Portal:Beer

 The Beer Portal  

Introduction

At the Café by Édouard Manet, circa 1879

Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the grain to sugars, which dissolve in water to form wort. Fermentation of the wort by yeast produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.

Beer is distributed in bottles and cans, and is commonly available on draught in pubs and bars. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of modern beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Some of the earliest writings mention the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating it, while "The Hymn to Ninkasi", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, contains a recipe for it. Beer forms part of the culture of many nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals, as well as activities like pub crawling, pub quizzes, and pub games. (Full article...)

Selected articles -

A thatched country pub, the Williams Arms, near Braunton, Devon, England

A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) states a pub has four characteristics:

1. is open to the public without membership or residency
2. serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
3. has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
4. allows drinks to be bought at a bar (i.e., not only table service)

The history of pubs can be traced to taverns in Roman Britain, and through Anglo-Saxon alehouses, but it was not until the early 19th century that pubs, as they are today, first began to appear. The model also became popular in countries and regions of British influence, where pubs are often still considered to be an important aspect of their culture. In many places, especially in villages, pubs are the focal point of local communities. In his 17th-century diary, Samuel Pepys described the pub as "the heart of England". Pubs have been established in other countries in modern times. (Full article...)

Selected brand -

Worthington's White Shield (5.6% ABV) was an India pale ale (IPA) available principally in bottle conditioned form.

White Shield was first brewed by the Worthington Brewery in Burton upon Trent in 1829, primarily for export to the British Empire. Worthington merged with local rival Bass in 1927, which was itself taken over by Coors in 2002. (Full article...)

Selected biography -

Sigi Friedmann (b 1961) owns Friedmann's Brewery (Brauerei Friedmann) in Gräfenberg, Bavaria, Germany. She was the youngest master brewer in Germany when she replaced her father managing their family brewery in 1982. She is a 4th generation brewmaster.

Friedmann was born in 1961 into a brewing family. The first mention of the brewery was in Gräfenberg's documents in 1875. She didn't intend to become a brewer, wanting to spend time with her family and travel. However, her father sent her to Munich to train to be a chemical and technical assistant to work in a laboratory; but without her knowledge, he had enrolled her to train to be a master brewer. She was a model student and performed better than most of her male colleagues in the exam. When she replaced her father in the company management in 1982, she was the youngest master brewer in Germany. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) -

• ... that some online social and "Barstool conservatives" spent their Christmas holidays arguing about whether a beer promotional calendar was "demonic"?
• ... that at the 1965 World Pentathlon Championships, Herbert Polzhuber was said to have drunk ten beers and a bottle of cognac before firing his pistol at the ground and passing out?
• ... that Pope Pius IX gave the monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey permission to brew Saint Vincent Beer?
• ... that Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority general manager Phillip Eng brews his own beer?
• ... that 100 beerhouses were licensed in Brighton (population 40,000) in the first week after the Beerhouse Act 1830 was enacted?
• ... that the offices of Hamm's Brewery in Saint Paul, Minnesota, were built on the site of the city's third cathedral?

Selected brewery -

St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Draught Guinness.

Originally leased in 1759 to Arthur Guinness at £45 per year for 9,000 years, the St. James's Gate area has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and the largest in the world by 1886, with an annual output of 1.2 million barrels. Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it remains as the largest brewer of stout. The company has since bought out the originally leased property, and during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery had its own power plant. (Full article...)

