181 lines
8.1 KiB
Plaintext
181 lines
8.1 KiB
Plaintext
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Underground eXperts United
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Presents...
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[ An Introduction To Beer ] [ By Ralph 124C41+ ]
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____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________
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An Introduction to Beer
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by
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Ralph 124C41+ of PowerDrive
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released through
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underground eXperts united
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"-What's the likeness between American beer and making love in
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a canoe?
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-They're both fucking close to water."
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/ Monthy Python
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"Beer should be thick as blood and dark as the soul."
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/ A wise man
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Perhaps you think you know something about beer. Well, you
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don't but that is nothing to worry about because in this file I
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will tell you everything about good beer. You see, in the US of
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A there is as far as I know only one beer that really deserve
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to be called beer, that is Anchor Steam Beer that is made in
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San Francisco. Yes, I have tried Michelob, Slitz and quite
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frankly they are nothing more than dirty water. I've also tried
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the American Budweiser (it's more like Budwasser really) and it
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was so bad I had to put in some Young's Oatmeal Stout to get it
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down. It's amazing how much better the original Czechoslovakian
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Budvar is.
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HISTORY
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Now, let's start at the beginning. Perhaps you think beer is
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something that is quite new. Wrong! That is just something the
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wine snobs want you to think. In fact beer is probably one of
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the oldest beverages known to man. We know for a fact that
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beer has been known for over 7000 years. People like the sumers
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and Babylonians knew about beer, the pharaohs also knew about
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beer. For more than 2000 years ago the centre of beer
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production moved from the Eufrat/Tigris-area (in modern Iraq)
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to the Nile and northern Europe. In those days the beer was
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quite dark, often sweet and spiced with herbs and honey.
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In the 15th century a beer revolution started! It began in
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Germany, Bavaria to be exact. Then they started flavouring the
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beer with hops and developed a new fermentation method, the so
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called bottom fermentation. They had discovered that in a low
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temperature another type of yeast was encouraged that gave a
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different beer. This new beer with strong taste of hops could
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be stored and then it got more carbonated and greater aroma. In
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Germany it got the name "lager", a name which lives even today.
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The method with bottom fermenting became more widely popular
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in the 19th century when artificial cooling techniques became
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available. The bottom fermented beer was lighter and clearer
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than the top fermented which often had yeast sediment.
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QUALITY
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A beer don't get better with more alcohol. The quality is a
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result of the balance between malt and hops, the foam that
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comes from long storage, the fresh smell and the colour. The
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ingredients are also of vital importance as well as the
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procedure of making. A beer should only be made with malt,
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hops, yeast and fresh water preferably spring water), nothing
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else (unless it's some kind of special beer like oatmeal or
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cherry beer). Some breweries cheat and add all sorts of cheaper
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ingredients like maize, sugar, ascorbic acid and so on. But
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this of course gives a "beer" with a much lower class, in some
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countries it's not even allowed to call it beer or to sell it
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as such.
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THE MAKING OF BEER
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As mentioned above the ingredients of beer are malt (from
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barley), water, yeast and hops.
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In the making of beer you use barley that have a high rate of
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starch. A good water for beer should be soft. The old
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breweries were built close to springs of brooks that were known
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to have soft, clear water. The yeast is also important. Yeast
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is a fungus that are everywhere in nature. To be comfortable
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and start working it needs warmth and sugar. The two main
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types of beer is top fermented and bottom fermented. The choice
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of yeast type is important. The yeast not only convert sugar to
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alcohol - it also gives the beer it's flavour. Every type of
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yeast gives a different type of beer.
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Hops is an up to six meter high wine. The female plants have
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spikes that looks like cones. They contains cridous (not
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acid), aromatic oils and tanning agents. The hops are used in
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beer to with it's bitter taste give balance to the sweetness of
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the malt. It also gives better tenability and a clearer beer.
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Hop cones are dried before they are used to make beer. There
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are several different hops and every one gives it's special
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aroma and bitterness to the beer.
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Now, let's get to the actual making of the beer! Before the
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barley can be used it must be malted. This happens in the
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maltery. The barley are being wet with water and are then
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allowed to lie in a warm place to sprout. It is then roasted
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usually with hot air (about 70 centigrades), how hard it is
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roasted determines the darkness of the beer. The roasted barley
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is called malt. The malt is then crushed and mixed with hot
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water (50-80 centigrades) to produce mash which contains malt
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sugar. The mash is filtered and you get the sweet wort which
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basically is sugar and water. The sweet wort is boiled with
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hops to make the final wort with the typical bitter taste. The
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wort is then fermented for about two weeks and is turned to
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beer. To mature the beer is stored at a low temperature for a
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couple of weeks. After that it may be filtered and is then
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ready to be enjoyed.
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HOW TO DRINK BEER
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Of course you can just grab a beer and drink it as it is but
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if you want to get maximum enjoyment from it you should be more
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careful.
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A beer should be served cool, 6-8 centigrades for light beer
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and higher the darker it is. When you pour the beer first
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directly into the glass and then fill up slowly, a little each
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time and let it settle between the times to produce a good
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head. Grab the beer, study it. What it the colour? Does it have
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yeast sediment? Smell it! Spin the glass gently and put it
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under your nose. The smell of a beer can say more about a beer
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than the flavour. Take a sip. Let the beer roll on the tongue.
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And then swallow in a couple of gulps. First you feel the
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sweetness on the top of the tongue, then there is a fireworks
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of different flavours. Aromatic, fruity... When you have
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swallowed comes the aftertaste. It can be light or "maltey",
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rich or not, more or less bitter. A good aftertaste must make
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you want to have another go.
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AFTERWORDS
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I hoped this has served as an introduction to what beer is
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all about. This is only to be seen as a very simple first step
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for greater understanding of the noble art of beer and I hope
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it has inspired you to go on and continue to study the subject.
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Cheers!
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---
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This file is (c)opyrighted material, but spreading if free
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under certain conditions. Se the uXu index for details.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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uXu #298 Underground eXperts United 1996 uXu #298
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Call LHDy -> +1-818-546-2332
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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