes), which are formed in the grain during germination. Therefore, for brewing, barley is sprouted and malt is obtained. Then, at certain temperatures, the crushed malt is kept in water, activating enzymes that hydrolyze starch into sugars (glucose and maltose), which will subsequently be processed by yeast into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
This is ideal. In industry, things have long been different. Apparently, they stopped putting malt in beer a long time ago, and if they do it, it’s only for the sake of compliance technical specifications and the right to write the word on the label in the “composition” column MALT.
"GOST R 51174—2009" today defines the basis of such technology. It was this GOST that determined the requirements for raw materials:
5.2.1 The following are used as raw materials for beer production:
- brewing barley malt according to GOST 29294;
- brewing wheat malt;
- drinking water. ;
- granulated sugar according to GOST 21;
- hops according to GOST 21947:
- granulated hops and hop products. the use of which ensures the quality and safety of beer:
- unmalted grain products:
barley according to GOST 5060.
wheat according to GOST R 52554,
crushed wheat semolina according to GOST 18271,
rice grits according to GOST 6292, corn grits according to GOST 6002;
- raw sugar, liquid sugar and other sugar-containing products, the use of which ensures the quality and safety of beer:
- brewer's yeast.
It is allowed to use raw materials according to other documents or imported ones, the use of which ensures the quality and safety of beer.
Content of toxic elements, radionuclides(!), pesticides, mycotoxins. N-nitrosamines in raw materials should not exceed the standards established by regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation*.
5.2.2. During the beer production process, it is allowed to use auxiliary means, the use of which in contact with beer ensures its quality and safety.
In short, the main thing here is highlighted in bold - according to this GOST, you can poison us with almost any additives, even radionuclides and pesticides, but only a little, little by little. So that they don’t die right away, but suffer longer and suffer from cancer...
We have a good, “caring” state. Or rather, it’s simply corrupt, because... It seems that everything in Russia was bought, and GOSTs, and the decertification, and the place of the mayor - everything is now on sale in our country.
For us, such “beer” gives us headaches, beer alcoholics appear (there weren’t very many of them before), we get sick and live less than the population of most developed, and not particularly developed countries.
Why was the “Stalinist” GOST canceled?
However, things weren't so bad before. For clarity, I will cite historical facts and share an observation. In 1953, already far from us, we, in the USSR, had our own "GOST 3473-53" determining the composition of beer. Let us present excerpts from this "GOST 3473-53", they are worth it:
4. For the production of beer, brewing barley malt is used that meets OST IIKPP 357, hops OST 528 and water that meets the requirements of sanitary supervision and GOST 2874-54.
Light beer is prepared from light malt with the addition of 20% rice flour or rice chaff to the total amount of grain during mashing in the production of Moscow beer and 10% Leningrad beer.
Dark beer is prepared from a mixture of dark and light malts, including caramel and roasted malt, with the addition of 25 sugar to the total amount of grain supplies when making Velvet Beer.
Notes:
1. For the production of Zhigulevsky beer, it is allowed to use up to 15% of unmalted raw materials: flour from hulled and unhulled barley, ground barley, flour from defatted corn (OST KZ SNK 347) and rice chaff. In the production of all types of beer, the use of up to 0.5% defatted soy flour is allowed (GOST 3898-47).
2. To achieve the standard color of Zhiguli beer in accordance with clause 7 of this standard, it is allowed to add burnt malt (burnt malt) or burnt sugar (sugar coloring) to the mash before transferring it to filtration.
3. To improve technological qualities In the production of light beers, the use of food grade lactic acid (GOST 490-41) and gypsum and table salt free from harmful impurities is allowed.
4. When making Velvet beer, fermentation is carried out with yeast that does not ferment sucrose.
5. According to the processing method, beer is divided into pasteurized and unpasteurized. Pasteurization is carried out in agreement with the consumer.
