Yeasts In Beer: What Does Yeast Do?

Thomas Short — Tue, 23 May 2023 17:47:52 +0000

At one point during in this blog I delineated all beer types into two distinct groups: ales and lagers. Is this oversimplifying? Yes. But guess what? I had a good reason to do it: Yeast. Yeast is up there with mold in the category of things that I don’t completely understand and don’t have a burning desire to learn everything about. But both are types of fungi and I do love mushrooms on pizza. And I also love beer, which uses yeast as one the main ingredients. The main yeast in beer, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is the type of yeast used in baking, wine making and brewing. But there are various strains of this, much like there are different types of mold. Top-fermenting yeast is used for ales, and bottom-fermenting yeast is used for lagers. Top-fermenting yeast, if you were wondering, works well in warmer temperatures. It got its name because the yeast rises to the top of the beer during the fermenting process. Bottom-fermenting yeast, if you were still wondering, likes colder temperatures. It got its name because the yeast settles at the bottom of the brew. And the other differences between how these yeasts work? Well, you can learn more by reading about lagers and ales. (Spoiler: they create different types of beer.) But guess what! That’s not the only yeast involved in beer. No sir, not anymore. Gettin’ Hyphae With Yeasts Yeasts sometimes have little guys called hyphae, which is pronounced “hyphy.” I probably could have come up with a better joke or pun but I didn’t (get over it). Ok, here’s how yeasts work: yeasts are alive and they love sugar. The more sugar they eat, the more byproduct they produce, which is alcohol and carbon dioxide. Just think of alcohol as yeast poops and carbon dioxide as yeast farts, and you get the idea. So, the alcoholic content and the fun fizziness of your barley pop comes from the yeasts. Without yeasts, you would just have a sweet, sugary, flat drink. The yeasts also produce a lot of the unique flavors you find in beer. The neat thing is that we’re still learning about all the different yeasts and how they can make us better beers. Being Picky With Yeast In today’s modern world of brewing, brewers are able to use pure strains of yeast, giving them better control over beer. But this wasn’t always the case. Back in the good old days (before people really started understanding yeast), most beer was a little sour. Why? Because yeast types were mixing together! This is sometimes referred to as spontaneous fermentation. Where is this sour flavor coming from? Our good yeasty friend Brettanomyces Lambicus. Brett, for those who don’t regularly drink funky farmhouse beers, is what we call both the flavor of the beer and the goo left at the bottom of the bottle. The goo is just the Brettanomyces yeasts. What flavor does this produce, you ask? Why, the sour flavor! So, if I were to revise the beer categories, I might say there are three types of beer: ales, lagers and sours. This is because they are using very different types of yeast. Brettanomyces is making a huge comeback nowadays. For decades, brewers tried to get pure strains of Sacc. Today, brewers are looking for pure strains of Brett. As brewers gain better knowledge of yeasts, there will be many more exciting beer flavors produced!

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What’s a Lager?

Thomas Short — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 23:04:33 +0000

In the past, I went over the basics of an ale. Because there really are only two main types of beer (and because I have a fun article planned for Friday), I figured it was time to talk about lagers. If you’ve had beer, then you’ve had a lager…but you might not know it. Here’s a little spoiler: if your beer is famous for being the coldest beer with the coldest mountain water, your beer is a lager. Get to the Point, What’s a Lager The best way to describe a lager is to show how it’s different from ales. First, lagers use a different type of yeast than ales – specifically, they use saccharomyces pastorianus. From here on out, we’ll replace this long, science name with our own name: lager yeast. Second, lager ferments when it’s cold while ales ferment in warmer conditions. The cool temperature is great for the lager yeast, and it allows the beer to take in all the malty and hoppy flavors. Third, lagers take quite a bit more time than typical ales. While an IPA can be banged out in a handful of weeks, most lagers will take at least a few months to reach peak-drinkability. Fun fact: lager comes from the German lager, which means storeroom, or more specially a cold storeroom. So, lagers use a different yeast and fermentation process than IPAs. Why Are Lagers Boring? Every so often I get asked (and after drinking shitty, cheap beer, find myself asking) “why are lagers so boring?” The answer? They aren’t boring, you’re boring! Lagering is a difficult, time-consuming process. There are tons of spots where a brewer can make an error and the lager can come out tasting like liquid garbage. When done correctly, the result is a flawless, crisp beer. However, there’s beauty in simplicity. A well-done lager should be appreciated for what it is – a well-done lager. No, you aren’t going to have some hazy, juicy, hoppy lager. If that’s what you want, buy an IPA. Also, have you ever had so many IPAs that you can’t imagine drinking another? Yup, any beer seems boring when you drink it enough. Lagers will always have a place, and there will always be a time when you want a lager. Oh, by the way, you probably drink lagers, anyway. Lagers You Know And (Hopefully Don’t) Love Here are some famous lagers: Budweiser, Miller, Hamms, PBR, Ranier, Olymipa, etc., etc., etc. Why do these guys make lagers instead of ales? Because it’s cheap and easy for them. Yes, it does take them roughly 6-7 weeks to get a batch of beer out, but the process is so simple for them by this point. “But Thomas, you said lagering is harder than making ales!” It is…if you want a good beer. Beers produced by these big companies, by all standards, are not good beers. Look, I can point out myriad reasons on why these big companies insist on making lagers instead of ales. Instead, I’ll point out one truth consistent among any large corporation: They cut costs. They are brewing as cheaply as they can. They know what they’re doing. These types of beers mostly get a bad rep in America because of these big guys, but if you’ve ever had a European style Helles, Pilsner, Dunkel or other variety of lager, then you understand why people ever liked them to begin with.

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yeast Archives | Short Brews

Yeasts In Beer: What Does Yeast Do?

What’s a Lager?