Beer and Food Pairing Winter 2018 History of
Beer and Food Pairing Winter 2018
History of Beer most likely first came about by accident. ● Twelve thousand years ago, in an area known as the Fertile Crescent (in the Middle East), Neolithic people grew barley for nutrition. ○ The grain was ground into gruel, and people began to experiment with adding other ingredients, such as bittering herbs. ○ At some point, most likely by accident, some of that gruel became colonized with wild yeast and fermented, creating the beverage that would eventually become beer.
History of Beer 1800 BC The “Hymn to Ninkasi, ” the Sumerian goddess of beer, is inscribed on a tablet about 4, 000 years after humans first leave evidence of brewing activity. It has been said that this hymn is the oldest known recipe. 1350 Beer is seen as a source of basic nutrition throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Monks brew in order to support the church, which plays a major role in monopolizing herbs for brewing gruit (Gruit: an old-fashioned herb mixture used for bittering and flavoring beer), popular before the extensive use of hops. Around 1350, hops replace other herbs used in making beer, which weakens the church’s grip on the beverage.
Hymn to Ninkasi Tablet Ninkasi, Sumerian Goddess of Beer
History of Beer 1516 The Reinheitsgebot Beer Purity Act is established in Bavaria. The original “purity law” permits beer to be made only with barley, hops and water, later acknowledging yeast and permitting wheat in ale-based beers. A revised form of the law still exists today. 1525 Flemish immigrants introduce beers brewed with hops to England.
History of Beer 1750 The Industrial Revolution begins around 1750 and has a major impact on the brewing industry in England. Thermometers, hydrometers and steam power are introduced to breweries of the time. ● European immigration to America expands to include greater numbers of immigrants from countries other than England. ● German immigrants bring their lager recipes and lagers quickly become the most popular styles of beer in America.
History of Beer 1873 America has 4, 131 breweries, the most in its history before Prohibition. Refrigeration and refined marketing strategies breed the first national breweries, but many smaller breweries continue to be successful in local markets. ● ● ● Anheuser-Busch’s roots date back to the mid-1800 s when a large number of German immigrants arrived to St. Louis. With the large migration of Germans to St. Louis the principal industry in the area soon became brewing beer. These immigrant brewers introduced a new style of beer to the United States: Lager. Lighter, crisper and more difficult to brew, Lager beer requires more time and care than other styles of beer. In a short time, Budweiser would go from a local favorite to the King of Beers around the world.
Anheuser Busch 1885 Logo
History of Beer 1920 -1933: Prohibition, in the form of the 18 th Amendment, outlaws the sale of alcohol in the United States. Most breweries close entirely. 1976: Five companies are responsible for 90 percent of all beer produced in the U. S. 1978: There are less than 100 brewing facilities in existence in the U. S. ● In less than 40 years, America’s craft brewing industry has grown from fewer than 100 craft breweries in 1978 to more than 5, 000 in 2017. ● As a nation, the U. S. has more beer styles and brands to choose from than any other beer market in the world.
1920 -1933: Prohibition outlaws the sale of alcohol in the United States. Most breweries close entirely.
Craft Beer and Microbrewing Era Fast forward to today: Momentum began to pick up for the microbrewing phenomenon in the early 1990 s. Soon the U. S. landscape was dotted with taprooms and brewpubs where beer lovers could sample a wide selection of local, flavorful beer while interacting directly with the brewers. ● Currently, the U. S. is the number-one beer destination on the planet, with 99 percent of the 5, 000+ breweries being small and independent. ● We now have more than 130 U. S. beer styles, from American India Pale Ales to barrel-aged sours, and almost 80 percent of adults of legal drinking age live within 10 miles of a brewery.
What is Craft Beer? In terms of the question, “What is craft beer? ” a definition is difficult. Craft beer means many different things to many different beer lovers. Craft beer has been described variously as: ● “ 10 minutes of pleasure” ● “Pure happiness in a glass” ● “An intellectual beverage that is to be savored, not swilled” Each glass displays the creativity and passion of its maker and the complexity of its ingredients. How could we pin that down with a precise definition?
What is Craft Beer? The American National Brewers Association does define what it means to be a craft brewer. This definition allows the Brewers Association, which represents the majority of the U. S. beer community, to provide statistics on the growing craft brewery segment.
Definition of a Craft Brewer According to the Brewers Association, a U. S. craft brewer is: ● Small: Producing less than six million barrels of beer a year. (A barrel of beer is 31 gallons). ● Independently Owned: Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. ● Traditional: A majority of its total beverage alcohol volume is beer, with flavors
The Homebrewing Revolution Since 1979, it has been federally legal to homebrew up to 200 U. S. gallons of beer a year, per family household in the U. S. ● Today more than 1. 2 million people brew their own beer at home. ● There are more than 800 homebrew shops and 1, 700 homebrew clubs in the U. S.