In a word, we also had GOST, almost verbatim copied from German standards for beer production. Under Joseph Stalin, for all his “bloodthirstiness,” it was still not allowed to kill people with food chemicals. In 1969 (“GOST 3473-69”) it was allowed to use enzymes in the production of beer, but they were allowed to be used only for the production of “Zhigulevsky beer”, to speed up the fermentation processes in it up to 18 days. True, they limited the volume of unmalted ingredients to 15%. Let's give it:
"GOST 3473-69" 1.3. To produce beer, depending on the recipe, you should use:
barley brewing light and dark malt;
caramel and roasted malt;
unmalted materials (barley flour, rice flour, corn flour according to OST KZ SNK 347);
granulated sugar according to GOST 21-57;
hops according to GOST 8473-57;
hop extracts;
drinking water according to GOST 2874-54.
Notes:
1. In the production of Zhigulevsky beer, the use of enzyme preparations approved by the USSR Ministry of Health is allowed.
2. When producing Zhigulevsky beer without the use of enzyme preparations, the use of unmalted raw materials should not exceed 15%.
3. In the production of light beers, it is allowed to use food-grade lactic acid in accordance with GOST 490-41 and gypsum and table salt free from harmful impurities
In a word, we brewed our own beer no worse than the Germans after 1953. However, then some strange changes began in the country's GOST standards. This is what GOST of the USSR became, for example, in 1978:
"GOST 3473-78" 2.2. To prepare beer in accordance with the recipes, use:
brewing barley malt, caramel malt and brewing malt;
drinking water according to GOST 2874;
hops according to GOST 21947;
hop extracts approved for use by the USSR Ministry of Health;
ground hops, briquetted or granulated;
unmalted materials: barley according to GOST 5060; rice grits according to GOST 6292, corn grits according to GOST 6002;
granulated sugar according to GOST 21;
raw sugar;
malt extract.
To prepare beer when fermenting wort, special bottom- or top-fermenting brewer's yeast is used.
(Changed edition, Amendment No. 1, 2, 3).
2.3. When preparing beer, enzyme preparations and other auxiliary materials are used, approved for use by the USSR Ministry of Health and provided for technological instructions, approved in accordance with the established procedure.
Further - more. Until everything reached the sad GOST of the Russian Federation for beer from 2009 - "GOST R 51174—2009". In general, in Russia they gradually reached the point of using almost radionuclides in beer. I immediately remember the expression of the old people: “Stalin is not on you!” This was very relevant in this case. We won’t swear, but I want to. The pursuit of profit and cheaper products have led to the fact that in order to increase the volume of beer production, producers need to further and further shorten the volume of fermentation and use increasingly cheaper malt and ingredients.
As a result, according to data taken from many sites, our beer has become terribly full of all sorts of chemicals.
Chemical "beer"
So, here are the enzyme preparations used in the production of beer in Russia. Their list is huge and far from complete:
At the stage of mashing, fermentation, post-fermentation.
Thermamil- Extremely heat-stable bacterial α-amylase - a liquid preparation obtained by cultivating the Bacillus licheniformis strain. Thermamyl is used as a liquefying agent for gelatinized starch at relatively high temperatures. Breaks down α-1,4 glucose bonds in amylose and amylopectin, forming dextrins and oligosaccharides, reducing viscosity. Recommended dose: 150-400 ml per 1 ton of conventional starch, depending on the type of raw material (more for potatoes) and the process conditions.
Bacillus licheniformis strain- a genetically modified strain of bacteria that is present mainly in birds (on the plumage in the chest and dorsal parts). Thermamil is added to ferment unmalted milk and its starches, which increases the alcohol content in the mash.
BAN- the same as thermomil, but differs in the temperature of enzyme activation. The point is to convert starch into sugars as quickly as possible and with the greatest efficiency.
AMG (AMG) - Amyloglucosidase (glucoamylase), obtained from a selected strain of the mold Aspergillus piger. Provides almost complete saccharification of starch to glucose, increases the degree of fermentation to 103%, and allows you to obtain beer with a high alcohol content. Aspergillus niger is a species of higher mold fungi from the genus Aspergillus; causes diseases in humans and animals.
