Beer and Wine Production - ACS Publications - American Chemical

Chapter 13

Home Beer Making

Downloaded by UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ on October 14, 2014 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: August 23, 1993 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1993-0536.ch013

Chemistry in the Kitchen R. P. Bates Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0370

Home brewing, catalyzed by the Campaign for Real Ale in England; legalization in the U.S.; and a support network of brew clubs, associations, technical literature and suppliers, is undergoing remarkable growth. The subsequent steps - establishment of brewpubs and even microbreweries by ex home brewers - further popularize the practice. As with gourmet cooking, a strong chemistry/food science background is useful but doesn't guarantee brewing awards; art still plays an important role. However, an understanding of and appreciation for brewing chemistry and technology is usually acquired. What home brewers lack in technical expertise, they make up for with experience, innovation, enthusiasm and dedication; chemophobes are in the minority. The trends and practices described contribute importantly to the quality and diversity of beer now available in the U.S.

"A man who does not care about the beer he drinks may as well not care about the bread he eats.... Some people take their pleasures quickly, and swear loyalty to the same beer every day, but they miss much. The search for the perfect pint should last a lifetime. In the meantime, there is a classic style of beer for every mood and moment..." (13) This quote quite elegantly explains the rationale behind home brewing. In the most general sense this avocation is the noncommercial manufacture of beer in a home environment (kitchen, garage, basement, etc) for personal consumption. Disciples range from highly skilled professionals to rank amateurs with no technical background in the many skills and sciences which contribute to brewing technology. The

0097-6156/93/0536-0234$06.00/0 © 1993 American Chemical Society

In Beer and Wine Production; Gump, B., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1993.


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Home Beer Making: Chemistry in the Kitchen

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common denominator is an interest in and commitment to the production and consumption of good beer. An apt analogy is gourmet cooking where art and interest play a greater role than scientific and technical background. In both home cooking and brewing the results range from disasters to world class, with dedication, practice and learning from mistakes being most important. Beer chemistry and technology is sufficiently intriguing and illustrative of the brewing process to merit special consideration. Chemistry has always been the central science and home brewing is a good example. There are constant reminders of chemistry's indispensable role thruout beer manufacturing and consumption. Chemists generally make good home brewers and contribute much to the field. Their involvement at the professional level is evident in other Chapters and ACS literature. It is, therefore, of interest to follow the homebrewing process from the perspective of the food chemist as distinguished from that of a commercial brewer. Background Home brewing has an interesting cyclic history (Figure 1). As the art evolved in agricultural communities (77) it went from the home to organized breweries, in the hands of craftsmen and eventually guilds. When people migrated, as to the New World, brewing again started in the home as a important feature of household selfsufficiency (6). The abundance of raw material, pioneering spirit and ethnic diversity resulted in the eventual establishment of home brewing-catalyzed small breweries thruout North America. Prohibition ended this positive development. Although home brewing survived and prospered during prohibition, beer quality was not the primary emphasis. Practitioners and advocates kept an understandably low profile; the sharing of information and popularization of the practice was severely dampened by the legal implications. After Repeal and during the Depression, surviving breweries and new establishments commenced operations. However, by a curious quirk in Federal alcoholic beverage laws, home beer making was still prohibited (22). Raw material shortages during the 2nd World War and the economics of mass production and advertising subsequently caused a devastating shake-out in the brewing industry. Consequently, by the mid 1980's roughly 90% of all beer manufactured in the U.S. was produced by 6 major companies in Megabrewers with capacities exceeding 1 million barrels annually (31 million gallons). The unhappy result was a severe restriction in beer styles and versatility. Unless one patronized the imports or a few small surviving U.S. breweries, there was a grim monotony in choice. A similar situation was developing in England with industry consolidation threatening the strongly entrenched pub tradition. Then commenced the beer revolution. In the early 1970's long suffering British beer consumers initiated "The Campaign for Real Ale" (CAMRA) which effectively reemphasized cask conditioned or "fresh" beer in contrast to the pasteurized, kegged or bottled product, as well as diversity in styles (75). The successful C A M R A emphasizing local and regional beer didn't reverse the tide of consolidation, but it did open an important niche for small breweries and brewpubs.


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EPOC

DOMESTIC


BEER "DISCOVERED" IN DOMESTIC FOOD PREPARATION/STORAGE BC MIGRANTS TRANSPLANTED HOUSEHOLD BREWING SKILLS AD 1500'S • τ

1900'S

MORE MIGRATING SETTLERS DEMANDED THEIR "OWN" TRADITIONAL BREW MIGRANTS TO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRANSPLANTED THEIR HOME BREWING TRADITION

1920'S

PROHIBITION FORCED THE HOME BREWING ALTERNATIVE

1940'S

WARTIME SHORTAGES PROMPTED IN-HOME BREW "AS BEST YOU CAN" EFFORTS

1970'S

CAMRA IN ENGLAND AND HOME BREWING LEGALIZATION IN U.S. POPULARIZED STYLISTIC BEERS

A

•

HOME BREWERS ORGANIZED AND EMPHASIZED ACQUISITION OF TECHNICAL SKILLS

OFF-PREMISES

WIDESPREAD DEMAND FOR SPECIALIZED FACILITIES AND LABOR AS TOWNS & CITIES GREW BEER CRAFTING (GUILDS) DEVELOPED BREWERIES DEVELOPED IN MANY URBAN AREAS