Brewing Ingredients Water Yeast Hops Malted Barley
Water Beer is mostly water, which makes water quite an important ingredient. ● It provides minerals and ions that add various qualities to beer. ● Some brewers make their beer without altering the chemistry of their water sources. ● Many do modify the water to make it most suitable to deliver the beer characteristics they hope to highlight.
Malted Barley (Malt) Malt adds fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and proteins that influence beer’s aroma, alcohol, astringency, body, color, flavor and head retention. ● Malt is converted barley or other grains that have been steeped, germinated, heated, kilned (or roasted in a drum), cooled and dried, and then rested. ● Flavor ranges: Bread flour, grainy, biscuity, bready, toast, caramel, pruny, roast, chocolate, coffee, smoky, pungent/spicy ● A wide variety of barley and other malts are used to make beer, including: pale malts, medium kilned malts, and roasted/specialty malts.
Hops deliver both resins and essential oils that influence beer’s aroma, flavor, bitterness, head retention, astringency and perceived sweetness. ● ● Brewers today use well over 100 different varieties of hops worldwide. They also increase beer’s stability and shelf life. Bitterness ranges: Restrained, moderate, aggressive, harsh Aroma and flavor ranges: Citrus, floral, fruity, green, herbal, onion/garlic, pine, resinous, spicy, spruce, sweaty, tropical, woody
Hops Hop resins lend bitterness via alpha acids to balance the sweetness of malt sugars. ● When alpha acids are isomerized through boiling, ranges of bitterness can land anywhere from two IBUs (International Bitterness Units) to more than 100 depending on the beer style and brewer’s intention.
Yeast and other microorganisms eat sugars from malted barley and other fermentables, producing carbonation, alcohol and aromatic compounds. ● The flavor imparted by yeast differs based on yeast strain, temperature, time ● Depending on the type of yeast, it can impart flavors of: ○ Banana ○ Pear ○ Black pepper ○ Bubblegum ○ Cloves ○ Tropical fruits ○ Lemon
Other Ingredients Adjuncts include anything that is not malted, but is a source of fermentable sugars, flavor, color or other characteristics. ● Candy sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup Adjuncts that are only a source of flavor, not fermentable sugars: ● Oats, rye and ice ● Fruits, herbs, spices and wood
The Brewing Process 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Mash Lautering (Sparging) Boil Chilling Fermentation Conditioning Carbonation
Brewing Process- Mashing is the steeping of crushed grains (malted barley) in a specific amount of water, for a specific amount of time, at a specific temperature. ● On the biochemical level, the heat of the water activates enzymes to convert the starches in the grains to fermentable sugars that the yeast will later consume and process into carbon dioxide (CO 2) and alcohol. ● Mashing can take anywhere from 60 minutes to several hours. ● A variety of mashing techniques and temperature rests (letting the wort sit for a time in a particular temperature range) are often employed depending on the beer style and the type of grain used.
Brewing Process-Lautering (or sparging) is the method of separating the sweet wort (water with dissolved sugars extracted from grain) from the mash. ● A lauter tun consists of a large vessel to hold the mash and a false bottom (screen) to allow the wort to drain out while leaving the grain behind. ● Lautering can be conducted in several ways, but it usually consists of a combination of draining the sweet wort and rinsing the grain bed with additional water.
Brewing Process-Boil The boiling process takes sweet wort and boils it for an extended period with hops to create hopped wort. The wort is normally boiled for 60 -90 minutes. Boiling the wort is important for the following reasons: ● Boiling sterilizes the wort, killing off any bacteria and preventing infections ● Boiling hops releases critical alpha acids that bitter the beer to offset the sweetness of the malt. The longer hops are boiled, the more bitterness they will release. ● Boiling vaporizes many undesirable compounds that can cause off flavors and aromas ● Boiling causes coagulation of undesirable proteins in the wort, allowing them to fall out during cooling
Brewing Process-Chilling Cooling is a critical step in the brewing process. After the boil it is best to cool the wort as quickly as possible to a proper fermentation temperature (typically to around 68 F). ● Cooling quickly helps to reduce the chance of infection by bacteria, and also helps to precipitate out coagulated proteins, hops and other debris leftover from the boil. ● After cooling, the wort is transferred to a fermenter where yeast is added and the brew is fermented into beer.