Viscose, Ultraflo, Celluclast- auxiliary enzymes. They break down non-starchy polysaccharides (cellulose and other ß-glucans, pentosans, hemicelluloses). They reduce the viscosity of the wort and slightly increase the alcohol yield. Those. They even break down what is not allowed.
Fungamil— Mushroom a-amylase, increases the degree of fermentation of the wort, eliminates dextrin cloudiness in the finished beer.
Neutraza Neutral protease, for deep hydrolysis of proteins when using raw materials with a high protein content of 0.1 - 0.2 kg/ton. Protein hydrolysis is the destruction of protein by breaking its molecular bonds. The presence of protein in beer leads to cloudiness and sedimentation.
Maturex Controls the formation of diacetyl during fermentation and reduces the duration of post-fermentation. Diacetyl is formed as a result of fermentation. Its excessive quantity gives the beer an unpleasant odor.
Farmcap S- to control foaming, reduce the risk of cross-infection through the carbon dioxide collection system; defoamer, especially necessary during accelerated fermentation to reduce foam formation. The so-called enzyme “stopper” for foam prevents the wort from foaming during the fermentation process.
Biofine- to reduce the level of yeast cells after fermentation and improve filtration;
And so on... The list goes on, the names of enzymes from different manufacturing companies are correspondingly different, but their meaning is approximately the same - to ensure rapid and complete fermentation of cheap starch at all stages, wort purification, and rapid filtration. By cheap starch I mean unmalted starch (corn, rice, potatoes and their waste). This provides much-needed cheap alcohol in the beer wort.
Ivan Klein himself does not drink the products of his plant....Does he know the composition of his “beer”?
Antioxidants:
To increase the stability of beer, antioxidant drugs are used, which are added to prevent oxidative processes leading to the formation of haze.
The most commonly used antioxidants are sulfur dioxide, sulfites, ascorbic acid and its sodium salt, as well as reductones obtained from sugars in an alkaline environment.
Industrial examples of beer antioxidants:
Vikant- consists of 2 main antioxidants: (E223) Na2S2O5 sodium metabisulfite (pyrosulfite) is harmful if ingested, when in contact with acids it releases a toxic gas, there is a risk of serious damage to the eyes.
(E-316) Sodium Erythorbate Sodium isoascorbate (harm to the body is not yet known).
Antioxin SB- antioxidant stabilizer. E-224 (E-224) Potassium pyrosulfite.
Dangerous for health. Potassium pyrosulfite (E-224) is a food additive-preservative, antioxidant. In the food industry, potassium pyrosulfite is used in wine production (treatment of grape pulp with potassium pyrosulfate) and in brewing. K2S2O5, colorless lamellar crystals. Let's dissolve in water. Component of acidic photographic fixer, antioxidant, antiseptic. Used in dyeing fabrics.
Stabilizers:
The most effective way to increase the colloidal stability of beer is to treat it with stabilizers containing proteolytic enzymes as an active component. PGA, VK-75, 390, silicic acid hydrogel,
Beer stabilizers based on PVPP and silica gel. Provides stability to beer, improves clarity, aroma, taste of beer, and also makes foam stable.
Cobalt is sometimes used as a foam stabilizer. The content of this toxic element in beer in the heart muscle of beer drinkers exceeds the permissible limit by 10 times. In addition, those who drink beer with cobalt experience inflammatory processes in the esophagus and stomach.
Hops and hop substitutes: Along with the use of hops and hop products (pelleted hops, lupulin extract, betafresh, isofresh, hop oil, emulsion) to reduce the cost of the process (primarily in luxury beers), synthetic acids are used, similar in composition to the a-acids of hops, and giving bitterness identical to natural, as well as hop flavorings.
Caramel colors. A dark brown liquid obtained by special temperature treatment of glucose and sucrose. Roughly speaking, “fried sugar.” If you look closely at the beer label, some beers contain a caramel color (or else a sugar color).
