Portal:Beer/Sandbox

 The Beer Portal  

Introduction

At the Café by Édouard Manet, circa 1879

Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Beer is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.

Some of the earliest writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating it, and "The Hymn to Ninkasi", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, a recipe for it.

Beer is distributed in bottles and cans and is also commonly available on draught, particularly in pubs and bars. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of modern beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Beer forms part of the culture of many nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals, as well as activities like pub crawling, pub quizzes, and pub games. (Full article...)

Selected articles -

• 

  

  A beer assortment sold in Bali, Indonesia; Carlsberg, Bali Hai, Bintang and Anker Beer.

  
  
  Beer in Asia began when beer was produced in Sumer, Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) circa 6000 years ago. It was introduced by Europeans in the 19th century, with modern breweries established in British India, the Dutch East Indies (today Indonesia), China, and Japan. Asia's first modern brewery was established in 1830 in India entirely using European brewing technology.
  
  Today, beer brewing is a growing industry in Asia. China has been the world's largest beer producer since 2001. Asia is the largest beer-producing region in the world since 2009. In 2013, Asian top beer producing countries were China (46.5 million kiloliters), Japan (5.5 million kiloliters), Vietnam (3.1 million kiloliters), Thailand (2.3 million kiloliters), South Korea (2 million kiloliters) and India (1.9 million kiloliters). (Full article...)
• 

  

  A bottle of Vitamalz German non-alcoholic malt beer (Malzbier)

  
  
  Malt beer is a sweet, low-alcohol beer (0–2.5% ABV) that is brewed like regular beer but with low or minimal fermentation. To keep the alcohol content low, one of two methods may be used: either the yeast is added at about 0 °C (resulting in an alcohol content of under 0.5% ABV) or fermentation is halted at the desired alcohol content (usually in the range of 1 to 2% ABV). It is made from barley malt syrup, sugar, yeast, hops, and water.
  
  Malt beer is considered to be nutritious and is sometimes given to breastfeeding mothers. Among the ancient Egyptians, their form of malt beer (zythum) was considered to work as both a laxative and antidiarrheal; it was considered dangerous, however, for the sick or pregnant to drink it. (Full article...)
• 
  
  

  

  Memorial plaque of the author with the song's name in Czech, German and English

  
  "Beer Barrel Polka", originally in Czech "Škoda lásky", also known as "The Barrel Polka", "Roll Out the Barrel", or "Rosamunde", is a 1927 polka composed by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda. Lyrics were added in 1934, subsequently gaining worldwide popularity during World War II as a drinking song. (Full article...)
• 

  

  The Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh in 2005

  
  Beer in Scotland is mostly produced by breweries in the central Lowlands, which also contain the main centres of population. Edinburgh and Alloa in particular became noted for the export of beer around the world in the 19th century. (Full article...)
• 

  

  Tapping a barrel for a taste at Nebraska Brewing Company

  
  A barrel-aged beer is a beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel. Typically, these barrels once housed bourbon, whisky, wine, or, to a lesser extent, brandy, sherry, or port. There is a particular tradition of barrel ageing beer in Belgium, notably of lambic beers. The first bourbon barrel-aged beers were produced in the United States in the early 1990s.
  
  Beers can be aged in barrels to achieve a variety of effects, such as imparting flavours from the wood (from tannins and lactones) or from the previous contents of the barrels, or causing a Brettanomyces fermentation. Oak remains the wood of choice, but other woods are in use as well. Chestnut, ash, poplar, cedar, acacia, cypress, redwood, pine, and even eucalyptus have been used for barrel-ageing with varying success. (Full article...)
• 

  

  A dark amber American-brewed pale ale

  
  
  Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared in England around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Different brewing practices and hop quantities have resulted in a range of tastes and strengths within the pale ale family. (Full article...)
• 
  
  

  

  Piwo z Grodziska, a modern Polish recreation of Grodziskie, brewed in Grodzisk Wielkopolski, served in a tall conical glass designed for this style of beer

  
  Grodziskie (Polish pronunciation: [ɡrɔˈd͡ʑiskʲɛ]; other names: Grätzer, Grodzisz) is a historical beer style from Poland made from oak-smoked wheat malt with a clear, light golden color, high carbonation, low alcohol content, low to moderate levels of hop bitterness, and a strong smoke flavor and aroma. The taste is light and crisp, with primary flavors coming from the smoked malt, the high mineral content of the water, and the strain of yeast used to ferment it. It was nicknamed "Polish Champagne" because of its high carbonation levels and valued as a high-quality beer for special occasions.
  
