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beer

 
Dictionary: beer   (bîr) pronunciation
n.
    1. A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt and flavored with hops.
    2. A fermented beverage brewed by traditional methods that is then dealcoholized so that the finished product contains no more than 0.5 percent alcohol.
    3. A carbonated beverage produced by a method in which the fermentation process is either circumvented or altered, resulting in a finished product having an alcohol content of no more than 0.01 percent.
  1. A beverage made from extracts of roots and plants: birch beer.
  2. A serving of one of these beverages.

[Middle English ber, from Old English bēor, from West Germanic, probably from Latin bibere, to drink.]


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How Products are Made: How is beer made?
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Background

The family of beverages generally referred to as "beer" has been brewed for centuries. Beers are obtained by the yeast fermentation of malted cereal grains, to which hops and water have been added. Brewing has evolved from a cottage craft into a modern industry where large breweries export their beers worldwide. On a per capita basis, Germans consume the most beer at about 40 gallons (151 1) per person per year. Beer drinkers in the U.S. rank fourteenth in the world, with American breweries producing approximately 156,900 million barrels of beer a year. Each barrel is the equivalent of 117 liters or approximately 31 gallons.

The true origin of beer can only be conjectured. Early attempts at brewing occurred around 7000 B.C. in Mesopotamia. The Egyptians and Greeks also brewed alcoholic beverages by various methods, but the term "beer" did not appear in these early languages. The Babylonians offered brewing recipes, and there are various references to beer in the Bible. The English word "beer" seems to stem from the Celtic word "beor," which referred to a malt brew made by monks at a North Gaul monastery. In the Middle Ages, monasteries were the leading producers of beer, and monks are credited with many early brewing techniques, such as the addition of hops to improve the aroma and help preserve the beer. The distinction between ales, lagers, and darker bock beers began to appear in French and Irish writings in the 13th century. It is generally accepted that the modern beers as we know them today date to the 1600s.

Beer brewing was already a thriving industry in Europe when the United States declared its independence in 1776. European immigrants brought their brewing skills to America and founded a thriving beer industry. Some technological advancements—the yeast separator, for example—made mass production of beer possible. Bottled beer was introduced in 1875 by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a city famed for its breweries. Canned beer first came on the market in the 1930s. The American beer market today is dominated by several large companies such as Miller and Anheuser Busch, though microbreweries and brew pubs that produce their own brands are becoming increasingly popular.

Raw Materials

Beer requires these ingredients for brewing: properly prepared cereal grain (usually barley and corn or rice), hops (scientific name Humulus lupulus), pure water, and brewer's yeast. Each ingredient can affect flavor, color, carbonation, alcohol content, and other subtle changes in the beer. Grains are carefully stored and handled to promote highest quality. Hops are a form of cultivated perennial hemp, and the useful portions of the vine, the sticky cones, are developed from the bloom. About 35 pounds (16 kg) of barley malt and 15 pounds (7 kg) of grain are used to make each 31-gallon barrel of beer. Large quantities of pure water are extremely important not only as an ingredient, but for maintaining the cleanliness of the brewing equipment. In beer, water high in lime or iron can interfere with the fermentation process and discolor the final product. Yeasts are fungi, which are microorganisms that reduce sugars to alcohol by fermentation. Some types of brewer's yeast are closely guarded trade secrets.

Outside of the beer itself, the process also requires various acids and cleaning chemicals to maintain and sterilize the brewing equipment. The finished product also requires packaging, which includes card-board products for boxes, aluminum for cans, glass for bottles, and stainless steel for kegs and other commercial dispensing equipment. The majority of the brewing equipment is stainless steel, with the exception of the brew kettles, which are copper.

The Brewing Process

Malting

  • Fully ripened barley grains are "steeped," or soaked in cold water until they are fully saturated. The water is changed once a day, and after 45-72 hours the grains are placed in shallow tanks. The grain is aerated and stirred, which causes it to germinate, releasing enzymes such as malt diastase. Malt diastase converts the starches contained in the grain to sugar for fermentation. As soon as the germination is adequately complete, usually six days, the grain is roasted to stop the germination process. The exact point at which the roasting starts and ends affects the flavor and color of the beer. The product at this point is referred to as malt.

Preparing the mash

  • The malt is crushed using iron rollers and transferred to the mash tank (or "tun"). This tank is a large copper or stainless steel vessel that mixes the malt with warm water until it is of porridge-like consistency. This mixture is called mash. After mixing with similarly prepared cereal grains, the temperature of the mash is raised incrementally from 100-170°F (38-77°C) so that the enzymes react. The enzymes break down the starch in the grain and convert it to simple sugars. Later, the yeast will convert the sugars into alcohol. Once complete, the mash is allowed to sit undisturbed so the solids can descend to the bottom of the tank.

Brewing the wort

  • The liquid contained in the mash is transferred into another tank called a lauter tun. This is accomplished by drawing the liquid out through the bottom layer of mash solids, which acts as a filter. Hot water is added to the top of the mash tank to rinse the remaining liquid, now called wort, from the mash. The solid remains of the grain are dried and sold by the brewery as animal feed. The wort travels on to the brew kettles, where it is boiled to sterilize it, and where the carefully prepared hops are added. The addition of the hops is important because they contribute to the bitterness of the beer. The brew kettles are the most impressive equipment in the process. Gleaming copper, they can be 7-12 feet (2-3.6 m) in diameter and two stories high. Steam usually provides the heating energy to the brew kettles. After brewing is complete, the finished wort is filtered again and pumped to the fermentation tanks.

Fermenting

  • In the fermentation tanks, the atmosphere must be carefully controlled to prevent any "rouge" bacteria from interfering with the yeast. Carefully maintained yeast (approximately one pound per barrel of wort) is added to the wort, and the temperature of the mixture is slowly reduced over a period of days to between 50°F and 60°F (10-15°C). In this temperature range, the yeast grows, consuming the sugar in the wort, and bubbles of carbon dioxide form. The wort has now become beer. The new beer is filtered and transferred once more into the aging casks, where the temperature is controlled at 33°F (°C) for 2-24 weeks. The shorter storage time produces a pale lager beer while the European lagers (called Pilsner) are aged longer to increase the alcohol content.