Previously, I only encountered this in dark beers, which is not surprising, since it is much more profitable to color beer a dark “natural” color with the help of sugar than with the help of burnt malt. Recently, even in some varieties of light beer, caramel coloring is used, which makes you wonder what color the wort was originally there, and whether there is at least 1% malt there... I think the answer to this question is clear. And, for starters, here's more:
Flavors:
"Ale" QL-14510, "Wheat beer" QL-14527, Porter. Here, in fact, everything is clear and it’s hardly worth adding anything.
Opacifiers: Opacifier for creating wheat beer.
Russian narcologists have also publicly stated the wild situation in this area. They directly stated that beer produced in Russia should not be drunk. Such a statement, in particular, was made by the chief narcologist of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Brun, in 2009.
According to him, the classical technologies for producing this drink in Russia are being violated; at a certain stage, alcohol is added to beer. And Russians drink this liquid “with the remains of unfermented wort, slag.”
“In general, beer and low-alcohol cocktails in cans are a real chemical warfare agent”, - said the chief narcologist of Russia.
Situation in Tomsk
For some reason I am sure that Tomsk Beer uses almost everything that was listed. Even the official website of Tomsk Beer itself indirectly indicates this. If you look at the old GOST standards of the USSR, then in beer production technology there is no such operation as “saturation with carbon dioxide”. Only with the use of enzymes does the need for this saturation arise. With normal old technologies, this saturation occurred naturally during prolonged fermentation. We calculate the volume of vats indicated on the TP website, compare them with the total production volume, including from reports and advertising information, and in the end we get that beer for that production volume can ferment for no more than 5 days. Even under the USSR, when enzymes were used, Soviet Zhigulevskoye beer had to ferment for at least 18 days, other types of beer had to ferment even longer - on average about 30 days. This once again proves that it is not beer that is produced at Tomsk Beer, but ordinary swill.
Plus, here's something to note. For some reason, the employees of Tomsk Beer and its director himself do not drink their own beer, but before they poured it for themselves, drank it, and even carried it home from the factory. It is clear that it is difficult to force yourself to drink this “hellish brew” of chemicals, which is not actually beer, especially when you know how it was made. In Russia, almost everything that smells of malt and hops, and even carbonated, is for some reason called “beer”... This fact is best characterized by the words of Ivan Klein himself, said back in 2005:
"- We in our family have been drinking only soft drinks. The bar both at work and at home is full of different brands of vodka, cognac and wines for every taste, but this is only for guests; we ourselves do not drink a drop of alcohol: it seems to us that life is wonderful without alcohol. So the Italian waiter was amazed: he said, you’re not Russian if you don’t drink.”. Ivan Klein. 12/10/2005:
Unfortunately, these strange rules force even foreign manufacturers in Russia to play by such deadly rules. Even foreigners, in order not to lose the market in Russia, switched to accelerators and enzymes. Everyone needs to compete on price. At the same time, none of them will ever allow such “beer” that was produced in our country for us, and will not risk selling it abroad. For Russians, anything will do.
Is there a way out?
You may ask why no one at the federal level raises and resolves this issue. There are two reasons and they are banal. Receiving super-profits from the production of this “boil”, the producers have their own lobbyists, who in the State Duma and the Government of the Russian Federation, through the officials they bribed, the lobbyists allow themselves to get drunk and poison the nation. A large number of “beer alcoholics” in Russia emerged from the production and sale of beer using “new technologies.” The second reason is excise taxes - i.e. receipt of funds to the state. budget. The more liters of beer produced and sold, the greater the tax revenue to the Russian budget. Judging by the reports, during the year about 1 billion rubles from the sale of excise taxes from TP goes to the budget treasury. There is something to cut and steal. Everyone there forgot about such a thing as the poisoning of the nation as a result of these “beer sales.” After all, those who make these decisions will certainly never pick up Tomsk Beer. All this leads to one thought: isn’t it time for us all to start fighting these “would-be capitalists,” including for the purity of products.
