It’s likely that beer was the first home-made alternative to water, probably made by some primitive man who bashed some seed – possibly barley – with a stone, and left it to ferment in a mixture of water and honey. That is basically what CUB and Bond claim to have got down to a fine art. Beer has been made by the Sumerians and Babylonians since before 6000 BC and Australians are only now beginning to take it seriously. Anyway, by about 2000 BC beer had become the national drink of the Egyptians – who are arguably the best-preserved race in the world. They sometimes used it as a medicine. England’s drink in the middle ages was ale – a dark, powerful brew of malt, yeast and water. The strength of the brew was tightly controlled by government representatives wearing leather breeches called ale-conners. A conner would supposedly pour a little ale onto an oak bench, and sit on it. If, when he stood up, the bench did not rise with him, the ale was understrength. This doubtless explains the amount of beer found on hotel seats today, and the return to fashion of leather pants. Quality beer is returning to popularity today, although as Lady Churchill once said, it is definitely an acquired taste. Most people actually begin by hating it. “To begin with”, replied Sir Winston. “It is, however, a prejudice that many have been able to overcome”. With all the renewed interest in beer, it is as relevant to talk about its manufacture as it is to discuss the flavour of wine as a consequence of how it is made. Beer is made like this. First you malt barley, or allow it to sprout, then grind it and mix it with warm water. Leave it stand for a few hours and the enzyme activity induced by the sprouting breaks down the starch in the grain to sugars, which you can ferment. This watery extract, given the evocative name of `wort’, is then separated from the mix and boiled with hops. This stops the enzyme action and extracts the flavour from the hops. Take the hops away, put the wort in a fermenter and `seed’ it with yeast. Mutter the correct magic words and the resultant fermentation will produce carbon dioxide ( the fizzy gas ) and alcohol, without which the whole exercise becomes rather a waste of time, I think. Mature the beer if you don’t want it to taste green and pose a serious threat to your tender constitution. Then into the bottle for consumption. You may call it `beer’ if you made it by fermenting a grain. If you’d prefer whisky, distill it! And what of the difference between ales and lagers, in the world of real beer? Lagers are generally fermented in sealed vessels, by yeast that settles to the bottom of the tank at the completion of fermentation. `Lager’ is the German word for storage, and this is what happens next. The `green’ immature beer is aged for several months in cold tanks, to allow its flavour to develop and become more complex. Lagers make the best aperitif beers and can be used to accompany lighter foods. Ales are more heavily flavoured, having less of a fizz, but quite often more of a kick. Usually a darker colour, the are to beers what heavier reds are to wine. Ales have more hop flavour and aroma and consequently can be served with richer grub. Ales are top-fermented beers, for they are fermented with a yeast which rises to the top of the beer – allowing it to be skimmed of the top of the open vat. The beer is bottled post haste, when the rest of the fermentation is finished. So ales are made with an open fermentation followed by a bottle fermentation and many improve with a little age. Next time you front up to a Coopers Sparkling Ale shake the bottle up some more and glance at all the haze and sediment. It’s only all the dead yeast. Don’t worry, they can’t kill you. Here is a guide to ten of the most interesting local and imported beers distributed nationally today. For some of the more exotic examples, you may have to visit a fine wine specialist. Coopers Sparkling Ale Regularly described as the `Champagne of Beers’, this incredible beer from Adelaide has developed a cult following across Australia, and shows just what a skilled brewer can do with Adelaide water! Rich, hoppy and generous in flavour, it was the first beer available in recent times with a deliberate haziness in the bottle. The fermentation continues there to give the wine its natural carbonation. A genuine ale style, this beer is one of the best in the land, and strikes a blow for the individual beer against the comparatively boring and monotonous products from the brewing giants. Cascade Premium One of the cleanest, freshest beers available, you can almost taste the purity of the Hobart water in the Cascade Premium. The first thing to strike you is the pair of Tasmanian tigers which adorn the brilliant packaging. Next is the taste itself – creamy, hoppy and dry, with a lingering finish. Clearly my favourite Australian lager. Stella Artois `Stella’ is a fine lager from Belgium, which has been made ever since 