Pasteurizing

  • After aging, the beer can be pasteurized to kill the remaining yeast and prevent further alcohol production. This is accomplished by heating the beer above 135°F (57°C). This process, named after Louis Pasteur, is widely known for preserving milk. Interestingly, Pasteur originally developed this process to preserve beer in the 1860s. Pasteurization, however, is not used in the production of genuine draft beers. These beers are also known as "ice" beers, since they must be kept refrigerated to preserve their flavor and slow the remaining yeast activity. Many consider the draft beers best in aroma as well as taste.

Packaging

  • Whether packaged into cans, bottles, or kegs, the beer is always moved gently through the maze of piping in the bottling area. This is to preserve the natural carbonation. During bottling, additional carbon dioxide gas from the fermentation kettles is used to improve the aroma of the beer. High-speed packaging lines can process thousands of cases of beer per day, and with modern computerized control, the inventory can be tracked throughout the distribution network. Most beer is delivered from local distributors who have purchasing contracts with the major breweries.

    Most beer is available in the following package sizes: "pony" cans and bottles of about 8 fluid ounces, standard 12-ounce cans and bottles, 16- and 32-ounce jumbo cans, 40-ounce "picnic" bottles, 8-gallon "pony" kegs, and the standard 16-gallon beer keg. Other novelty and party packages are also available. Cans and bottles are packed in 6, 8, 12, or 24 each to a box or case. Most states require a deposit at point of sale to encourage the return of the bottles and cans.

    When beer is dispensed from the keg, a pressure apparatus called a "tapper" is used to apply a light pressure of carbon dioxide (usually 2-6 PSI) to the tapper head for dispensing.

Byproducts/Waste

Beer brewing produces several byproducts that can be used by other industries. During the malting of the barley, rootlets form on the grain and drip off. These can be collected and used for animal feed. The hops that is filtered out from the finished wort can also be collected and used again as fertilizer. The residual yeast from the brewing process is a rich source of B vitamins. It can be put to use by pharmaceutical companies to make vitamins or drugs, or used as a food additive. Used beer cans and beer bottles are routinely recycled.

The Future

Recently, concern among citizens' groups over the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages by some individuals has initiated additional government regulation of beer. New warnings have been added to labels, warning of impaired driving, hazards to pregnant women, and other health ailments associated with alcohol consumption. Reduced tolerance for drunk driving, for example, encouraged many brewing companies to advocate responsible consumption. As a result, certain states have established laws to control the alcoholic content of beer for sale within their jurisdiction. The beer industry will continue to contend with these large social issues.

Much research is currently conducted in the area of plant engineering. Brewery researchers are manipulating the genes of barley and other common grains to increase their resistance to disease and to encourage helpful mutations. This genetic research also extends to improving the yeast. Current research is aimed at producing yeast strains that resist contamination and to making new varieties of yeast that can ferment carbohydrates, which common yeasts cannot process.

The brewing industry is also making advances in the area of rapid testing for contaminants. New technology such as DNA probes and protein and chromosome finger-printing is being developed by brewers to detect microorganisms that can adversely affect the brewing process. Some of this technology is already in use in medical science for drug screening, AIDS testing, and pregnancy testing. Brewers are eager to adapt this cutting edge research to the beer industry.

Where To Learn More

Books

Briggs, D.E. and J.S. Hough. Malting and Brewing Science, vols. 1 & 2. Chapman and Hall, 1981.

Hough, J.S. Biotechnology of Brewing. Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Periodicals

Altany, David. "Seeds to Suds." Industry Week, May 4, 1992, p. 40+.

Booth, Stephen A. "The Local Beer Returns." Popular Mechanics, November 1992, p. 44+.

Hummel, George. "The Quest for Home-brew." Mother Earth News, December-January 1994, p. 54+.

Polaneczky, Ronnie. "Beer Here! How Home Brewers Are Foamenting a Revolution." Philadelphia Magazine, December 1994, p. 57+.

[Article by: Douglas E. Betts]


Alcoholic beverage made by the fermentation of cereals; traditionally barley, but also maize, rice, and sorghum. The first step is the malting of barley: it is allowed to sprout, when the enzyme amylase hydrolyses some of the starch to dextrins and maltose. The sprouted (malted) barley is dried, then extracted with hot water (the process of mashing) to produce wort. After the addition of hops for flavour, the wort is allowed to ferment. Two types of yeast are used in brewing: top fermenting yeasts which float on the surface of the wort and bottom or deep fermenters. Most traditional British beers (ale, bitter, stout, and porter) are brewed with top fermenting yeasts. See also barley wine.

UK beers, brown ale, and stout: around 3% alcohol by volume, 2-4% carbohydrate, 75-110 kcal (315-460 kJ) per 300 mL (half pint). Strong ale is 6.6% alcohol, 6% carbohydrate, 210 kcal (880 kJ) per 300 mL (half pint). Ale is a light-coloured beer, relatively high in alcohol content, and moderately heavily hopped. Bitter beers are darker and contain more hops. Porter and stout are almost black in colour; they are made from wort containing some partly charred malt; milk stout is made from wort containing added lactose. Porter was first brewed in London in 1722, as a low cost beer for market porters.

Lager is the traditional mainland European type of beer, sometimes called Pilsner lager or Pils, since the original lager was brewed in Pilsen in Bohemia. It is brewed by deep fermentation.

Lambic, geuse, and weisse are strong sour beers made from barley or wheat, mainly in Belgium and Germany. Krieken lambic is cherry flavoured.

Lite beer is beer which has been allowed to ferment until virtually all the carbohydrate has been converted to alcohol and so it is low in carbohydrate and high in alcohol.

Low alcohol beer may be made either by fermentation of a low carbohydrate wort, or by removal of much of the alcohol after fermentation (de-alcoholized beer).

