The variety of beer palette offered to consumers in modern conditions is able to satisfy the taste of any, even the most sophisticated connoisseur of amber drink. There is no need to talk about a single standard or the most popular variety. There is an admirer for every shade of taste of a foamy drink. Someone appreciates the light bitterness of the camp, a pleasant aftertaste of wheat or corn beer also has its fans. And someone likes the spicy aroma and richness of the porter. Even the exotic fruit acidity of Lambic and the bright chocolate flavor of the stout have their admirers.
Density grade not subject
With all due respect to established traditions, brewers constantly bring something new to the popular drink. The production process is being improved, new ingredients are introduced, flavoring shades are added. Thus, all over the world there are all new, unlike traditional types of beer. Each variety can have unique, sometimes with a national flavor, properties. Nevertheless, immutable beer canons remain that apply to all varieties. One of these constants of the brewing process is beer density. It is necessary to pay attention to it first of all. After all, the main indicators indicated on the label are the density and strength of the drink. This information characterizes the taste and richness of beer, the amount of alcohol, the drink's belonging to a particular variety.
What is beer density?
Beer density is the main characteristic for this intoxicated drink. Often, consumers when choosing a variety of "amber" assign it a secondary role. But sophisticated connoisseurs know that this indicator directly affects the taste and strength of the drink. In brewing, to determine the amount of alcohol in beer, the specific gravity of the liquid is compared before and after fermentation. It is a measure of density in relation to the reference substance - water, whose density is 1 (1 kg per liter). This is the same as the ratio of the mass of a substance to a reference filler of the same volume. The value before fermentation is called the initial density of the wort. After fermentation, it is called the final density. The difference between these two values indicates the amount of sugar involved in the fermentation process.
The beer density indicated on the label, expressed as a percentage of dry matter content in a certain volume, characterizes the specific gravity of the beer wort before the fermentation process. After fermentation, it always decreases, since sugar is fermented into alcohol. A percentage decrease in density reflects the amount of glucose converted to alcohol. For non-alcoholic beer, this initial density does not exceed five percent, for traditional light beer - 12%. Indicators from 12 to 20% are characteristic for strong and dark varieties.
How is beer density expressed?
Let's try to figure this out. In production, beer density and product weight in different countries of the world are measured using different metric systems. In most of Europe, including Russia, as well as in the United States, it is determined by the hydrometer scale. This device indicates the percentage of sugar in the liquid. So, for standard light beer, for example, Zhigulevsky, this value is 11%.
In England and countries historically associated with it, a hydrometer is used. The scale of this device determines the density of any liquid with respect to water, whose density is taken as 1. This is the standard value. The density of beer and water is expressed in a value higher than 1. And the larger it is, the stronger the drink. The density of beer in relation to water corresponds to the amount of alcohol contained in the drink. It has always been so.
The density of beer is always measured twice - before fermentation in the initial wort and after fermentation. The extractiveness of the initial product in the production of light light varieties is 1.035-1.050 (9-11.25%). Strong varieties have an initial value of 1.055-1.060 (13-15%). If necessary, based on these values it is also possible to determine the density of beer (kg / m3).
Final density
As the fermentation progresses, sugar is converted to alcohol. The density is reduced. For light beers, the final value of the wort does not exceed 2% (1.00), for strong and dark types, the scale should be within 2.5%. Some varieties are made from concentrated wort with a high initial density. In this case, this indicator at the end of the fermentation process may be even higher, but there is no sweet taste.
The determination of the potential alcohol content is determined in two stages:
- The density of a fully prepared beer wort is measured, but without yeast. This indicator is the extract of the initial wort or the initial value.
- Density measurement after the end of the cooking process, immediately before bottling. This is the value of the final indicator.
According to the obtained values, using the table you can determine the potential alcohol content in beer, its strength.
Beer fortress
The amount of sugar in the initial wort, which, when interacted with yeast, is converted to alcohol. And it determines the strength of beer, in other words, the percentage of alcohol in the volume of the drink. The amount of alcohol declared on the bottle will not always correspond to reality. The fact is that according to the standard, the declared alcohol content indicated on the label determines the minimum, not the actual value. In other words, the actual alcohol content in the beer will always be slightly larger than what is written on the sticker.
Raw materials, technology and taste
Not only the solids content in the initial wort affects the strength. An important role is played by the quality of yeast and malt. The conditions and completeness of fermentation, cooking technology are taken into account. All these factors also determine the taste characteristics of beer.
Traditional varieties and champions
The most common beers contain between three and a half to six percent alcohol. The process of making a strong drink with an alcohol content of about 12% is quite complicated due to the early cessation of the development of yeast. It is a mistake to assume that alcohol is simply added to it to make strong beer. In such cases, in production, technologists often go for various tricks. For example, they use special “alcohol-resistant” yeast and champagne components. In addition, they freeze the drink to separate alcohols from water.
There are record varieties, the strength of which exceeds 40 degrees. The production technology of such a drink is far from traditional. A high alcohol content is achieved by repeatedly freezing the original product to remove moisture. Such a drink is quite expensive, because, in addition to a complex technological process, the initial volume of the product is reduced by 11-15 times.
The strongest beer on the planet from existing varieties is the brand "Snake venom." It was made by Scottish innovative brewers, apparently, whiskey was simply fed up. Its strength is 67.5%, the price is eighty-one dollars per 0.5 liter bottle. To obtain the final product, the initial material was frozen 15 times, which led to a decrease in its volume by 11 times.