1366. It is a refreshing, dry `pilsener’ style, with a flowery, hoppy aroma. It is 5.0% alcohol by volume, and is one of the cleanest, freshest of the imported beers. Several of the beer-orientated pubs in the bigger cities now have Stella on tap, bless them. John Boston Special Lager This new beer is the Bond Brewing Company’s premium Australian label. Named after the first person to brew beer in Australia, John Boston, it is a distinctive higher gravity lager with a malty round taste and subtle hoppy bitterness. John Boston’s great contribution to the Australian way of life took place in 1796, and was made from Indian corn “properly malted and bittered’. It is encouraging to see a big company take small-production beer so seriously, and the John Boston is worth a try. Heineken For many people Heineken was their introduction to imported beer. Having tried dozens of others it still remains a favourite of mine, based simply on great consistency and quality. A fresh, creamy style of dry lager, its smoothness and less bitterness are attributed by its brewers to a longer period of lagering or maturation before bottling. It doesn’t have enormous hoppiness, and is a refreshing thirst-quencher. Having been made in Holland since 1864, Heineken is now the most widely known beer on the planet. Redback This is one redback you won’t mind picking up. It’s the Original Redback beer, with a clever label depicting a post-modernist red stain mounted on a classic beer theme. The beer is made from 100% Western Australian malted wheat, brewed at Perth’s Matilda Bay Brewery. It is slowly fermented, gently filtered and only bottled after the re-addition of fine yeast. Another fermentation follows in the bottle, as with Coopers Sparkling Ale, and the beer is matured for three months prior to release. The Redback is creamy and spicy, not too heavy or sweet. It has aromatic flavours not unlike tropical fruit. You can serve it with a slice or twist of lemon to add a little zing. It is surely amongst the best new beers made in Australia for many years. Celebrator Dopplebock `Bock’ is German for the billy-goat, and when you see it on a beer label it is safe to assume it packs a kick. `Doppelbock’ therefore means the kick of two goats, and should only be taken by those mindful of this inference! Celebrator Dopplebock is one of the great beers of Germany, and is a classic example of this rich, full style. Made at Ayinger, Bavaria’s finest country brewery, it is brewed with malt that is dark-roasted by hand, and with whole dried Hallertau hops. The result is a strong, rich, dark beer with mouthfilling flavour and great body. There is a slight smokiness on the finish, which is completely dry. Lindeman Lambic Kriek and Lindeman Lambic Framboise These are perhaps the most unique and surprising of all beers on the market today. What is even more of a surprise is that theyN have both been made for hundreds of years each summer in the Senne Valley near Brussels. The Kriek is made from wild cherries, the Framboise from raspberries. In both cases, the beer does not taste like a conventional beer, but like a delicious dry, fruity elixir capable of leading anyone astray. They are a genuine alternative to Champagne as an aperitif or appetiser, and would refresh the palate between courses better than any sorbet. Each summer the fruits are left to macerate in the wild-fermented beer, imparting their flavours, sugar and clean acidity. Then the mixture ferments again, before being left to mature in the cellars for two years! Another fermentation occurs after bottling to give the wine its effervescence. There is even a cork under the crown seal! Treat these with the utmost respect – they are all too rare in Australia today. Burgerbrau Rauchbier You will like this beer or you will hate it, depending on whether or not you fancy smoked foods. If you do, then the Burgerbrau Rauchbier is waiting for you. It is perhaps nature’s ideal accompaniment to smoked ham, fish, meats, cheeses and vegetables. A traditional drink from Bamberg in Bavaria, Rauchbier could well be the oldest style of beer of all, since all barley was smoked. It is bottom-fermented from fresh Bavarian barley, which had been roasted over a fire of moist beechwood logs. Whole hops are added to season its smoky malt flavour, and the final product is aged for three months to create the smoothness on the palate. You will have to make up your own mind on this one. Theakston’s Old Peculier The Old Peculier ( why do they call it that ? ) comes from the town of Masham, near Ripon, Yorkshire. A classic old ale, it is thick, rich and dark. It is one of those horribly strong beers that can karate straight through four planks of wood. Heavy as lead, sweet and voluminous, it is smooth and almost stout-like in aroma. To be given a wide berth by the drinking wimp, Old Peculiar can be used as breakfast, lunch and dinner for those wanting to travel light on hiking expeditions.