Brewing Process-Fermentation begins when yeast or microorganisms are introduced to the sweet, cooled wort. ● Fermentation is a natural process where yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide (CO 2). ● Fermentation can last for several days, weeks or months depending on the brewer’s intentions. ● Since CO 2 is a byproduct of fermentation, it is also used for the natural carbonation of many beers.
Brewing Process-Conditioning occurs when the yeast has stopped fermenting the wort and has finished settling out to the bottom of the fermentor. ● Conditioning improves the flavor and quality of beer. ● Conditioning can last weeks or months. ● This is also the period when yeast byproducts such as diacetyl and acetaldehyde are lessened or completely removed.
Brewing Process-Carbonation, or CO 2 is a main ingredient in beer. ● It lends body or weight on the tongue and stimulates the trigeminal nerves, which sense temperature, texture and pain in the face. ● Carbonation can be detected as an aroma (carbonic acid). It also affects appearance and is what creates the collar of foam common to most beer styles.
Brewing Process-Carbonation is introduced to beer in a variety of ways: 1. Natural Carbonation: Yeast eats residual sugars and produces a by product, CO 2. 2. Force Carbonation: CO 2 is injected and dissolved directly into the beer.
Beer Terminology
Original Gravity The specific gravity of wort (unfermented beer) before fermentation. A measure of the total amount of solids that are dissolved in the wort as compared to the density of water, which is conventionally given as 1. 000 at 60°F.
Final Gravity The specific gravity of a beer as measured when fermentation is complete (when all desired fermentable sugars have been converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide gas). When fermentation has occurred, this number is always lower than Original Gravity.
Alcohol By Volume (ABV) A measurement of the alcohol content in terms of the percentage volume of alcohol per volume of beer. To calculate the approximate volumetric alcohol content, subtract the final gravity from the original gravity and divide by 0. 0075. Formula: ABV = (OG – FG) Example: OG 1. 050, FG 1. 012 ABV = (1. 050 – 1. 012) / 0. 0075 ABV = 0. 038 / 0. 0075 ABV = 5. 066 ABV = 5. 1% (approximately)
International Bittering Units (IBU) 1 bitterness unit = 1 milligram of isomerized hop alpha acids in one liter of beer. Can range from 0 (no bitterness) to above 100 IBUs. Most people cannot perceive bitterness above a specific level of IBUs (said to be 80 IBUs by some sources)
Color/Standard Reference Method (SRM) ● Light Yellow (1 -1. 5), Straw (2 -3), Pale (4), Gold (5 -6) ● Light Amber (7), Amber (8), Medium Amber (9), Copper/Garnet (10 -12) ● Saddle Brown (16 -17), Dark Brown (18 -24), Dark (25 -39), Black (40+)
Beer Styles
What is a Beer Style? ● Beer styles continue to evolve over time. ● Today, there are hundreds of documented beer styles and a handful of organizations that each have their own unique classifications. ● Style guidelines exist to give beer lovers a methodology to describe, compare and contrast different beers.
Beer Styles Do All Craft Brewers Brew Their Beers to Style? ● Craft beer resides at the intersection of art and science. ● It is up to each individual brewer to decide whether they want to create beer within specific style guidelines or forge a new path and break the mold of traditional styles.
B E E R S T Y L E S
Beer Styles We Will Explore This Term -American Amber Lager -Belgian-Style Wit -Bohemian-Style Pilsener -American Brown Ale -German-Style Doppelbock -Belgian-Style Dubbel -German-Style Marzen / Oktoberfest -Berliner-Style Weiss Hefeweizen -American Pale Ale -German-Style -English-Style Pale Ale / ESB -American India Pale Ale (IPA) -Robust Porter -Belgian-Style Tripel Style Saison -Imperial India Pale Ale -American Stout -Belgian-
Pairing Terminology
The Building Blocks of Pairing Flavor: The combined interaction of aromatics, basic taste elements, and physical and chemical mouthfeel perceptions. Aromatics: Aroma makes up about 80% of what we commonly think of as flavor. Aroma is introducing odors through both your nose and mouth continuously. Basic Taste Elements: The basic five elements and building blocks of tasting are: ● ● ● Sweet Sour Salty Bitter Umami (savory)
The Building Blocks of Pairing Mouthfeel: Literally, how a food or beverage feels in your mouth and throat. There is a very large array of mouthfeel characteristics: ● ● ● ● Smooth Harsh Full Heavy Acidic Velvety Chalky Metallic
How Does Food and Beer Interact? - Bridge There are several ways food and beer interact when paired correctly. 1. Bridge: Also referred to flavor hooks or echos, where beer and food meet via similar flavors. ● Example: Pairing fettucine alfredo sprinkled with rosemary and sage with an American IPA with hints of pine and spruce. ○ The flavors are not exact, but they find and bridge to each other because the flavors are similar.
