Portal:Beer/Sandbox

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The Beer Portal

Introduction

P:Beer

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...)

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Image 1
The Reinheitsgebot (German pronunciation: [ˈʁaɪnhaɪtsɡəboːt] , literally "purity order") is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516 (by William IV), but similar regulations predate the Bavarian order, and modern regulations also significantly differ from the 1516 Bavarian version. Although today the Reinheitsgebot is mentioned in various texts about the history of beer, historically it was only applied in the duchy, electorate, then Kingdom of Bavaria and from 1906 in Germany as a whole, and it had little or no effect in other countries or regions. (Full article...)
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A Kranz (wreath) of fresh Kölsch beer that is typically carried by a server ("Köbes"), containing traditional Stange glasses and, in the center, larger modern glasses

Beer (German: Bier pronounced [biːɐ̯] ) is a major part of German culture, with only water, hops, and malt permitted as ingredients in its production, though most breweries nowadays also use yeast. Beers not exclusively using barley-malt, such as wheat beer, must be top-fermented.

In 2020, Germany ranked third in Europe in terms of per-capita beer consumption, trailing behind the Czech Republic and Austria. (Full article...)
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A bag of wheat, often used as an adjunct

In brewing, adjuncts are unmalted grains (such as barley, wheat, maize, rice, rye, and oats) or grain products used in brewing beer which supplement the main mash ingredient (such as malted barley). This is often done with the intention of cutting costs, but sometimes also to create an additional feature, such as better foam retention, flavours or nutritional value or additives. Both solid and liquid adjuncts are commonly used. (Full article...)
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Berliner Weisse (German: Berliner Weiße, pronounced [bɛʁˌliːnɐ ˈvaɪ̯sə] ) is a cloudy, sour beer of around 3.5% alcohol by volume. It is a regional variation of the wheat beer style from Northern Germany, dating back to at least the 16th century. It can be made from combinations of malted barley and wheat, with the stipulation that the malts are kilned at very low temperatures or even air-dried to minimise colour formation. The fermentation takes place with a mixture of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Brettanomyces) and lactic acid bacteria, a prerequisite that creates the lactic acid taste, a distinguishing feature of Berliner Weisse.

By the late 19th century, Berliner Weisse was the most popular alcoholic drink in Berlin, with up to fifty breweries producing it. By the late 20th century, there were only two breweries left in Berlin producing the beer. (Full article...)
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Bottled lambic beers

Lambic (English: /lɒ̃bikˌ ˈlæmbɪk/) is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself since the 13th century. Types of lambic beer include gueuze, kriek lambic, and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers in that it is fermented through exposure to wild yeasts and bacteria native to the Zenne valley, as opposed to exposure to carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeast. This process gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous, and cidery, often with a tart aftertaste. (Full article...)
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Wooden firkin from Bass Brewery, Burton upon Trent

The Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood (SPBW), founded in 1963, is the oldest consumer-based group interested in stimulating the brewing of, increasing the awareness of, and encouraging the drinking of traditional cask ale. The Society also supports and encourages the use of wooden casks for beer dispense. (Full article...)
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A thatched country pub, the Williams Arms, near Braunton, Devon, England

A pub (short for public house) is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
1. is open to the public without membership or residency
2. serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
3. has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
4. allows drinks to be bought at a bar (i.e., not only table service)
The history of pubs can be traced to taverns in Roman Britain, and through Anglo-Saxon alehouses, but it was not until the early 19th century that pubs, as they are today, first began to appear. The model also became popular in countries and regions of British influence, where pubs are often still considered to be an important aspect of their culture. In many places, especially in villages, pubs are the focal point of local communities. In his 17th-century diary, Samuel Pepys described the pub as "the heart of England". (Full article...)
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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...)
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Saison Dupont Vieille Provision, the archetype for modern saisons

Saison (French, "season," French pronunciation: [sɛzɔ̃]) is a pale-colored ale that is highly carbonated, dry, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned. It was historically brewed with low alcohol levels, but modern productions of the style have moderate to high levels of alcohol. Along with several other varieties, it is generally classified as a farmhouse ale. (Full article...)
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Beers with Authentic Trappist Product label from Trappist breweries in 2015: Achel, Chimay, Engelszell, La Trappe, Orval, Spencer, Rochefort, Tre Fontane, Westmalle, Westvleteren, and Zundert (not pictured: Mount St Bernard Abbey)

Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain— produce beer, but the Authentic Trappist Product label is assigned by the International Trappist Association (ITA) to just ten breweries that meet their strict criteria. , Achel is no longer recognized as a Trappist brewery because it does not have any monks. (Full article...)
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Samuel Smith Old 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...)
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A beer assortment sold in Bali, Indonesia; Carlsberg, Bali Hai, Bintang and Anker Beer.

The history of beer in Indonesia started in 1929, when the Heineken beer company established its first brewery factory in Surabaya, East Java, during Dutch colonial rule of Indonesia. This was one of the earliest beer enterprise in Southeast Asia. In July 1931 the Archipel Brouwerij Compagnie (Archipelago Brewery Co.) was formed in Batavia (now known as Jakarta), by German brewer, Beck's, constructing breweries in both Singapore and Batavia. By 1960s, Indonesians developed their own local brands of beer, which includes Bintang Beer (nationalized from Heineken) and Anker Beer. (Full article...)
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Blow my skull is an alcoholic punch drink that originated in mid-19th century Australia. As listed in The English and Australian Cookery Book by Edward Abbott, it calls for two pints of boiling water, sugar loaf, lime or lemon juice, one pint of ale or porter, one pint rum, and a half a pint of brandy. It has been described as a "notoriously potent alcoholic concoction".

Some alternatively call the drink blow my skull off, which may also refer to a historical version made instead by the mixing of rum, Cocculus indicus, "spirits of wine", cayenne pepper, Turkish opium and water. (Full article...)
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A yard of ale

A yard of ale or yard glass is a very tall beer glass used for drinking around 2+1⁄2 imperial pints (1.4 L) of beer, depending upon the diameter.

The glass is approximately 1 yard (91.4 cm) long, shaped with a bulb at the bottom, and a widening shaft, which constitutes most of the height. (Full article...)
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Various brands of Thailand's craft beer

Beer in Thailand was first brewed in 1933 when a licence was granted to the Boon Rawd Brewery, which still produces Thailand's best-known lager, Singha (pronounced "sing"), sold in standard (5 percent ABV), light (4.5 percent ABV), and draught versions.

Singha's largest competitor is Chang beer, made by Thai Beverages, whose sponsorship of Everton F.C. saw its name and logo appear on the team's kit from 2004 to 2017. (Full article...)

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Coors Light can

Coors Light is a 4.2% ABV light American lager beer sold by Coors (currently Molson Coors) of Chicago, Illinois. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. They had briefly produced a different low-alcohol beer by the same name in 1941.

It is brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, among other locations in the USA. The Canadian version of Coors Light is 4.0% ABV and brewed by Molson Coors Canada Inc. in Moncton, New Brunswick; St.John's, Newfoundland; Longueuil, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario and Chilliwack, British Columbia. In Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Coors Light is labeled as "Coors." (Full article...)

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Carl Jacobsen painted by August Jerndorff (1893)

Carl Christian Hillman Jacobsen (2 March 1842 – 11 January 1914) was a Danish brewer, art collector and philanthropist. Though often preoccupied with his cultural interests, Jacobsen was a shrewd and visionary businessman and initiated the transition of the brewery Carlsberg from a local Copenhagen brewery to the multinational conglomerate that it is today. (Full article...)

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... that Ein Samiya, which provides the water for Taybeh, the first beer brewed in Palestine, was depopulated in 2023 after harassment by neighboring Israeli settlers?
... that Pope Pius IX gave the monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey permission to brew Saint Vincent Beer?
... that 100 beerhouses were licensed in Brighton (population 40,000) in the first week after the Beerhouse Act 1830 was enacted?
... that some online social and "Barstool conservatives" spent their Christmas holidays arguing about whether a beer promotional calendar was "demonic"?
... that the patu clubs on the New Zealand threepence were compared to bottles of ginger beer?
... that the country song "Beer Beer, Truck Truck" was based on a viral TikTok video by Erynn Chambers intended to satirize country music?

