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At Desert Edge 'Beer School,' Science Never Tasted So Good | |
| By Anne Wilson -- Special To The Tribune | 07/19/2002 | |
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Summer school may be a kid's worst nightmare, but there's good stuff to be learned by grown-ups, if you know where to look. Let me share just a little of what I learned at summer school: * Good beer should be poured with a generous head because that bubbly foam holds the beer's full aroma, a critical component of its taste. * Beer gets its fizz from carbon dioxide, a natural byproduct of the fermentation process. But a smoother texture is produced in dark, full-bodied stouts by adding nitrogen, which has smaller bubbles. * Barley is the most commonly used grain in beer, but many commercial brewers add corn because it creates just as much alcohol for less money -- at the expense of flavor. Before I went to beer school at the Desert Edge Brewery at the Pub, I knew that beer was made from grain, had alcohol in it and came in different flavors. But I did not know where hops were grown, the difference between a lager and an ale and how brewers measure the alcohol content of their beer to make sure it conforms to Utah law. You can drink a beer, and appreciate its flavor, without knowing any of this, I suppose. But why miss out on a fascinating mini-science lecture about the properties of yeast and hops, followed by the "lab," in which students taste test eight beers while sampling some of The Pub's fine appetizers? I cannot think of a reason, unless you are determined to hang onto the notion that making beer is mostly fluff and some suds sense. There is a lot of science involved in brewing, from the life cycle of yeast to knowing how barometric pressure affects the time it takes grain and water to boil. It's not hard to stay alert during the science part, knowing that the reward will be experiencing the taste of hoppy, malty and bitter. Of course, The Pub, in Trolley Square, is not the only place to learn about beer. Squatter's Pub Brewery, at 147 W. 300 South in downtown Salt Lake City, sponsors a "mug club" that allows members to attend brewmaster Jennifer Yohe's invitation-only beer-tasting dinners. For $29.95 in annual dues, members get a beer mug etched with their name, which will be filled with discounted beer whenever they visit, plus invitations to at least four tastings, which are themed around holidays or beer types. The most recent dinner featured Mexican lagers and food, in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Club members and their guests (who pay $10 to attend the dinners) got to sample eight Mexican beers, including one that Yohe brewed, and feasted on moles and tamales while Yohe related the history and lore of Mexican beer. While other microbreweries in Salt Lake offer tours by appointment, The Pub's beer is usually held the first Thursday of the month during the summer and is open to the public. (Reservations are required and attendees must pay in advance.) For $17.50 (including gratuity), students get a tour of the brewing facility, an explanation of how the beer is made, a generous amount of food and good-sized samples of each beer. Through it all, head brewer Chris Haas explains how he got into brewing, how he came to work at The Pub and how he brews beer. It's good beer too, at least according to the Great American Beer Festival, an annual judging where Haas won a gold medal for his Road Rage Rye. By the end of beer school, you will have bonded with your fellow students and have a newfound appreciation for a beverage that has been consumed for centuries. Haas, who has no formal education as a brewer but learned on the job in several Salt Lake microbreweries after home-brewing for years, starts his class with a tour of The Pub's brewing facility, which is pretty much one room with a bunch of big silver tanks. First he covers Beer 101: Beer is made from water, grain, hops and yeast, with the beer's flavor determined by what grain is used, how dark it is roasted, when the hops are added and whether any flavorings (molasses or fruit, for example) are used. Before the grain is mixed with water, it must be ground so its starch can turn to sugar. That provides energy for the yeast, which, like most of us, will work for food. After the hot water (150 to 156 degrees) has forced the grain to give up its sugar, the sugar water is siphoned off, leaving the grain behind to be turned into pig feed. The sugar water is boiled to sterilize and condense it, then hops are added. Hops are the buds of a vine related to cannabis sativa, more commonly known as marijuana. In the United States, most hops are grown in Oregon and Washington and are available as pellets made expressly for beer production, because they dissolve readily into a powder that won't clog the equipment. Hops have none of the hallucinogenic properties of pot, but add bitterness and flavor to beer, depending on when they are added to the boiling sugar water. Haas normally "hops" three times when making beer, twice early on for bitterness and once near the end for flavor and aroma. After the hops are added, the beer is spun to rid it of proteins and the remaining hops and is quickly cooled before being sent to the fermenter. The yeast, which is thick and fluffy like a milkshake, is added to the mix. Lagers are fermented at cold temperatures (50 degrees) for a week to 10 days. Ales ferment at a higher temperature for only three to five days. After fermenting, the beer is matured so any acids (from the hops) can be sucked back up by the yeast, which slowly settles in the bottom of the tank and is siphoned off to be reused. The beer is then filtered and ready to drink. Haas normally uses the same yeast for nine months, although once he kept the same yeast going for twice that long. Brewers know from experience whether the yeast is healthy and working, or whether it's been infected by "wild" yeast floating around in the atmosphere. Wild yeast will throw off the timing of the process, a clue that the yeast must be destroyed. Our heads bubbling over with beer facts, we headed upstairs to sample Haas' work and feast on clams baked with garlic, coriander and a dash of orange juice, sweet stewed beef and a saucy dish made of Spanish chorizo, onions and red peppers. With Haas on hand to describe what we were tasting, we got a handle on malty, hoppy, bitter and sweet and understood how dark roasting grain can give stout a coffee-like flavor. Mostly, we just had fun. No homework, no tests, just the science of suds. Beer school rules! Desert Edge Brewery at the Pub in Trolley Square Class convenes again on Aug. 1, at 7 p.m. To make a reservation, call The Pub at 521-8917. Anne Wilson is The Tribune's restaurant reviewer. The newspaper covers the cost of meals at restaurants reviewed and there is no connection between reviews and restaurant advertising. Wilson welcomes food and wine news, comments and suggestions at wilwrite99@aol.com. |
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