How Does Food and Beer Interact? - Flavor Groups 2. Flavor Groups: Similar flavors found in both beer and food. Think of them as individual elements that are part of the whole. Examples: ● ● ● Smoked: bacon, hickory, maple barbecue, wood fire Earthy Root Vegetables: beet, carrot, potato, yam Tropical Fruit: guava, passion fruit, mango, papaya Stone Fruit: peach, nectarine, apricot Spicy: ginger, mustard, horseradish Pepper spice: jalapeno, habanero, serrano
How Does Food and Beer Interact? - Compliment 3. Compliment: When pairing beer and food that share the same flavor elements, they compliment each other. These pairings generally strengthen and enhance each other Example: Pairing an American IPA with tropical notes to compliment pineapple salsa on top of a grilled chicken breast.
How Does Food and Beer Interact? - Contrast 4. Contrast: When food and beer have opposing flavor attributes, they contrast. ● Contrasts can either enhance or suppress each other's intensities. ● Contrasts are more tied to basic taste elements and are not as prevalent in aromatic elements.
Contrast Continued. . Example 1: The bitterness of an IPA contrasting with the sweetness of cheesecake. ● The contrasting elements (bitterness and sweetness) lessen each other allowing the individual flavors to shine through much brighter. Example 2: Pairing the same bitter IPA with a hot, spicy dish. The bitter and spice qualities are enhanced.
How Does Food and Beer Interact? - Emphasize 5. Emphasize or Enhance: When food and beer elements combine to make each part more strongly perceived than it is on it’s own. ● Salty foods accentuate and bring out residual sweetness in beer, with the combined pairing resulting in emphasized flavor overall. Example: A Belgian Wit, which is traditionally not a sweet style, can taste sweeter when paired with something like salted eggs.
Pairing Examples
How We Perceive
Create Your Own Tasting Routine Disrupt Your Routine!! Traditional pairing advice was often based on the “drink this with that” theory. It’s a very safe system but often leads to pairings that are things you typically like and are predictable. The key to pairing and to learning how to taste is eating and drinking things you might think you don’t like. It’s best to let these biases go when tasting. You will find things you had no idea you actually enjoy.
Create Your Own Tasting Routine We Are All Different!! Science has found that everyone’s taste receptors are sensitive to different chemical combinations. There is not a one-size-fits-all to tasting or pairing methodology. It’s all personal. Pairing and perception are all very personal. Most of the time there is NO WRONG ANSWER!
Create Your Own Tasting Routine It’s Okay To Break Tradition!! Tradition has it’s place, especially in the world of beer and culinary. New beer types and food recipes are being invented everyday. Tasting and pairing sometimes needs to go beyond what is considered traditional. Take risks and be adventurous!!
Tasting Beer
Pairing Notes
Set Yourself Up For Success When tasting a flight of beer, make sure to have exactly what you need on hand. ● ● Clean glasses Water Pen and paper (or a tasting map) Plain crackers- palate cleansing
Set Yourself Up For Success Avoid strong smelling hand lotions, perfume, etc. This will affect your tasting experience. Remember, 80% of what we taste is based on our aroma senses.
Set Yourself Up For Success The temperature of the beer will also affect your tasting experience. ● Not all beer styles are created equal, yet most are served directly out of a 38 F refrigerator. ○ This is usually okay for light beer and lagers ● Typically a cold beer will have more muted aromas and flavors. ● Darker beers and those above 8% ABV should sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes prior to drinking.
Quite Simply, How To Taste! 1. Pour and examine a. Color b. Collar foam or head of the beer c. Cloudy or clear? d. Take notes 1. Smell a. Swirl the beer gently to release aromas b. Are the aromatics layered and complex? Simple? Subtle? c. Take notes
Quite Simply, How To Taste! 3. Take a sip ● Sip just enough to coat your tongue, this will awaken your palate ● Take a second sip and pay close attention to the order of elements as they appear ● As you swallow a sip, exhale through your nose. ○ This will emphasize certain elements that may not have been detected at first. ● Evaluate the body and mouthfeel ○ ○ ○ Sticky Smooth Sharp Astringent Thick Thin
Quite Simply, How To Taste! 4. Evaluate the Intensity of Elements ● Smell and taste the beer again, but this time think about the intensity of each element from your notes. ● This can be done with a numbered scale or simply with words. ○ In class we will be using a tasting sheet to evaluate both the beer and the food pairing
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