There are four basic ingredients of beer: malt, hops, yeast and water. With them, the artisanal producers of this drink manage to multiply its flavors, colors, degrees of bitterness, permanence of the foam, alcoholic strength and many other nuances that are difficult to find in industrial beer.
It is true that drinking beer is generally considered to be a pleasant way to quench thirst. But the proliferation of proposals from small artisans has turned the tasting of this ancient drink into a sensory experience that is very successful. Defining the different and very varied styles, which is how the types of beer are known, becomes increasingly difficult, because new proposals are continually created.
Elliott Konig, manager and founding partner of Fredo Fox, a craft brewer in Barcelona, explains “that a current trend is to use hops with different degrees of fermentation, which gives many possibilities to customize it.”
One of the best-known “styles” is the IPA (Indian Pale Ale), which contains a lot of hops and is quite bitter. Another one that they are making at Fredo Fox is NEIPA (New England Pale Ale). It is softer, somewhat sweet and fruity, and very pleasant to drink.
Acid ones are another rising trend and are characterized by having little alcohol. Acidity is obtained from fruits cranberry, currant, pineapple, blackberry, peach and even beet. In addition to many nuances of flavor, they also provide very original color tones. He especially recommends it to drink cool in summer.
Another style they are brewing at Fredo Fox is NEIPA (New England pale ale). This one is softer, because it is sweet and fruity and is pleasant to drink. The black ones are more common in winter and more intense flavors are incorporated, such as chocolate, vanilla, maple syrup... They are more alcoholic and can reach strengths of up to 12-15 degrees. “It is a good idea to let them rest and allow them to warm up a bit because, as happens with good wines, they allow the aromas and flavors to increase,” explains the creator of Fredo Fox.
Today's craft beers have their origins in the 1970s, when entrepreneurs from the West Coast of the United States recovered the traditional recipes of old Europe, the birthplace of this ancient drink, and adapted them to current tastes. The idea spread quickly in that country and later returned to its origins. There is some controversy to define what is considered a craft beer. But an agreement has been reached to establish some essential characteristics.
To begin with, it must be a small industry, although that is relative, since the term “small” applied to a beverage production does not mean the same in Spain as in the United States, due to the difference in size and number of inhabitants. Pampering the product throughout the entire production process is a luxury they can afford when editions are limited.
Also experiment with combinations of the basic elements and others that each person can contribute to achieve original innovations. Another requirement is that its owners must be independent, which means that they cannot have partners representing the most important beer brands. Another essential is that they use traditional and authentic production methods, without additives such as rice or corn, which companies usually add to reduce costs.
Another characteristic of this type of small beer business is the careful design of their packaging. It is also common for them to have a location rooted in emerging neighborhoods.
But what Konig considers most important “is the quality of the ingredients, starting with the malt and ending with the water. It's not nonsense, because in fact it forms most of the drink and has to influence its flavor. The purer the less flavors and remains it will leave in the beer, it will also be different depending on the mineral salts it contains.”
Although it appears in smaller quantities, malt is considered the soul of the beer, because it determines the flavor, which can be more or less toasted, smoky, among others, and also the color, such as gold or the darkest black. It is the main ingredient in fermentation and provides the sugars that the yeast uses to create alcohol and carbon dioxide. It is made primarily from barley (although other grains can be used) that has been malted.
Broadly explained, this process consists of selecting the best beans, which are moistened so that they germinate in a controlled manner and then roasted and left to dry. This activates enzymes that convert the starch of the grains into sugars that promote fermentation.
There are different degrees of malting on which the color largely depends. One or the other is used (more or less toasted, dried at a higher or lower temperature...) depending on the style of beer you want to obtain. It is not the only thing, since they provide flavors and aromas that take on different nuances, of wheat flour, cereals, cookies, bread, toast, caramel, plum, chocolate, coffee, smoky, acrid.
For Pilsner, one of the best known, light malt is used. Roasting in a rotary oven is the most suitable for Munich and Vienna, roasted malt is for Brown and Amber, among others. Malt, then, provides sugars and protein, not always fermentable, and determines the alcoholic strength, body, color, flavor and retention of the foam.
Hops are another of the basic elements of beer and are considered to be what defines the personality of each beer. It is a plant from whose flowers lupulin is extracted. This contains the alpha-acids responsible for the bitterness and essential oils that provide flavor and aroma. Only female plants produce flowers and must be separated from the male plants to prevent them from pollinating them, since that way they would not be useful in brewing beer.
There are more than 100 different types, which are largely determined by climatic conditions and farmland. They are known to need many hours of daylight, so they grow best in areas outside the equator and develop from spring to die in autumn. The United States, with 30% of the total, is the world's leading producer, while Spain occupies tenth place. It also occurs in Germany, the Czech Republic, China, Australia and New Zealand, among other countries.
Konig explains that it is so important that reservations are even made from one year to the next in certain production companies "because the producers want to ensure that they will obtain the hops that best suit their tastes and needs." One of its functions is to compensate, thanks to the fact that it is very bitter, the sweetness of the malt sugars. The ranges of flavor and aroma that it contributes to the drink are citrus, floral, herbal, woody, tropical, spicy, garlic and onion, resinous...
The different types of plant give different bitterness: mild, moderate, intense and harsh. In addition, they release resins and essential oils that, in addition to influencing the aromas, flavor, and bitterness, determine the permanence of the foam, the astringency of the drink and its sweetness. It is what just gives each beer its personality.
Finally, there is yeast, the fourth element, essential for fermentation that causes sugars to emerge and alcohol and carbon dioxide to be produced. This has its role and can go from soft to strong. The permanence of the flavor on the tongue also counts, since it can go from 15 seconds to even more than a minute.
Whatever the style, they are to be enjoyed calmly enough to perceive their multiple nuances, achieved with the careful combination of these four basic elements, along with other less important ones, but in which the innovation and personality of every brand and style.