SMALL LOCAL BREWERIES GREW & THRIVED AS NATION GREW REPEAL FOSTERED SURVIVING & NEW BREWERIES

POSTWAR ECONOMICS & TECHNOLOGY PROMOTED INDUSTRY SHAKE-OUT & CONSOLIDATION BREWPUBS & MICROBREWERIES BUILD UPON QUALITY & DIVERSITY POLARIZATION OF COMMERCIAL BEERS BREWPUBS & MICRO'S - MEGA'S QUALITY, EFFICIENCY, DIVERSITY, UNIFORMITY, NICHE MARKETING MASS MARKETING

1980'S

THE "GOLDEN THE FUTURE? AGE" OF HOME BREWING?

REVIVAL OF LOCAL/ETHNIC BREWING TRADITIONS BY BREWPUBS & MICRO'S, GREATER ATTENTION TO QUALITY, DIVERSITY AND VALUE BY MEGA'S, INCREASINGLY HIGH LEVEL OF BREWING COMPETENCE BY HOMEBREWERS AND BEER APPRECIATION BY THE CONSUMING PUBLIC Figure 1. The Home Brewing Cycle



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In the U.S. similar threats to quality beer were occurring and C A M R A was a highly relevant, gratifying model. With the legalization of home beer making by the federal government in 1979 there has been a proliferation in home brewing as reflected in brew clubs and associations, magazines, books and home wine & beer supply shops (22). A head of a household (over 21 years old) may prepare for personal consumption up to 100 gallons of beer annually (200 for a couple), provided the beer is not sold nor distributed mdiscriminately. This represents almost three 12 oz bottles/day (slightly over the "healthy" limit of individual alcohol consumption). The 50 states and many counties still have a crazy patchwork of restrictive laws relating to home brewing and brewpubs which the respective associations are attempting to overcome. Legalization paved the way for the survival of a number of traditional beer styles as well as the development of new ones. The evolutionary process has been equally beneficial as enthusiastic, competent, highly motivated home brewers started brewpubs - establishments which brew and serve their own beers on premises, some with limited outside distribution. Batches consist of about 10 barrels (1 barrel = 31 US gallons, 117.3 liters) each. An annual total of a few hundred to several thousands gallons of either their "Flagship" brands or special offerings, usually of remarkable quality in interesting, well executed styles are produced. The clever names and hilarious, often bawdy labels given to these beers illustrate the free-spirited imagination and enthusiasm of these brewers. There are now close to 300 Brewpubs in the U.S. with no signs of a slowdown in growth of numbers, beer volume nor quality. The next step, a microbrewery devoted primarily to off-premises sales with a volume of up to 60,000 barrels (1.9 million gallons) annually, have been successfully taken by a number of enterprising former home brewers. Thus, for the U.S. beer aficionado this is approaching the "Golden Age" of beer with home brewing to a large extent responsible for the vast improvement in beer diversity and quality now available in the U.S. Table I indicates brewery categories and suggests a nomenclature. The scale ranges from homebrewers, decabreweries producing less than an individual's legal limit annually -3.2 barrels to Gigabreweries - Companies with several plants each manufacturing more than 1 million barrels. The distinction between categories is blurred (8). Some original, so-called microbreweries now exceed 100,000, even approach 1 million barrels, and have national distribution. Whereas, a few megabreweries have primarily regional distribution. It is remarkable that with less than 10% of the market, brewpubs and micros account for over 90% of beer styles commercially available while homebrewers continue to fill every conceivable beer category niche and invent even more (3). Although total volume of home, brewpub and regional microbrewery output matches, at most, the capacity of a megabrewery, at least the selection is now increasing and reversing the unfortunate post-prohibition trend. While more than 90% of beer drinkers seem irreversibly committed to the uniform, low flavored megabrewery offerings (thanks to superb technology and persistent, innovative marketing), those few percent who recognize and appreciate the true diversity inherent in beer styles need not depend upon foreign imports. Nevertheless, as in the U.S., international offerings also continue to improve in variety and quality, providing even more selection for beer connoisseurs.



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T A B L E I. B R E W E R Y MAGNITUDES

a

FEATURES

ANNUAL PRODUCTION IN BARRELS'

CATEGORY DESIGNATION

DISTINGUISHING

Home Brewery

Kitchen scale

3-7

Decabrewery

Advanced, non-commercial miniature brewery

3-7

Hectobrewery

Single brewpub, primarily onpremise sales

50 - 1,500

Kilobrewery

Brewpub Chain, on & offpremise sales

1,000 - 20,000

Decakilobrewery

Microbrewery, primarily offpremise sales

10,000

Beer and Wine Production - ACS Publications - American Chemical

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