Sorghum beer (African, made also from millet, maize, or plantain) is a thick sour beverage consumed while still fermenting. Also known by numerous local names, kaffir beer, bouza, pombé, Bantu beer. 3-8% alcohol, 3-10% carbohydrate, a rich source of vitamin B1 per 300 mL portion.

A generic term for low-alcohol beverages brewed from a mash of malted barley and other cereals (like corn, rye or wheat), flavored with hops and fermented with yeast. Technically, beers are only those beverages in which the yeast sinks to the bottom of the tank during fermentation. Such bottom-fermented brews ferment at colder temperatures for longer periods of time, a process that produces a light, crisp tasting beverage. ale-a generic category for top-fermented beers where the yeast rises to the top of the tank-is strong-flavored and high in alcohol. Beverages that fall into the bottom-fermented beer category include bock beer, lager, malt liquor, pilsner and vienna beer. porter, stout and wheat beer are all top-fermented and are, therefore, considered ales. To add to the confusion, some states don't allow the words "beer" or "lager" to be used on brews containing more than 5 percent alcohol, so the word "ale" is used to describe these beers. Four ingredients play the primary roles in beer-making: water, malt, hops and yeast. Water is critical because it comprises nine-tenths of a beer's volume. The quality and composition of the water from different beer-making regions contributes greatly to the character of the finished product. malt, which is made from germinated grain (usually barley), provides beer with a slightly sweet character. How malt is treated-dried but not roasted, lightly roasted, heavily roasted, and so on-impacts a beer's flavor. Hops convey an agreeably bitter, dry flavor that balances the malt's sweetness. Yeast that's been specially cultivated (each brewer has their favorite strain) is used for brewing; different yeasts produce different results. lambic beer utilizes wild yeast for fermentation. Beer's alcohol content varies, with most beer in the United States ranging from 3.2 to 8 percent alcohol. Some European beers have less than 3 percent alcohol, while others range as high as 13 percent. In the United States, the term light beer refers to a brew with reduced calories and usually less alcohol. In Europe, this term distinguishes between pale and dark lagers. Ice beer (called Eisbock in Germany) is lagered at such cold temperatures (32°F-the freezing point of water) that ice crystals form. When this frozen water is extracted, the resulting beer has a much higher alcohol concentration, so some German ice beers reach 13 percent alcohol. Storing and serving beer: Beer, unlike most wines, should not be aged but consumed as fresh as possible. Most lighter style beers (such as lager and Pilsner) should be served at about 45°F; colder temperatures cloud beer and diminish its flavor. Stronger ales should be served at about 55°F so their more complex flavors can be savored. See also bitter; dortmunder; fruit beer; sake; trappist beer.


Alcoholic beverage made usually from malted barley, flavoured with hops, and brewed by slow fermentation. Known from ancient times, beer was especially common in northern climates not conducive to grape cultivation for wine. It is produced by employing either a bottom-fermenting yeast, which falls to the bottom of the container when fermentation is completed, or a top-fermenting yeast, which rises to the surface. Lager beers (from lagern, "to store"), of German origin, are bottom-fermented and stored at a low temperature for several months; most are light in colour, with high carbonation, medium hop flavor, and alcohol content of 3 – 5% by volume. Top-fermented beers, popular in Britain, include ale, stout, and porter; they are characterized by a prominent head of released carbon dioxide, a sharper and more strongly hopped flavour than lagers, and an alcohol content of 4 – 6.5% by volume. See also malt.

For more information on beer, visit Britannica.com.

 
beer, alcoholic beverage made by brewing and fermenting cereals, especially malted barley, usually with the addition of hops as a flavoring agent and stabilizer. One of the oldest of alcoholic beverages (there is archaeological evidence dating to c.3000 B.C.), beer was well known in ancient Egypt, where it may have been made from bread. At first brewed chiefly in the household and monastery, it became in late medieval times a commercial product and is now made by large-scale manufacture in almost every industrialized country, especially Great Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the United States.

Although British, European, and American beers can differ markedly in flavor and content, brewing processes are similar. A mash, prepared from crushed malt (usually barley), water, and, often, cereal adjuncts such as rice and corn, is heated and rotated in the mash tun to dissolve the solids and permit the malt enzymes to convert the starch into sugar. The solution, called wort, is drained into a copper vessel, where it is boiled with the hops (which provide beer with its bitter flavor), then run off for cooling and settling. After cooling, it is transferred to fermenting vessels where yeast is added, converting the sugar into alcohol. Modern beers, typically lighter than ancient, contain about 3% to 6% alcohol.

Beers fall into two broad categories. Ales are made with yeast that ferments more quickly at warmer temperatures and tends to rise to the surface. Lagers use yeast that ferments more slowly at cooler temperatures and tends to settle, and they are aged at cold temperatures for weeks or months, hence the name [Ger., Lager=storage place]. Most major American beers are lagers; many are Bohemian Pilsners, a golden-hued lager. Bock beer, said to take its name from Einbeck, Prussia, where it was first made, is a heavier, usually darker lager. Pale ale is generally a light to dark amber, strongly hopped beer. Porter is a strong, dark ale brewed with the addition of roasted malt to give flavor and color. Stout, an ale which is darker and maltier than porter, has a more pronounced hop aroma and may attain an alcoholic content of 6% to 7%. Light, or low-calorie, beer is lower in alcohol content. Ice beer is a higher-alcohol beer produced by chilling below 32°F (0°C) and filtering out the ice crystals that form.

In the 1980s, consumer dissatisfaction with the taste and choice offered by major breweries led to the growth of microbreweries-firms that produce fewer than 15,000 barrels annually-especially in the United States. By 2000 there were more than 400 U.S. microbreweries and more than 1,000 brewpubs (a microbrewery that sells mainly through its own restaurant or bar).