I personally have a proposal for beer lovers like me, for those who don’t want to drink a “mixture of chemicals”, let’s start a war with them for the production of quality beer. Although we have few mechanisms of influence. Relying on the government and the president, the State Duma of Russia is clearly not worth it. Therefore, we have one effective mechanism in our hands - the adoption at a regional referendum of a special law of the Tomsk region, prohibiting in the region the production and import of “beer” made with enzymes and any chemical additives. If the beer is produced according to GOST of 1953, or German, or any other standard, except for the Russian GOST of 2009, because almost all of them are practically identical - it has the right to be called beer. Otherwise, this is precisely a dangerous drink, and it should be called a beer or intoxicating drink, and nothing else. The question is not easy. Although you need very little money, a few people, enthusiasm and this issue can be resolved. Who will solve it for us if not ourselves. Although if we do it, then tourists will come to us to drink real beer, otherwise in Tomsk almost all historical monuments have now been demolished, and there is no zest left in the city.
Remember the federal initiative with “milk”, that if the milk is reconstituted, then it is not milk at all. Where is she? We bought the right people. And now in Russia everything that is white is “milk”...
THOSE WHO WANT TO TAKE PART IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS FIRST “FOOD WAR” of consumers with unscrupulous producers, and the preparation and holding of a referendum to ban the production of the sale of low-quality beer-swill in the Tomsk region, please write to me at the official email of the site... Beer lovers, let's unite, and , for the real deal. After all, everything in the end depends only on us.
Beer is one of the most popular drinks in the world, which has existed for several millennia. Some believe that it was thanks to beer that the domestication of cereals and the transition from a hunting and gathering society to an agricultural civilization took place. However, beer drinkers are often subject to misconceptions about the drink, ranging from how many calories are in beer to why it spoils.
Warm beer goes bad
Temperature changes may cause the beer to go flat faster, but they will not ruin the beer. Beer becomes unpalatable due to a chemical reaction that occurs when it is exposed to sunlight.
Dark beer is stronger
In fact, the color of the beer has nothing to do with alcohol content or calories, it's just that the beans in dark beer take longer to roast.
Beer should be served ice cold
The temperature at which the beer is served varies, but you won't taste the beer if it's too cold. Types of beer such as pilsner or ale are served at a temperature of 4-6 degrees, and stronger ones at 12 degrees.
Pilsner and lager are the same type of beer
Pilsner is one of many types of lager beer. Pilsners are golden in color and have a refreshing effect, while lagers can be dark, malty and very strong.
Canned beer is cheap
Tin cans are one of the most common ways to package beer, as they protect the beer from light and oxygen better than bottles. The worst storage options are clear glass and screw-on lids.
Aging improves the taste of craft beer
Aging beers with a high alcohol content can be beneficial, but hoppy beers such as India Pale Ale should be consumed as fresh as possible.
Draft beer is better than bottled beer
When stored properly, draft beer is the freshest. But not all bars carefully monitor the quality of beer, and this can lead to the fact that your beer may be contaminated with unwanted microbes.
All beers are essentially the same.
There is a huge variety of beer flavors, ranging from bitter to sweet and sour. There is also beer that contains virtually no alcohol and is as strong as wine.
Beer makes your belly grow
Beer, of course, contains calories and excessive consumption of beer will contribute to the appearance of extra pounds.
But beer contains fewer calories per 100 ml than wine and other alcoholic drinks. It is the excess calories, and not the beer itself, that contributes to weight gain, and whether excess weight is deposited in your abdominal area or not depends on your genetic predisposition.
If you put warm beer in the freezer, its taste will change.
This fact has no basis. However, you can freeze the beer, after which its flavor characteristics will be lost.
Live beer can be stored for no more than 3 days.
