Rattlesnake Mountain Brewing

Mead

Mead is made out of honey, water and special yeast used for fermentation. Brewers of mead uses the word “must” to refer to the mixture of those three ingredients that mead is made from. The yeast that has been added to the honey and water mixture will ferment or metabolize the sugar in honey until all of it has been consumed and turned into alcohol. This is the point where the mixture itself or the resulting fermented product is called mead.

Depending on how you regulate the amount of honey you will use to produce mead, one will be able to create either sweet mead, semi-sweet or a plain dry (with almost no trace of sweetness in it) mead beer. One should also put into consideration the kind of honey that will be used since different types of honey (e.g. blended, polyfloral, monofloral honey, honeydew honey, etc.) confers flavor, aroma and a certain level of sweetness to the beer.

Some manufacturers are able to experiment on the production of beers such as mead by putting in additional fruity flavours from citruses and other fruits and sometimes even spices. They may include the added flavours into the mixture while the honey undergoes fermentation process or when the honey has been completely fermented. While this maybe applicable for producers who produce beers in bulk, one may also experiment on following your own taste by adjusting the level of sugar present on mead.

Related posts from this site:
Beer Styles

Lager

Lager is perhaps something that people are very familiar with, since it is the most common form of beer that is consumed around the globe today. This was originally made in Germany by Gabriel Sedlmayr. He changed how pale ale was being produced and incorporated lager brewing techniques to produce a new kind of beer called pale lager in the 1800s.

This was perhaps one of the most stable beers ever produced and its technique was largely adapted by breweries around the globe. The brewing technique started using the method employed by Sedlmayr in Germany. Unlike beer ale, fermentation for lager beers is much slower and yeasts used settle at the bottom of the fermenting medium and are more active at low temperatures.

With the new procedure in place, it was found out that the resulting beer produced during that process is very neutral in the sense that there has been a little mark of bitterness and sweetness on the beer. Cool climates in Europe supported the success of lager breweries and its soothing taste has gained quick acceptance from the tastes buds of beer drinkers around the globe. Due to the cost associated with cool storage, small-time breweries cannot afford to stay in the market. This is why breweries with large capital are the only industries that are able to keep their place in lager brewery market.

Related posts from this site:
Light Lager

India Pale Ale

Just like any other pale ale that is made from ale yeast and pale malts, India Pale ale (IPA) or sometimes called Bitter are just some of the most popular pale ale made with the same ingredient and a higher alcohol content.

India Pale ale (IPA) or bitter also contains plant infusion or extract such as hops (flowers). Hops (Humulus lupulus) acts to stabilize beer and also confers the bitter taste of IPA. Since malt produce sugars that may give India pale ale its sweet taste, hops balance its sweetness and confer its characteristic bitter taste.

IPA has been in the market since the early 1700’s and was thus created because of British brewers’ efforts to combat beer contamination. When pale ale is exported, particularly to India and other territories, the beer often experienced contamination. The contamination was due, in part, to fluctuating temperature conditions. This apparent temperature fluctuation allows bacteria and other microbes to compete with the fermenting yeast which, along the process, produce acids that spoil the entire brewing process. This then gives the beer its sour taste.

Brewers during that time discovered that hops flower extracts and alcohol could prevent microbes from competing with yeast in the consumption of sugar in the brewing medium. By doing so, brewers concluded that such process resolved the outstanding issue of spoilage but were able to discover another variety of beer with characteristic bitter taste of hops, i.e. IPA.

Related posts from this site:
Amber Ale
Lager

Amber Ale

Amber ale, or more frequently called Amber, is a kind of beer that is included in the pale ale beer tree. These types of beers use ale yeast (Sacharomyces cerevisiae), popular kind of yeast that is primary used for brewing and baking, and pale malts as their primary ingredients in the production of amber ale and any type o pale ale version produced in every country where pale ale is consumed and produced in great quantity.

Countries which produce amber ale in bulk for commercial purposes use the same ingredients, although with slight variations and have evolved to have their own identity in them such as Altbier (alt, old in German; bier, beer) for Germans, American pale ale for the United States and most countries in America, Bière de Garde for France which is brewed during the winter season to keep the yeast from fermenting due to unstable and unfavorable weather during the summer season.

Amber ale is particularly the pale ale produced in North America. The color may vary from near light to dark copper color. French people use almost the same term, Ambrée, although North Americans produce a wide variety of amber ale with varying degree of bitterness. The most recommended or common pairings for amber ale is usually sea food dishes, grilled or fried, and or hamburgers.

Related posts from this site:
About
Rattlesnake Mountain Brewing