Nutritional Values: The Nutritional Value for: beer
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Description Quantity Energy
(calories)
Carbs
(grams)
Protein
(grams)
Cholesterol
(milligrams)
Weight
(grams)
Fat
(grams)
Saturated Fat
(grams)
light 12 fl oz 95 5 1 0 355 0 0
regular 12 fl oz 150 13 1 0 360 0 0
Word Tutor: beer
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - A general name for alcoholic beverages made by fermenting a cereal (or mixture of cereals) flavored with hops.

Tutor's tip: You wouldn't want to confuse a "beer" (alcoholic drink) with a "bier" (coffin and its stand).

Wikipedia: Beer
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Leffe, a Belgian beer, served in its own branded glasses
Schlenkerla Rauchbier straight from the cask

Beer is the world's oldest[1] and most widely consumed[2] alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea.[3] It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), and rice are widely used. Most beer is flavoured with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, though other flavourings such as herbs or fruit may occasionally be included.

Some of humanity's earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating beer and beer parlours,[4] and "The Hymn to Ninkasi," a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, served as both a prayer and as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people.[5][6] Today, 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 basics of brewing beer are shared across national and cultural boundaries. Beers are commonly categorized into two main types—the globally popular pale lagers, and the regionally distinct ales,[7] which are further categorised into other varieties such as pale ale, stout and brown ale. The strength of beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (abv.) though may range from less than 1% abv., to over 20% abv. in rare cases.

Beer forms part of the culture of beer-drinking nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals, as well as a rich pub culture involving activities like pub crawling and pub games such as bar billiards.

Contents

History

Egyptian wooden model of beer making in ancient Egypt, Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose, California

Beer is one of the world's oldest prepared beverages, possibly dating back to the early Neolithic or 9000 BC, and is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.[8] The earliest Sumerian writings contain references to a type of beer. A prayer to the goddess Ninkasi, known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi", serves as both a prayer as well as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people.[5][6]

As almost any substance containing carbohydrates, mainly sugars or starch, can naturally undergo fermentation, it is likely that beer-like beverages were independently invented among various cultures throughout the world. The invention of bread and beer has been argued to be responsible for humanity's ability to develop technology and build civilization.[9][10][11] The earliest known chemical evidence of beer dates to circa 3500–3100 BC from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran.[12]

Beer was spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes as far back as 3000 BC,[13] and it was mainly brewed on a domestic scale.[14] The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today. Alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers might contain fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices and other substances such as narcotic herbs.[15] What they did not contain was hops, as that was a later addition first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot[16] and again in 1067 by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen.[17]

Beer produced before the Industrial Revolution continued to be made and sold on a domestic scale, although by the 7th century AD, beer was also being produced and sold by European monasteries. During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal manufacture to industrial manufacture, and domestic manufacture ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century.[18] The development of hydrometers and thermometers changed brewing by allowing the brewer more control of the process and greater knowledge of the results.

Today, 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.[19] As of 2006, more than 133 billion liters (35 billion gallons), the equivalent of a cube 510 metres on a side, of beer are sold per year, producing total global revenues of $294.5 billion (£147.7 billion).[20]

Brewing

The process of making beer is known as brewing. A dedicated building for the making of beer is called a brewery, though beer can be made in the home and has been for much of its history. A company that makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company. Beer made on a domestic scale for non-commercial reasons is classed as homebrewing regardless of where it is made, though most homebrewed beer is made in the home. Brewing beer is subject to legislation and taxation in developed countries, which from the late 19th century largely restricted brewing to a commercial operation only. However, the UK government relaxed legislation in 1963, followed by Australia in 1972 and the USA in 1979, allowing homebrewing to become a popular hobby.[21]

A 16th-century brewery

The purpose of brewing is to convert the starch source into a sugary liquid called wort and to convert the wort into the alcoholic beverage known as beer in a fermentation process effected by yeast.

Diagram illustrating the process of brewing beer
Hot Water Tank
Chiller

The first step, where the wort is prepared by mixing the starch source (normally malted barley) with hot water, is known as "mashing". Hot water (known as "liquor" in brewing terms) is mixed with crushed malt or malts (known as "grist") in a mash tun.[22] The mashing process takes around 1 to 2 hours,[23] during which the starches are converted to sugars, and then the sweet wort is drained off the grains. The grains are now washed in a process known as "sparging". This washing allows the brewer to gather as much of the fermentable liquid from the grains as possible. The process of filtering the spent grain from the wort and sparge water is called wort separation. The traditional process for wort separation is lautering, in which the grain bed itself serves as the filter medium. Some modern breweries prefer the use of filter frames which allow a more finely ground grist.[24] Most modern breweries use a continuous sparge, collecting the original wort and the sparge water together. However, it is possible to collect a second or even third wash with the not quite spent grains as separate batches. Each run would produce a weaker wort and thus a weaker beer. This process is known as second (and third) runnings. Brewing with several runnings is called parti gyle brewing.[25]

The sweet wort collected from sparging is put into a kettle, or "copper", (so called because these vessels were traditionally made from copper)[26] and boiled, usually for about one hour. During boiling, water in the wort evaporates, but the sugars and other components of the wort remain; this allows more efficient use of the starch sources in the beer. Boiling also destroys any remaining enzymes left over from the mashing stage. Hops are added during boiling as a source of bitterness, flavour and aroma. Hops may be added at more than one point during the boil. The longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness they contribute, but the less hop flavour and aroma remains in the beer.[27]

After boiling, the hopped wort is now cooled, ready for the yeast. In some breweries, the hopped wort may pass through a hopback, which is a small vat filled with hops, to add aromatic hop flavouring and to act as a filter; but usually the hopped wort is simply cooled for the fermenter, where the yeast is added. During fermentation, the wort becomes beer in a process which requires a week to months depending on the type of yeast and strength of the beer. In addition to producing alcohol, fine particulate matter suspended in the wort settles during fermentation. Once fermentation is complete, the yeast also settles, leaving the beer clear.[28]

Fermentation is sometimes carried out in two stages, primary and secondary. Once most of the alcohol has been produced during primary fermentation, the beer is transferred to a new vessel and allowed a period of secondary fermentation. Secondary fermentation is used when the beer requires long storage before packaging or greater clarity.[29] When the beer has fermented, it is packaged either into casks for cask ale or kegs, aluminum cans, or bottles for other sorts of beer.[30]

Ingredients

Malted barley before roasting

The basic ingredients of beer are water; a starch source, such as malted barley, able to be fermented (converted into alcohol); a brewer's yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavouring such as hops.[31] A mixture of starch sources may be used, with a secondary starch source, such as maize (corn), rice or sugar, often being termed an adjunct, especially when used as a lower-cost substitute for malted barley.[32] Less widely used starch sources include millet, sorghum and cassava root in Africa, potato in Brazil, and agave in Mexico, among others.[33] The amount of each starch source in a beer recipe is collectively called the grain bill.

