In Depth

Malt is the soul of beer

Barley (Hordeum Vulgare)

Barley is a very ancient grain and was first cultivated along with wheat in the Levant region more than 8,000 years ago. The barley was used to brew in this region and the practice and crop gradually spread across Europe over the next few thousand years.

Robert Knops of the Knops Brewery explores the history of IPA

The beginnings

Pale ales probably started to appear after the invention of coke (not the drink but coal with its toxic elements removed) in the 1640’s. Prior to this maltsters used wood or straw to kiln their malts. Temperatures were difficult to control and the malt produced using this method was relatively dark in colour. The use of coke allowed the maltsters to more closely control the temperatures in the kiln and produce a much lighter coloured malt. However, coke was more expensive than other fuels and so was the resulting malt. In general this pale malt was used by the gentry who brewed strong, pale, heavily hopped stock beers in October for keeping. In those days before refrigeration the brewing season was from October to March and beers would be brewed that could be stored for consumption over the summer months. Often these beers would be matured for several years before drinking.

Robert Knops of the Knops Brewery explores the world of hops.

Hops are the Spice in beer.

IPA style beers should very much be about the hops although this will vary from super-hopped beers where pretty much all you can taste are the hop bitterness and flavours to more subtle and balanced beers which allow other elements of the beer to contribute to the overall taste.

There are numerous hop varieties and they contribute to flavour in two main ways. One is to provide bitterness which helps to blance the sweeteness derived from malt, the other is to provide aroma and flavour. Hop varieties can be divided into 2 main groups:

Bittering hops – added at the start of the boil and which provide the majority of bittering to beer. These hops tend to be high in alpha-acids.

Aroma hops – added either at the end of the boil or to the finished beer (dry hopping). These hops provide flavour and aroma through their oil content.

If you’re still interested then read on ………..