Lager Beer Ingredients

Water

• Water, which comprises 90 percent of a beer, is an important part of the beverage. A beer's taste depends on the mineral content of the water. As an analogy, scotch whiskey designations are divided by regions in Scotland because the water content strongly influences its final taste. A water's mineral content also affects the complex chemical interactions during beer's fermentation process between the yeast, barley and hops. Modern beer brewing is less dependent on regional water sources because minerals can be added or taken out at will by the brewer.
  
  

Malted Barley

• Barley was one of the first crops cultivated thousands of years ago. It is a cereal that can be cultivated in Northern Europe and was used by Europeans as a beer ingredient dating back to the Roman Empire. German lagers use the two-row barley species. "Malted" barley is barley that has been allowed to partially germinate. This allows the barley to develop starch in the grain. The malted barley is then heated to deactivate further growth. During fermentation, the sugars that the starch produces will be metabolized into carbon dioxide and alcohol.
  
  

Hops

• Hops are the flower cone of the vine humulus lupulus. Its first use in making beer can be traced back to the fifteenth century. It is essential to beer brewing as an ingredient for taste, and for its antibacterial properties. Hindering the growth of bacteria prevents contamination during fermentation and at the same time increases the shelf life of beer. Adding hops has the added bonus of not affecting yeast growth. The bitter taste of hops complements and counteracts the sweet taste of the barley malt. When making lager beer, hops are first dried, then added to the malt mixture before it is boiled and then fermented by the yeast.
  
  

Yeast

• Lager beers use the variety of yeast known as saccharomyces uvarum. This strain is particular to lager beer brewing. Yeast is a unicellular fungus that is crucial to fermentation, the final step of brewing beer. At this point, a liquid mixture has been rendered from malting the barley, filtering it and adding hops. This liquid is then boiled to both sterilize it and to concentrate the flavor of the hops. This pre-fermentation mixture is called "wort." Yeast is then added to convert the sugars in the wort to carbon dioxide -- which carbonates the beer -- and alcohol. The fermenting lager beer is then stored at 40 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit for several months before it is ready for consumption.