Selected image -

Mass production of beer at a Budweiser bottling facility

Budweiser

Credit: Ryan Glenn

Mass production of beer at a Budweiser bottling facility

General images

The following are images from various beer- and brewing-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  A replica of ancient Egyptian beer, brewed from emmer wheat by the Courage brewery in 1996 (from History of beer)
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  A yard of ale at Jolly Brewery, Taiwan (from Craft beer)
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  A selection of French craft beers (from Craft beer)
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  A funerary model of a bakery and brewery, from the Eleventh dynasty of Egypt, c. 2009–1998 BCE (from History of beer)
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  World beer consumption per capita (from History of beer)
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  Spontaneous fermentation at Timmermans in Belgium (from Brewing)
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  Smoked beer from the Schlenkerla brewpub in Bamberg, Germany (from Craft beer)
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  Conditioning tanks at Anchor Brewing Company (from Brewing)
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  D. G. Yuengling & Son is the oldest operating brewing company in the US, established in 1829. It is also the largest craft brewer, and the 6th largest brewing company overall. (from Craft beer)
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  A beer sommelier tapping a barrel for a taste at Nebraska Brewing Company (from Craft beer)
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  Malted barley before kilning or roasting (from Brewing)
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  Steamworks Brewing, Vancouver (from Craft beer)
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  Open vessels showing fermentation taking place (from Brewing)
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  A hydrometer measures beer's specific gravity (from History of beer)
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  Mexican craft beer from Tequixquiac in Zumpango Region (from Craft beer)
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  Pasteur Street Brewing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (from Craft beer)
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  Robohop, a session IPA from Cervisiam in Oslo, Norway (from Craft beer)
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  The Alulu beer receipt records a purchase of "best" beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BC, from the Sumerian city of Umma in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). (from Brewing)
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  Yeast ring used by Swedish homebrewers in the 19th century to preserve the yeast between brewing sessions. (from History of beer)
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  Dogo Beer from Minakuchi-shuzō microbrewery in Matsuyama, Japan (from Craft beer)
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  A can of Juicy Ass IPA from Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery in Barrie, Ontario, Canada (from Craft beer)
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  Traditional fermenting building (center) and modern fermenting building (left) in Pilsner Urquell Brewery (Czech Republic) (from History of beer)
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  Microbreweries, regional breweries, and brew pubs per capita (from Craft beer)
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  A 16th-century brewery (from Brewing)
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  Irish Craft Beer Festival, 2015 (from Craft beer)
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  Alulu beer receipt recording a purchase of "best" beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BCE, from the Sumerian city of Umma in ancient Iraq. (from History of beer)
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  Craft brewing at Allagash in Portland, Maine (from Craft beer)
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  Philistine pottery beer jug (from History of beer)
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  Modern closed fermentation vessels (from Brewing)
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  Cask ales with gravity dispense at a beer festival (from Brewing)
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  Diatomaceous earth, used to create a filtration bed (from Brewing)
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  Lauter tun (from Brewing)
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  The Caledonian Brewery, founded in 1869, Edinburgh, Scotland (from History of beer)
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  Hop cone grown in a hop field, Hallertau, Germany (from Brewing)
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  A growler of beer from Flounder Brewing, a nanobrewery in New Jersey, US (from Craft beer)
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  Gambrinus – king of beer (from History of beer)
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  A 16th-century brewery (from History of beer)
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  Zoigl beers from the communal brewhouses of Oberpfalz in Germany (from Craft beer)
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  Great Leap Brewing operates a chain of brewpubs in China (from Craft beer)
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  Rock mortars in Raqefet Cave, used to make beer during the Stone Age. (from History of beer)
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  Castaña, a smoked beer with chestnuts from Cerex in Extremadura, Spain (from Craft beer)
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  Bottling beer in a modern facility, 1945, Australia (from History of beer)
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  Bergenhus microbrewery, Bergen, Norway (from Craft beer)
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  Bill Urquhart at Litchborough Brewery (from Craft beer)
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  Spent grain, a brewing by-product (from Brewing)
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  A mash tun at the Bass Museum in Burton-upon-Trent (from Brewing)
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  Põhjala Brewery, Estonia (from Craft beer)
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  Casks of real ale from British microbreweries at a beer festival (from Craft beer)
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  Brew kettles at Brasserie La Choulette in France (from Brewing)

Beer topics

Categories

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Beer and brewery stubs

Selected quote -

“ It is nice when you can sit back with some friends, drink some beer and have a good time. ” — Dave Matthews

Related portals

Beer lists

• Beer and breweries by region
• Beer and nationality
• List of beer organisations
• List of beer styles
• List of commercial brands of beer
• List of countries by beer consumption per capita
• List of World Beer Cup awards

Things you can do

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Beer is an association of Wikipedians with an interest in beer and beer-related subjects. They have come together to coordinate the development of beer and brewery articles here on Wikipedia. Additionally, other groups have formed other projects that entertain subjects that are directly related to beer, bartending and pubs. Additionally, the mixed drinks project covers topics that include beer cocktails. If any of these subjects pique your interest, please feel free to visit their projects. These groups would love to have you participate!

Parent project: WikiProject Food and Drink	view
Child projects:	Task forces: (All inactive)
Wikiproject Bacon (inactive) WikiProject Bartending (inactive) WikiProject Beer WikiProject Breakfast (inactive) WikiProject Fishing and Fisheries WikiProject Spirits (semi-active) Wikiproject Wine (inactive)	Beverages task force Cheeses task force Coffee and Tea task force Desserts task force Foodservice task force Herbs and Spices task force Pub task force
Related projects:
WikiProject Agriculture

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