  Grodziskie is brewed from wheat malt that has been dried by circulating oak smoke through the grains. The smokiness of the grain and the mineral profile of the water used to brew the beverage gives the style its characteristic flavor. Polish breweries historically used locally grown hops and one or two strains of brewer's yeast in its production. Before packaging, the beer is treated with isinglass to produce a bright, clear appearance. The beer is packaged before all of the fermentable sugars have been converted to alcohol by the yeast, earlier in the process than is typical in beers. Fermentation continues after packaging, and the carbon dioxide that is produced remains dissolved in the beer, resulting in a very high level of carbonation in the final product. (Full article...)
• 

  

  A 16th-century brewery

  
  
  Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, at home by a homebrewer, or communally. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archaeological evidence suggests that emerging civilizations, including ancient Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia, brewed beer. Since the nineteenth century the brewing industry has been part of most western economies.
  
  The basic ingredients of beer are water and a fermentable starch source such as malted barley. Most beer is fermented with a brewer's yeast and flavoured with hops. Less widely used starch sources include millet, sorghum and cassava. Secondary sources (adjuncts), such as maize (corn), rice, or sugar, may also be used, sometimes to reduce cost, or to add a feature, such as adding wheat to aid in retaining the foamy head of the beer. The most common starch source is ground cereal or "grist" - the proportion of the starch or cereal ingredients in a beer recipe may be called grist, grain bill, or simply mash ingredients. (Full article...)
• 

  

  A beer can chicken after being grilled

  
  Beer can chicken (also known as chicken on a throne, beer butt chicken, coq au can, dancing chicken) is a barbecued chicken dish and method of indirect grilling using a partially-filled can of beer that is placed in the chicken's cavity prior to cooking. The chicken is then stood up on the can and its legs vertically, and slow-cooked over indirect heat, usually over a propane gas or charcoal grill. The process is meant to add moisture to the dish, and some believe that steam from the beer serves to steam the chicken from the inside and add flavor to the dish. Some people are avid proponents of the dish, while others have contended that the efficacy of using the beer is overrated, and that the science regarding beer can chicken is debatable. It has been suggested that the dish possibly originated in the U.S. state of Louisiana. (Full article...)
• 

  

  Light beer from Poland

  
  Light beer is a beer, usually a pale lager, that is reduced in alcohol content or in calories compared to regular beers. Light beers may be chosen by beer drinkers who wish to manage their alcohol consumption or their calorie intake; however, they are sometimes criticised for being less flavourful than full-strength beers, or for tasting or actually being watered down.
  After some scattered fits and starts, light beer began to be mass marketed and accepted by American consumers in the early to mid-1970s, following two years of test marketing and promotion. This was followed by a nationwide rollout of Miller Lite in 1975 (then known merely as "Lite Beer from Miller"). (Full article...)
• 

  

  Examples of zero-alcohol beer in Iran. As per sharia, purchasing and consuming alcoholic drinks is prohibited in the country.

  
  Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol by volume that aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating or reducing the inebriating effect, carbohydrates, and calories of regular alcoholic brews. Low-alcohol beers can come in different beer styles such as lagers, stouts, and ales. Low-alcohol beer is also known as light beer, non-alcoholic beer, small beer, small ale, or near-beer. (Full article...)
• 
  Steam beer, also known as California common beer, is made by fermenting lager yeast at a higher than normal temperature.
  
  Historically steam beer came from Bavaria, Germany, and is associated with San Francisco and the West Coast of the United States. It was an improvised process, originating out of necessity, and was considered a cheap, low-quality beer, as shown by references to it in literature of the 1890s and 1900s. (Full article...)
• 

  

  A glass of beer with a large head of foam

  
  Beer head (also head or collar) is the frothy foam on top of beer and carbonated beverages which is produced by bubbles of gas, predominantly carbon dioxide, rising to the surface. The elements that produce the head are wort protein, yeast and hop residue. The carbon dioxide that forms the bubbles in the head is produced during fermentation as yeasts break down sugar-rich molecules to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. The carbonation can occur before or after bottling the beer. If the beer continues fermenting in the bottle, then it naturally carbonates and the head is formed upon opening and/or pouring the beer. If the beer is pasteurized or filtered then the beer must be force carbonated using pressurized gas.
  
