Like making soup

Though many beer recipes can have huge ingredient lists, "pure" beer only has four ingredients.

Roger Savoy, of the co-owner of the Modern Homebrew Emporium in Cambridge, Mass., explained the many different types of hops and barley a brewer can choose to make a traditional, four-ingredient beer.

Watch his slideshow below!

Roger started brewing "years and years ago" because brewing at home was cheaper than buying cases at the store.

What started as a hobby eventually became a
business, and Roger now co-owns three homebrew
supply stores.

The Modern Homebrew Emporium supplies the novice and master brewer with a wide variety of supplies, from malted barley, yeast, and brewing equipment.

As Roger explained, brewing beer is about having fun and experiementing--get creative and try recipes--or add ingredients to create your own!

Reinheitsgebot:
16th century German purity law stating that beer can only contain water,
barley hops, and later, yeast.

Beer Primer:
what's in a beer?

Watch an audio slideshow of Roger explaining
the four main ingredients of beer.

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brew beer at home blog!

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content and design by:
Kathryn Eident
Boston University
2008

 

Thousands of beers....but only TWO to choose from

Ales

vs.

Lagers

ALES are fermented at warmer temperatures (between 60-75 degrees Farenheit), with the yeast fermenting at the top of the batch.

LAGERS are fermented at cooler temperatures
(closer to 34 degrees Farenheit), with the yeast fermenting at the bottom of the batch.

Most beers fall under these two categories. Beers are then named for its taste, hue, and other factors like the country it was brewed in.

Lager beers are relatively new considering the fact that people
have been brewing ales for thousands of years. They are noted for their "crisp" and "clean" tastes and color.

Before the invention of pastuerization and refrigeration, brewers
could only ferment beers that could withstand warmer temperatures
without becoming "skunked" or bad. Those are the richer, darker and stronger-tasting ales.

Though yeast was not discovered until the 1800s, the role yeast plays in fermentation determines what type of beer the brewer is making.