Water

Beer is composed mostly of water. Regions have water with different mineral components; as a result, different regions were originally better suited to making certain types of beer, thus giving them a regional character.[34] For example, Dublin has hard water well suited to making stout, such as Guinness; while Pilzen has soft water well suited to making pale lager, such as Pilsner Urquell.[34] The waters of Burton in England contain gypsum, which benefits making pale ale to such a degree that brewers of pale ales will add gypsum to the local water in a process known as Burtonisation.[35]

Starch source

The starch source in a beer provides the fermentable material and is a key determinant of the strength and flavour of the beer. The most common starch source used in beer is malted grain. Grain is malted by soaking it in water, allowing it to begin germination, and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln. Malting grain produces enzymes that convert starches in the grain into fermentable sugars.[36] Different roasting times and temperatures are used to produce different colours of malt from the same grain. Darker malts will produce darker beers.[37]

Nearly all beer includes barley malt as the majority of the starch. This is because of its fibrous husk, which is not only important in the sparging stage of brewing (in which water is washed over the mashed barley grains to form the wort), but also as a rich source of amylase, a digestive enzyme which facilitates conversion of starch into sugars. Other malted and unmalted grains (including wheat, rice, oats, and rye, and less frequently, corn and sorghum) may be used. In recent years, a few brewers have produced gluten-free beer made with sorghum with no barley malt for those who cannot consume gluten-containing grains like wheat, barley, and rye.[38]

Hops

Flavouring beer is the sole major commercial use of hops.[39] The flower of the hop vine is used as a flavouring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today. The flowers themselves are often called "hops".

Hop cone in a Hallertau, Germany, hop yard

Hops were used by monastery breweries, such as Corvey in Westphalia, Germany, from 822 AD,[18][40] though the date normally given for widespread cultivation of hops for use in beer is the thirteenth century.[18][40] Before the thirteenth century, and until the sixteenth century, during which hops took over as the dominant flavouring, beer was flavoured with other plants; for instance, Glechoma hederacea. Combinations of various aromatic herbs, berries, and even ingredients like wormwood would be combined into a mixture known as gruit and used as hops are now used.[41] Some beers today, such as Fraoch' by the Scottish Heather Ales company[42] and Cervoise Lancelot by the French Brasserie-Lancelot company,[43] use plants other than hops for flavouring.

Hops contain several characteristics that brewers desire in beer. Hops contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt; the bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale. Hops contribute floral, citrus, and herbal aromas and flavours to beer. Hops have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms, and hops aids in "head retention",[44][45] the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last. The acidity of hops is a preservative.[46][47]

Yeast

Yeast is the microorganism that is responsible for fermentation in beer. Yeast metabolises the sugars extracted from grains, which produces alcohol and carbon dioxide, and thereby turns wort into beer. In addition to fermenting the beer, yeast influences the character and flavour.[48] The dominant types of yeast used to make beer are ale yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lager yeast (Saccharomyces uvarum); their use distinguishes ale and lager.[49] Brettanomyces ferments lambics,[50] and Torulaspora delbrueckii ferments Bavarian weissbier.[51] Before the role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts. A few styles such as lambics rely on this method today, but most modern fermentation adds pure yeast cultures.[52]

Clarifying agent

Some brewers add one or more clarifying agents to beer, which typically precipitate (collect as a solid) out of the beer along with protein solids and are found only in trace amounts in the finished product. This process makes the beer appear bright and clean, rather than the cloudy appearance of ethnic and older styles of beer such as wheat beers.[53]

Examples of clarifying agents include isinglass, obtained from swimbladders of fish; Irish moss, a seaweed; kappa carrageenan, from the seaweed Kappaphycus cottonii; Polyclar (artificial); and gelatin.[54] If a beer is marked "suitable for Vegans", it was clarified either with seaweed or with artificial agents.[55]

Varieties

Kriek, a variety of beer brewed with cherries

While there are many types of beer brewed, the basics of brewing beer are shared across national and cultural boundaries.[56] The traditional European brewing regions—Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Austria—have local varieties of beer. In some countries, notably the USA, Canada, and Australia, brewers have adapted European styles to such an extent that they have effectively created their own indigenous types.[57]

Despite the regional variations, beer is categorised into two main types based on the temperature of the brewing which influences the behaviour of yeast used during the brewing process—lagers, which are brewed at a low temperature, and the more regionally distinct ales, brewed at a higher temperature.[58] Ales are further categorised into other varieties such as pale ale, stout and brown ale.

Michael Jackson, in his 1977 book The World Guide To Beer, categorised beers from around the world in local style groups suggested by local customs and names.[59] Fred Eckhardt furthered Jackson's work in The Essentials of Beer Style in 1989.

The most common method of categorising beer is by the behaviour of the yeast used in the fermentation process. In this method, beers using a fast-acting yeast which leaves behind residual sugars are termed "ales", while beers using a slower-acting yeast, fermented at lower temperatures, which removes most of the sugars, leaving a clean, dry beer, are termed "lagers". Differences between some ales and lagers can be difficult to categorise. Steam beer, Kölsch, Alt, and some modern British Golden Summer Beers use elements of both lager and ale production. Baltic Porter and Bière de Garde may be produced by either lager or ale methods or a combination of both. However, lager production results in a cleaner-tasting, drier and lighter beer than ale.[60]

Ale

Cask ale hand pumps with pump clips detailing the beers and their breweries

An ale is commonly defined by the strain of yeast used and the fermenting temperature. Ales are normally brewed with top-fermenting yeasts (most commonly Saccharomyces cerevisiae), though a number of British brewers, including Fullers and Weltons,[61] use ale yeast strains that have less-pronounced top-fermentation characteristics. The important distinction for ales is that they are fermented at higher temperatures and thus ferment more quickly than lagers.

