beer

Images & Videos

Behind the scenes: How Samuel Adams beer is made

For Students

beer summary

beer

Q: What is beer?

Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by extracting raw materials with water, boiling (usually with hops), and fermenting. In some countries, beer is defined by law—as in Germany, where the standard ingredients, besides water, are malt (kiln-dried germinated barley), hops, and yeast.

Q: Is lager different from beer?

Lager is a type of beer. In Germany, brewing was a winter occupation, and ice was used to keep beer cool during the summer months. Such beer came to be called lager (from German lagern , “to store”). The term lager is today used to denote beer produced from bottom-fermenting yeast.

Q: What are the steps in making beer?

The beer brewing process involves malting, milling, mashing, extract separation, hop addition and boiling, removal of hops and precipitates, cooling and aeration, fermentation, separation of yeast from young beer, aging, and maturing. Brewing converts grain starches to sugar, extracts the sugar with water, and ferment it with yeast to produce the lightly carbonated beverage.

Q: How is alcohol in beer measured?

The strength of beer may be measured by the percentage by volume of ethyl alcohol. Strong beers are above 4 percent, the so-called barley wines 8 to 10 percent.

alcoholic beverage

Written by Thomas W. Young

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 12, 2024 • Article History

Key People:: Adolphus Busch; August Anheuser Busch, Jr.; Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, 1st Baronet

Related Topics:: craft beer; sake; stout; pulque; ale

See all related content

What is beer?

Is lager different from beer?

What are the steps in making beer?

How is alcohol in beer measured?

beer, alcoholic beverage produced by extracting raw materials with water, boiling (usually with hops), and fermenting. In some countries beer is defined by law—as in Germany, where the standard ingredients, besides water, are malt (kiln-dried germinated barley), hops, and yeast. Before 6000 bce, beer was made from barley in Sumer and Babylonia. Reliefs on Egyptian tombs dating from 2400 bce show that barley or partly germinated barley was crushed, mixed with water, and dried into cakes. When broken up and mixed with water, the cakes gave an extract that was fermented by microorganisms accumulated on the surfaces of fermenting vessels. ...(100 of 3960 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.