Throughout the entire brewing process, brewers have strived to ensure that their drink lasts as long as possible. After all, there is no point in brewing a large amount of beer if it turns sour in a couple of days. “Live” is unpasteurized beer and it lasts much longer than 2-3 days. A long shelf life is due to various influences: hygiene, high-quality closure (air does not enter the beer due to the possibility of oxidation), the use of good hops (the antiseptic properties of beer are caused by the alpha acids of hops).
The amount of hops affects the alcohol content.
The word "hoppy" means "heady," but hops have nothing to do with the amount of alcohol. It helps preserve beer for a long time and serves as a beer flavor. Over the past centuries, a huge number of types of hops have been developed, which have made changes to the taste palette of beer.
Hops contain female hormones.
Indeed, hops contain phytoestrogens. In addition to hops, they are found in parsley, radishes, and soybeans. But phytoestrogens have nothing to do with human hormones and do not affect the human body in any way.
Beer leads to obesity.
Compared to wine or lemonade, beer has many fewer calories because it contains no sugar. Beer is an alcoholic drink, which means it causes appetite. If you snack on beer with high-calorie foods, such as chips, this will naturally lead to obesity. Choose healthy snacks so you won't have weight problems.
Alcohol is used to increase the strength of beer.
Beer is produced by natural fermentation. The more starch in the malt and the duration of fermentation of the beer, the stronger it is. Natural yeast will not be able to increase its fermentation limit and increase the strength of the drink. Therefore, to brew extreme beers that contain up to 20% alcohol, special cultivated yeast is used that is unaltered by alcohol. High prices for extreme beer are due to the same prices for yeast. But there is a limit to everything, it is unrealistic to brew beer with an alcohol content above 50%, because then its density would be 120%. At the same time, lager and ale are divided not by strength, but by the properties of the yeast that was used in brewing.
Dark is stronger than light.
No matter how it is. The difference between this beer is that dark, more roasted malt is used to make dark beer. If you compare dark and light beer with the same density, then the light beer will have more alcohol.
Real beer is made from malt, hops and water.
This law was promulgated in 1516. While Europe was dying of hunger, the rich brewed beer from expensive wheat. To combat waste, a law was passed in order to somehow solve the problem. Do not strictly follow this instruction. For example, Belgium produces a large number of beers, but none meet these standards.
Draft beer tastes better.
Breweries do not produce separate beers for bars. A keg of beer under the bar is no different from an ordinary bottle of beer. Initially, this beer is of one type and is bottled from one barrel.
The best beers are produced in green glass bottles.
Brown glass perfectly protects beer from sun rays, as opposed to green or transparent. This myth was spread in Europe due to the shortage of brown glass. That's when it was replaced with green.
Real beer is not bitter.
The bitterness of beer is influenced by hops. How more hops in beer, the more bitterness. Accordingly, less hops means less bitterness. But thanks to hops, beer is distinguished by its pleasant taste and aroma.
Beer brewed at home tastes better than exported beer.
This is not true. Breweries won't risk their reputation, and it doesn't make sense since the brewing process is cheap. The only difference is the freshness of the beer, which depends on the duration of delivery of beer from its homeland to another country.
Thai beer contains formaldehyde.
This myth arose because Thai beer was more bitter and contained more alcohol than most lagers. Expats who drank beer in Thailand quickly became drunk. They explained this fact by the presence of formaldehyde in beer.
Good day, it’s almost summer outside and a sip of fresh beer, in the extreme heat, is just the thing, the main thing is not to overdo it :).
And just at this hot moment, it would be interesting to look at the myths about beer and dispel some of them.
1. There is an opinion that cool beer tastes better than warm beer
On the contrary, cold beer loses most of its taste qualities and cannot convey the full spectrum of beer flavor, which can only be felt at a temperature of around 10 degrees Celsius. But cold beer is a good tonic and therefore it is more common to drink it cold, hence the myth.
Many people are interested in what happens if you freeze beer and is it possible to freeze beer at all? If beer is completely frozen, then after defrosting it has no gases, and the taste itself becomes disgusting. Therefore, this is a bad idea and it is better to cool it thoroughly.
2.