Ale is typically fermented at temperatures between 15 and 24°C (60 and 75°F). At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, or prune, among others.[62]

A pint of Real Ale in a dimpled glass jug or mug.

Typically ales have a sweeter, fuller body than lagers.

Before the introduction of hops into England from the Netherlands in the 15th century, the name ale was exclusively applied to unhopped fermented beverages, the term beer being gradually introduced to describe a brew with an infusion of hops. This distinction no longer applies.[63] The word ale may come from the Old English ealu, in turn from the Proto-Indo-European base *alut-, which holds connotations of "sorcery, magic, possession, intoxication".[64]

Real ale is the term coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973[65] for "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide". It is applied to bottle conditioned and cask conditioned beers.

Lambic

Lambic, a beer of Belgium, is naturally fermented using wild yeasts, rather than cultivated. Many of these are not strains of brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness. Yeast varieties such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus are common in lambics. In addition, other organisms such as Lactobacillus bacteria produce acids which contribute to the sourness.[66]

Stout

Stout and porter are styles of dark ale made using roasted malts or roast barley, and brewed with top-fermenting ale yeast. There are a number of variations including Baltic porter, dry stout, and Imperial stout. The name Porter was first used in 1721 to describe a dark ale popular with street and river porters of London that had been made with roasted malts. This same beer later also became known as stout, though the word stout had been used as early as 1677. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined.

Lager

Lager is the English name for cool fermenting beers of Central European origin. Pale lagers are the most commonly consumed beers in the world. The name lager comes from the German lagern for "to store", as brewers around Bavaria stored beer in cool cellars and caves during the warm summer months. These brewers noticed that the beers continued to ferment, and to also clear of sediment, when stored in cool conditions.[67]

Lager yeast is a cool bottom-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus) and typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7–12 °C (45 - 54 °F) (the fermentation phase), and then is given a long secondary fermentation at 0–4 °C (32 - 39 °F) (the lagering phase). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "cleaner"-tasting beer.[68]

Modern methods of producing lager were pioneered by Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger, who perfected dark brown lagers at the Spaten Brewery in Bavaria, and Anton Dreher, who began brewing a lager, probably of amber-red colour, in Vienna in 1840–1841. With improved modern yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks.

Colour

Beer colour is determined by the malt.[69] The most common colour is a pale amber produced from using pale malts. Pale lager and pale ale are terms used for beers made from malt dried with coke. Coke was first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it was not until around 1703 that the term pale ale was used.[70][71]

Paulaner dunkel - a dark lager

In terms of sales volume, most of today's beer is based on the pale lager brewed in 1842 in the town of Pilsen in the present-day Czech Republic.[72] The modern pale lager is light in colour with a noticeable carbonation (fizzy bubbles) and a typical alcohol by volume content of around 5%. The Pilsner Urquell, Bitburger, and Heineken brands of beer are typical examples of pale lager, as are the American brands Budweiser, Coors, and Miller.

Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or lager malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade. Other colourants—such as caramel—are also widely used to darken beers. Very dark beers, such as stout, use dark or patent malts that have been roasted longer. Some have roasted unmalted barley.[73][74]

Alcoholic strength

Beer ranges from less than 3% alcohol by volume (abv) to almost 30% abv. The alcohol content of beer varies by local practice[75] or beer style. The pale lagers that most consumers are familiar with fall in the range of 4–6%, with a typical abv of 5%.[76] The customary strength of British ales is quite low, with many session beers being around 4% abv.[77] Some beers, such as table beer are of such low alcohol content (1%–4%) that they are served instead of soft drinks in some schools.[78]

The alcohol in beer comes primarily from the metabolism of sugars that are produced during fermentation. The quantity of fermentable sugars in the wort and the variety of yeast used to ferment the wort are the primary factors that determine the amount of alcohol in the final beer. Additional fermentable sugars are sometimes added to increase alcohol content, and enzymes are often added to the wort for certain styles of beer (primarily "light" beers) to convert more complex carbohydrates (starches) to fermentable sugars. Alcohol is a byproduct of yeast metabolism and is toxic to the yeast; typical brewing yeast cannot survive at alcohol concentrations above 12% by volume. Low temperatures and too little fermentation time decreases the effectiveness of yeasts and consequently decreases the alcohol content.

Exceptionally strong beers

The strength of beers has climbed during the later years of the 20th century. Vetter 33, a 10.5% abv (33 degrees Plato, hence Vetter "33"), doppelbock, was listed in the 1994 Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest beer at that time,[79][80] though Samichlaus, by the Swiss brewer Hürlimann, had also been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest at 14% abv.[81][82][83]

Since then, some brewers have used champagne yeasts to increase the alcohol content of their beers. Samuel Adams reached 20% abv with Millennium[84] and then surpassed that amount to 25.6% abv with Utopias. The strongest beer sold in Britain was Baz's Super Brew by Parish Brewery, a 23% abv beer.[85][86] The beer that is considered to be the strongest yet made is Hair of the Dog's Dave—a 29% abv barley wine made in 1994. The strength was achieved by using the eisbock method of freeze distilling - the brewery freeze distilled a 10% ale twice.[87]

Related beverages

Around the world, there are a number of traditional and ancient starch-based beverages classed as beer. In Africa, there are various ethnic beers made from sorghum or millet, such as Oshikundu[88] in Namibia and Tella in Ethiopia.[89] Kyrgyzstan also has a beer made from millet; it is a low alcohol, somewhat porridge-like drink called "Bozo".[90] Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim also use millet in Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalayas.[91] Further east in China are found Huangjiu and Choujiu—traditional rice-based beverages related to beer.