  The density and longevity of the head will be determined by the type of malt and adjunct from which the beer was fermented. Different mash schedules and cereal sources influence head retention. In general, wheat tends to produce larger and longer-lasting heads than barley. (Full article...)
• 

  

  Samuel Smith Brewery's Imperial Stout – a vegetarian beer

  
  
  Beer is often made from barley malt, water, hops and yeast and so is often suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Some beer brewers add finings to clarify the beer when racking into a barrel. Finings can include plant-derived products, like Irish moss, or animal-derived products, like isinglass and gelatin.
  
  Most breweries do not reveal if they do or do not use animal products in the processing of their beers; some exceptions are Samuel Smith, Heineken, Harp Lager, Anheuser-Busch, the Marble Brewery in Manchester, the Black Isle Brewery, and Black Sheep Brewery, all of whom have declared they make vegetarian and/or vegan beer. (Full article...)
• 
  In brewing, attenuation refers to the conversion of sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide by the fermentation process; the greater the attenuation, the more sugar has been converted into alcohol. A more attenuated beer is drier and more alcoholic than a less attenuated beer made from the same wort.
  
  Attenuation can be quantified by comparing the specific gravity — the density of a solution, relative to pure water — of the extract before and after fermentation, quantities termed the original and final gravities. Specific gravity can be measured by buoyancy, with a hydrometer. The higher the specific gravity of a solution, the higher the hydrometer floats. (Full article...)

Selected brand -

Pabst Blue Ribbon, commonly abbreviated PBR, is an American lager beer sold by Pabst Brewing Company, established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1844 and currently based in San Antonio. Originally called Best Select, and then Pabst Select, the current name comes from the blue ribbons tied around the bottle’s neck between 1882 and 1916. (Full article...)

Selected biography -

John Molson (28 December 1763 – 11 January 1836) was an English-born brewer and entrepreneur in colonial Quebec, which during his lifetime became Lower Canada. In addition to founding Molson Brewery, he built the first steamship and the first public railway in Canada, was a president of the Bank of Montreal, and established a hospital, a hotel, and a theatre in Montreal. Molson was also the "leader" (provincial grand master) of the freemason's lodge of Montreal up to three years before his death, from 1826 to 1833. The dynasty he founded, the Molson family, is still a wealthy and powerful force in Canada. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) -

• ... that Pope Pius IX gave the monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey permission to brew Saint Vincent Beer?
• ... that the patu clubs on the New Zealand threepence were compared to bottles of ginger beer?
• ... that Jaega Wise co-hosted the television series Beer Masters alongside musician James Blunt?
• ... that Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority general manager Phillip Eng brews his own beer?
• ... that late arrivals at American colonial-era inns might find that the only drink on offer was Whistle Belly Vengeance, a mixture of sour beer, molasses and bread crusts?
• ... that at the 1965 World Pentathlon Championships, Herbert Polzhuber was said to have drunk ten beers and a bottle of cognac before firing his pistol at the ground and passing out?

Selected brewery -

Selected image -

General images

The following are images from various beer- and brewing-related articles on Wikipedia.

