Main Beer Brewing Ingredients
- Malt
- Hops
- Sugar
- Yeast
- Water
Other Ingredients
Hops
Hops are an important ingredient of beer. They give the beer a
characteristic bitter flavour and aroma. Also, they impart substances
which act as preservatives in the beer.
Hops are the dried flowers of the hop plant and are sold in a loose
or a compressed form. Their quality can be quite variable and they
deteriorate with age. Old hops are almost useless for beer making.
Compressed hops probably keep better than loose ones. Generally we don't
have much choice, so this is quite a variable in home brewing. Good
quality hops when rubbed between the palms of the hands should leave a
sticky resinous feel and give off a strong hop aroma.
It is necessary to boil the hops in the wort for about 30 minutes to
extract the bitter and preservative elements. During this time, some of
the hop aroma is inevitably lost. To replace this, a few home brewers
hold back some of the hops which they add shortly before boiling is
complete. I do not think this is worthwhile. It is better to make
certain not to boil the wort too vigorously and thus minimize the loss
of the volatile constituents.
Hop extract, which can be purchased from some specialist suppliers,
can be used instead of dried hops. It is more expensive but the quality
is consistent. Directions for use are supplied with the extract. Usually
it is added after the first vigorous fermentation has subsided. You
would have to experiment with one or two brews to enable you to find the
amount of extract needed to suit your palate.
Hops and malt provide the main flavour and aroma components of beer.
Good beers have a balance between the components supplied by each. It is
just as well to remember this when experimenting with recipes. If you
use extra malt in a recipe, then probably it would be necessary to use
extra hops. This is to keep the balance. Individual tastes vary widely,
so obviously there is room for quite a deal of tolerance.
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