The Andes in South America has Chicha, made from germinated maize (corn); while the indigenous peoples in Brazil have Cauim, a traditional beverage made since pre-Columbian times by chewing manioc so that enzymes present in human saliva can break down the starch into fermentable sugars;[92] this is similar to Masato in Peru.[93]

Some beers which are made from bread, which is linked to the earliest forms of beer, are Sahti in Finland, Kvass in Russia and the Ukraine, and Bouza in Sudan.

Brewing industry

Cropton, a typical UK microbrewery

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.[19] More than 133 billion liters (35 billion gallons) are sold per year—producing total global revenues of $294.5 billion (£147.7 billion) in 2006.[20]

A microbrewery, or craft brewery, is a modern brewery which produces a limited amount of beer.[94] The maximum amount of beer a brewery can produce and still be classed as a microbrewery varies by region and by authority, though is usually around 15,000 barrels (18,000 hectolitres/ 475,000 US gallons) a year.[95] A brewpub is a type of microbrewery that incorporates a pub or other eating establishment.

SABMiller became the largest brewing company in the world when it acquired Royal Grolsch, brewer of Dutch premium beer brand Grolsch.[96] InBev was the second-largest beer-producing company in the world,[97] and Anheuser-Busch held the third spot, but after the merger between InBev and Anheuser-Busch, the new Anheuser-Busch InBev company is the largest brewer in the world.[98][99]

Serving

Draught

Draught beer keg fonts at the Delirium Café in Brussels

Draught beer from a pressurised keg is the most common method of dispensing in bars around the world. A metal keg is pressurised with carbon dioxide (CO2) gas which drives the beer to the dispensing tap or faucet. Some beers may be served with a nitrogen/carbon dioxide mixture. Nitrogen produces fine bubbles, resulting in a dense head and a creamy mouthfeel. Some types of beer can also be found in smaller, disposable kegs called beer balls.

In the 1980s, Guinness introduced the beer widget, a nitrogen-pressurised ball inside a can which creates a dense, tight head, similar to beer served from a nitrogen system.[100] The words draft and draught can be used as marketing terms to describe canned or bottled beers containing a beer widget, or which are cold-filtered rather than pasteurised.

A selection of cask beers

Cask-conditioned ales (or cask ales) are unfiltered and unpasteurised beers. These beers are termed "real ale" by the CAMRA organisation. Typically, when a cask arrives in a pub, it is placed horizontally on a frame called a "stillage" which is designed to hold it steady and at the right angle, and then allowed to cool to cellar temperature (typically between 12–14 °C / 54 - 57 °F),[101] before being tapped and vented—a tap is driven through a (usually rubber) bung at the bottom of one end, and a hard spile or other implement is used to open a hole in the side of the cask, which is now uppermost. The act of stillaging and then venting a beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a suitable period to "drop" (clear) again, as well as to fully condition—this period can take anywhere from several hours to several days. At this point the beer is ready to sell, either being pulled through a beer line with a hand pump, or simply being "gravity-fed" directly into the glass.

Packaging

Bottles of beer from the Spoetzl Brewery

Most beers are cleared of yeast by filtering when packaged in bottles and cans.[102] However, bottle conditioned beers retain some yeast—either by being unfiltered, or by being filtered and then reseeded with fresh yeast.[103] It is usually recommended that the beer be poured slowly, leaving any yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. However, some drinkers prefer to pour in the yeast; this practice is customary with wheat beers. Typically, when serving a hefeweizen, 90% of the contents are poured, and the remainder is swirled to suspend the sediment before pouring it into the glass. Alternatively, the bottle may be inverted prior to opening. Glass bottles are always used for bottle conditioned beers.

Many beers are sold in cans, though there is considerable variation in the proportion between different countries. In Sweden in 2001, 63.9% of beer was sold in cans.[104] People either drink from the can or pour the beer into a glass. Cans protect the beer from light (thereby preventing "skunked" beer) and have a seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles. Cans were initially viewed as a technological breakthrough for maintaining the quality of a beer, then became commonly associated with less expensive, mass-produced beers, even though the quality of storage in cans is much like bottles.[105] Plastic (PET) bottles are used by some breweries.[106]

Serving temperature

The temperature of a beer has an influence on a drinker's experience; warmer temperatures reveal the range of flavours in a beer; however, cooler temperatures are more refreshing. Most drinkers prefer pale lager to be served chilled, a low- or medium-strength pale ale to be served cool, while a strong barley wine or imperial stout to be served at room temperature.[107]

Édouard Manet's The Waitress showing a woman serving beer

Beer writer Michael Jackson proposed a five-level scale for serving temperatures: well chilled (7 °C/45 °F) for "light" beers (pale lagers); chilled (8 °C/46 °F) for Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers; lightly chilled (9 °C/48 °F) for all dark lagers, altbier and German wheat beers; cellar temperature (13 °C/55 °F) for regular British ale, stout and most Belgian specialities; and room temperature (15.5 °C/59.9 °F) for strong dark ales (especially trappist beer) and barley wine.[108]

Drinking chilled beer is a social trend that began with the development of artificial refrigeration and by the 1870s, was spread in those countries that concentrated on brewing pale lager.[109] Chilling below 15.5 °C (59.9 °F) starts to reduce taste awareness[110] and reduces it significantly below 10 °C (50 °F);[111] while this is acceptable for beers without an appreciable aroma or taste profile, beers brewed with more than basic refreshment in mind reveal their flavours more when served unchilled—either cool or at room temperature.[112] Cask Marque, a non-profit UK beer organisation, has set a temperature standard range of 12°-14°C (53°-57°F) for cask ales to be served.[113]

Vessels

Beer is consumed out of a variety of vessels, such as a glass, a beer stein, a mug, a pewter tankard, a beer bottle or a can. The shape of the glass from which beer is consumed can influence the perception of the beer and can define and accent the character of the style.[114] Breweries offer branded glassware intended only for their own beers as a marketing promotion, as this increases sales.[115]