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General images

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

Image 1Brew kettles at Brasserie La Choulette in France (from Brewing)
Image 2Philistine pottery beer jug (from History of beer)
Image 3Irish Craft Beer Festival, 2015 (from Craft beer)
Image 4Modern closed fermentation vessels (from Brewing)
Image 5A beer sommelier tapping a barrel for a taste at Nebraska Brewing Company (from Craft beer)
Image 6Castaña, a smoked beer with chestnuts from Cerex in Extremadura, Spain (from Craft beer)
Image 7Yeast ring used by Swedish homebrewers in the 19th century to preserve the yeast between brewing sessions. (from History of beer)
Image 8A mash tun at the Bass Museum in Burton-upon-Trent (from Brewing)
Image 9A can of Juicy Ass IPA from Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery in Barrie, Ontario, Canada (from Craft beer)
Image 10A growler of beer from Flounder Brewing, a nanobrewery in New Jersey, US (from Craft beer)
Image 11Steamworks Brewing, Vancouver (from Craft beer)
Image 12Bill Urquhart at Litchborough Brewery (from Craft beer)
Image 13Diatomaceous earth, used to create a filtration bed (from Brewing)
Image 14Microbreweries, regional breweries, and brew pubs per capita (from Craft beer)
Image 15Cask ales with gravity dispense at a beer festival (from Brewing)
Image 16World beer consumption per capita (from History of beer)
Image 17A 16th-century brewery (from History of beer)
Image 18Spontaneous fermentation at Timmermans in Belgium (from Brewing)
Image 19Malted barley before kilning or roasting (from Brewing)
Image 20Conditioning tanks at Anchor Brewing Company (from Brewing)
Image 21The Caledonian Brewery, founded in 1869, Edinburgh, Scotland (from History of beer)
Image 22Open vessels showing fermentation taking place (from Brewing)
Image 23Hop cone grown in a hop field, Hallertau, Germany (from Brewing)
Image 24A funerary model of a bakery and brewery, from the Eleventh dynasty of Egypt, c. 2009–1998 BCE (from History of beer)
Image 25Pasteur Street Brewing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (from Craft beer)
Image 26Gambrinus – king of beer (from History of beer)
Image 27A hydrometer measures beer's specific gravity (from History of beer)
Image 28A 16th-century brewery (from Brewing)
Image 29D. 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)
Image 30Traditional fermenting building (center) and modern fermenting building (left) in Pilsner Urquell Brewery (Czech Republic) (from History of beer)
Image 31Zoigl beers from the communal brewhouses of Oberpfalz in Germany (from Craft beer)
Image 32Casks of real ale from British microbreweries at a beer festival (from Craft beer)
Image 33Lauter tun (from Brewing)
Image 34A selection of French craft beers (from Craft beer)
Image 35Robohop, a session IPA from Cervisiam in Oslo, Norway (from Craft beer)
Image 36Smoked beer from the Schlenkerla brewpub in Bamberg, Germany (from Craft beer)
Image 37Bottling beer in a modern facility, 1945, Australia (from History of beer)
Image 38Great Leap Brewing operates a chain of brewpubs in China (from Craft beer)
Image 39Spent grain, a brewing by-product (from Brewing)
Image 40A replica of ancient Egyptian beer, brewed from emmer wheat by the Courage brewery in 1996 (from History of beer)
Image 41Dogo Beer from Minakuchi-shuzō microbrewery in Matsuyama, Japan (from Craft beer)
Image 42Bergenhus microbrewery, Bergen, Norway (from Craft beer)
Image 43Alulu 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)
Image 44Põhjala Brewery, Estonia (from Craft beer)
Image 45Rock mortars in Raqefet Cave, used to make beer during the Stone Age. (from History of beer)
Image 46Mexican craft beer from Tequixquiac in Zumpango Region (from Craft beer)
Image 47The 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)
Image 48Craft brewing at Allagash in Portland, Maine (from Craft beer)
Image 49A yard of ale at Jolly Brewery, Taiwan (from Craft beer)