If you put warm beer in the freezer, you should expect a change in taste due to the temperature change
In fact, the freezer is not dangerous for beer, the main thing, as mentioned above, is not to freeze the beer, otherwise everything will be sad.
3. Beer cannot be stored for a long time, otherwise it loses its taste and disappears
How long does beer last? eternal question. Beer is a product of fermentation, i.e. It is not a fresh product, but one that has undergone a fermentation procedure and can only deteriorate under the influence of external factors.
For example, like fresh food, the drink will disappear quickly if it is opened or if it is poorly sealed. Sanitation on beer bottling equipment is very important.
Therefore, you should not believe the advertisements that tell you what kind of fresh beer is produced by the company "Horns and Hooves", saying that it is so alive - that it spoils in a week or two =)
4. Modern beer is made from chemicals and is powdered.
Believe it or not, there really is beer powder that replaces malt, this is the so-called “malt extract” or dry malt. But this powder is NOT used for the production of large volumes of beer, in modern and not so =) breweries, but is used in private breweries.
Why is this so? The answer is simple - it is more expensive and not profitable for large producers, but it can be stored for a long time, more than a year under the right conditions.
In addition, beer may contain chemicals, for example, natural preservatives:
When making beer, both of these preservatives appear naturally during fermentation and prevent the development of microorganisms in the beer.
5. Beer contains the hormone of happiness
This opinion probably comes from the fact that a person gets drunk and gets a good, relaxed state and a feeling of peace. Of course, it depends on the amount of beer you drink and the situation =)
So, once it was written in the newspaper that happiness hormones are present in various alcoholic drinks, in particular in beer. So I wanted to figure it out.
However, no matter how much I searched, it was reported everywhere that the hormones of happiness, the so-called serotonin and endorphin, are most contained in the following products:
All this would be good, but there is no beer here. In the end, I think that a person’s mood is lifted by any product or action that brings him pleasure and joy =) and if a person doesn’t like bananas or cheese, then no matter how much you push him with these products, he will not become happier =)
6. Hops contain female hormones
There is such a thing, but the content is insignificant, somewhere around 1-3 grams per 1 liter of beer =). For example, legumes contain many times more female hormones, but no one is afraid of this;).
7. The more hops in beer, the more alcoholic it is.
It so happened historically that beer producers often like to call strong beer “Khmelnoye” or “Khmilne”. In fact, hops are used as a flavoring agent and help the beer last longer.
8. Alcohol is added to strong beer
The opinion is not correct, since alcohol is simply more expensive than malt. The alcohol itself, as stated above, is formed naturally, during fermentation. We cook longer - we get a stronger drink, with greater density and no additional alcohol.
9. Dark beer is stronger than light beer
As usual, dark beer is often strong. But in fact, with the same density, dark is less alcoholic.
10. Beer can make you crazy
One of the most common myths is that beer makes you fat. In fact, it is not beer that makes people fat, but the food that is consumed while drinking beer. Gases also have a detrimental effect, having the same effect as the gases in cola or lemonade.
11. Draft beer is better than canned and bottled beer
The myth stems from the fact that beer is brought on tap with a minimum amount of preservatives, since such beer sells out faster, while canned/bottled beer is designed for longer storage. In fact, beer is bottled the same everywhere; the taste can be affected by carbonation, which is usually more in bottles than in kegs.
Also, the carbonation can be controlled by the bartender, which can also affect the taste sensations.
There is one more BUT, this is sterility. At the factory, they clearly pay more attention to sterility than when buying beer from under the counter, on tap.
12. There are different types of beer: light or dark.
No matter how it is =), it turns out that beer is divided according to fermentation methods, which I didn’t know myself =), but the essence is still the same in principle.
Thus, beer is divided into Ale and Lager.
13. With rising prices, you can fight beer alcoholism, just like with other alcoholism in principle.
As for me, this is a far-fetched myth of our government, which, apart from increasing the collection for the government and deteriorating the quality of alcohol consumed by the population, does not mean anything.