• 
  A 16th-century brewery (from Brewing)
• 
  Mexican craft beer from Tequixquiac in Zumpango Region (from Craft beer)
• 
  Zoigl beers from the communal brewhouses of Oberpfalz in Germany (from Craft beer)
• 
  Spent grain, a brewing by-product (from Brewing)
• 
  Dogo Beer from Minakuchi-shuzō microbrewery in Matsuyama, Japan (from Craft beer)
• 
  Traditional fermenting building (center) and modern fermenting building (left) in Pilsner Urquell Brewery (Czech Republic) (from History of beer)
• 
  Pasteur Street Brewing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (from Craft beer)
• 
  The Alulu beer receipt records a purchase of "best" beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BC from the Sumerian city of Umma in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). (from Brewing)
• 
  Irish Craft Beer Festival, 2015 (from Craft beer)
• 
  A 16th-century brewery (from History of beer)
• 
  A growler of beer from Flounder Brewing, a nanobrewery in New Jersey, US (from Craft beer)
• 
  Philistine pottery beer jug (from History of beer)
• 
  Hop cone grown in a hop field, Hallertau, Germany (from Brewing)
• 
  Põhjala Brewery, Estonia (from Craft beer)
• 
  Casks of real ale from British microbreweries at a beer festival (from Craft beer)
• 
  Malted barley before kilning or roasting (from Brewing)
• 
  Yeast ring used by Swedish homebrewers in the 19th century to preserve the yeast between brewing sessions. (from History of beer)
• 
  Great Leap Brewing operates a chain of brewpubs in China (from Craft beer)
• 
  Diatomaceous earth, used to create a filtration bed (from Brewing)
• 
  Gambrinus – king of beer (from History of beer)
• 
  Spontaneous fermentation at Timmermans in Belgium (from Brewing)
• 
  World beer consumption per capita (from History of beer)
• 
  Modern closed fermentation vessels (from Brewing)
• 
  Craft brewing at Allagash in Portland, Maine (from Craft beer)
• 
  Rock mortars in Raqefet Cave, used to make beer during the Stone Age. (from History of beer)
• 
  A can of Juicy Ass IPA from Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery in Barrie, Ontario, Canada (from Craft beer)
• 
  A yard of ale at Jolly Brewery, Taiwan (from Craft beer)
• 
  A beer sommelier tapping a barrel for a taste at Nebraska Brewing Company (from Craft beer)
• 
  Bergenhus microbrewery, Bergen, Norway (from Craft beer)
• 
  D. G. Yuengling & Son is the oldest operating brewing company in the US, established in 1829. It is also the largest craft brewer, and the 6th largest brewing company overall. (from Craft beer)
• 
  A selection of French craft beers (from Craft beer)
• 
  Brew kettles at Brasserie La Choulette in France (from Brewing)
• 
  Open vessels showing fermentation taking place (from Brewing)
• 
  Bill Urquhart at Litchborough Brewery (from Craft beer)
• 
  Bottling beer in a modern facility, 1945, Australia (from History of beer)
• 
  Lauter tun (from Brewing)
• 
  A funerary model of a bakery and brewery, from the Eleventh dynasty of Egypt, c. 2009–1998 BCE (from History of beer)
• 
  A hydrometer measures beer's specific gravity (from History of beer)
• 
  Alulu beer receipt recording a purchase of "best" beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BCE, from the Sumerian city of Umma in ancient Iraq. (from History of beer)
• 
  Conditioning tanks at Anchor Brewing Company (from Brewing)
• 
  A mash tun at the Bass Museum in Burton-upon-Trent (from Brewing)
• 
  Robohop, a session IPA from Cervisiam in Oslo, Norway (from Craft beer)
• 
  Castaña, a smoked beer with chestnuts from Cerex in Extremadura, Spain (from Craft beer)
• 
  Steamworks Brewing, Vancouver (from Craft beer)
• 
  Smoked beer from the Schlenkerla brewpub in Bamberg, Germany (from Craft beer)
• 
  The Caledonian Brewery, founded in 1869, Edinburgh, Scotland (from History of beer)
• 
  Microbreweries, regional breweries, and brew pubs per capita (from Craft beer)
• 
  A replica of ancient Egyptian beer, brewed from emmer wheat by the Courage brewery in 1996 (from History of beer)
• 
  Cask ales with gravity dispense at a beer festival (from Brewing)

Beer topics

Categories

Selected quote -

Related portals'

Beer lists

Things you can do

WikiProjects

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

• 

  Commons
  Free media repository

• 

  Wikibooks
  Free textbooks and manuals

• 

  Wikidata
  Free knowledge base

• 

  Wikinews
  Free-content news

• 

  Wikiquote
  Collection of quotations

• 

  Wikisource
  Free-content library

• 

  Wikiversity
  Free learning tools

• 

  Wiktionary
  Dictionary and thesaurus

Sources

More portals

Discover Wikipedia using portals

• 

  List of all portals

• 

  The arts portal

• 

  Biography portal

• 

  Current events portal

• 

  Geography portal

• 

  History portal

• 

  Mathematics portal

• 

  Science portal

• 

  Society portal

• 

  Technology portal

• 

  Random portal

• 

  WikiProject Portals

ρ Category:Beverage portals