The pouring process has an influence on a beer's presentation. The rate of flow from the tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the centre or down the side) into the glass all influence the end result, such as the size and longevity of the head, lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and turbulence of the beer and its release of carbonation.[116]

Beer and society

Social context

Inside a tent at Munich's Oktoberfest—the world's largest beer festival

Various social traditions and activities are associated with beer drinking, such as playing cards, darts, bags, or other pub games; attending beer festivals, or visiting a series of different pubs in one evening; joining an organisation such as CAMRA; or rating beer.[117] Various drinking games, such as beer pong, flip cup and quarters are also popular.[118]

International consumption

Beer is considered to be a social lubricant in many societies,[119] and is consumed in countries all over the world. There are breweries in Middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, as well as African countries (see African beer). Sales of beer are four times that of wine, the second most popular alcoholic beverage.[120][121] In Russia, consumption is on the rise as younger generations are choosing beer over vodka.[122] In most societies, beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage.

Health effects

Alcohol and Health
Short-term effects of alcohol
Long-term effects of alcohol
Alcohol and cardiovascular disease
Alcoholic liver disease
Alcoholic hepatitis
Alcohol and cancer
Alcohol and weight
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Alcoholism
Blackout (alcohol-related amnesia)
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
Recommended maximum intake
Wine and health

The main active ingredient of beer is alcohol, and therefore, the health effects of alcohol apply to beer. The moderate consumption of alcohol, including beer, is associated with a decreased risk of cardiac disease, stroke and cognitive decline.[123][124][125][126] The long-term effects of alcohol abuse, however, include the risk of developing alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease.

Overview of possible long-term effects of ethanol. Click to expand.

Brewer's yeast is known to be a rich source of nutrients; therefore, as expected, beer can contain significant amounts of nutrients, including magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, and B vitamins. In fact, beer is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread".[127] Some sources maintain that filtered beer loses much of its nutrition.[128][129]

A 2005 Japanese study found that low alcohol beer may possess strong anti-cancer properties.[130] Another study found nonalcoholic beer to mirror the cardiovascular benefits associated with moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages.[131] However, much research suggests that the primary health benefit from alcoholic beverages comes from the alcohol they contain.[132]

It is considered that overeating and lack of muscle tone is the main cause of a beer belly, rather than beer consumption. A recent study, however, found a link between binge drinking and a beer belly. But with most overconsumption, it is more a problem of improper exercise and overconsumption of carbohydrates than the product itself.[133] Several diet books quote beer as having the same glycemic index as maltose, a very high (and therefore undesirable) 110; however, the maltose undergoes metabolism by yeast during fermentation so that beer consists mostly of water, hop oils and only trace amounts of sugars, including maltose.[134]

Environmental impact

Draught beer's environmental impact can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences.[135][136] Home brewing can reduce the environmental impact of beer via less packaging and transportation.[137]

A life cycle study of one beer brand, including grain production, brewing, bottling, distribution and waste management, shows that the CO2 emissions from a 6-pack of micro-brew beer is about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds).[138] The loss of natural habitat potential from the 6-pack of micro-brew beer is estimated to be 2.5 square meters (26 square feet).[139]

Downstream emissions from distribution, retail, storage and disposal of waste can be over 45% of a bottled micro-brew beer's CO2 emissions.[138]

Where legal, the use of a refillable jug, reusable bottle or other reusable containers to transport draught beer from a store or a bar, rather than buying pre-bottled beer, can reduce the environmental impact of beer consumption.[140]

Notes

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References


Translations: Beer
Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - øl

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    lutter lagkage, skæg og ballade, fis og ballade
  • beer belly    ølmave
  • beer gut    ølmave, ølvom
  • beer mat    ølbrik

Nederlands (Dutch)
bier, gerstenat

Français (French)
n. - bière

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    (ne pas être) une partie de plaisir
  • beer belly    bedaine (de buveur de bière)
  • beer gut    bedaine (de buveur de bière)
  • beer mat    dessous-de-bouteille, dessous-de-verre

Deutsch (German)
n. - Bier

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    ein reines Vergnügen
  • beer belly    Bierbauch
  • beer gut    Bierbauch
  • beer mat    Bierdeckel

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μπίρα, ζύθος

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    παιχνίδι και χαρά, σκέτη διασκέδαση
  • beer belly    κοιλάρα, μπάκα
  • beer gut    κοιλάρα, μπάκα
  • beer mat    σουβέρ

Italiano (Italian)
birra

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    rose e fiori
  • beer belly    pancia a barile
  • beer gut    pancia d'ubriaco

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cerveja (f), bebida (f) fermentada

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    diversão (f)
  • beer gut    barriga de cerveja
  • small beer    coisas sem importância

Русский (Russian)
пиво

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    пиво и развлечение
  • beer belly    пузо
  • beer gut    пузо
  • small beer    пустяки

Español (Spanish)
n. - cerveza

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    bebida y juego, diversión
  • beer belly    barriga prominente debido a la gran ingestión de cerveza
  • beer gut    barriga prominente debido a la gran ingestión de cerveza
  • beer mat    posavasos, salvamanteles

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - öl, maltdryck

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
啤酒

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    吃喝玩乐
  • beer belly    大肚子
  • beer gut    啤酒肚
  • beer mat    啤酒杯垫子

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 啤酒

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    吃喝玩樂
  • beer belly    大肚子
  • beer gut    啤酒肚
  • beer mat    啤酒杯墊子

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 맥주, 알코올이 적은 음료

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ビール, 一本のビール, 発酵性飲料

idioms:

  • beer and skittles    遊興
  • beer belly    ビール腹
  • beer brewer    ビールの醸造者
  • beer gut    ビール腹
  • beer mat    ビールマット

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) بيرة, جعه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮בירה, בקבוק בירה, שיכר‬


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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
How Products are Made. How Products are Made. Copyright © 2002 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Food & Culture Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Copyright © 2003 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Nutritional Values. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
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