Everyone who drinks craft beer for the first time will be amazed and instantly turn their perception of beer upside down. The standard of craft beer is much higher than that of industrial beer, whether it is craft beer equipment , fermentation process, fermentation time, or the treatment afterwards. So as a novice, how can you accurately distinguish between the two?
1、Brewing raw materials are different
For the sake of excellence, craft beer is brewed using only malt, hops, yeast and water as raw materials. Industrial beer, on the other hand, is generally made with rice, corn and starch instead of malt in order to reduce costs due to the high production volume and lower prices.
2. Different fermentation time
In order to make the beer taste stronger, craft beer is generally fermented for 30-45 days, so that the beer is more fully fermented and the wort concentration is also higher. Industrial beer, on the other hand, is generally fermented for only about 7 days due to the high production volume, resulting in a lower final body aroma and a more bland taste.
3. Different post-fermentation treatment
Craft beer is not filtered at the end of fermentation to ensure that the beer tastes mellow and fresh. Industrial beer fermentation tanks are larger and usually use filtration means after fermentation, so that the brewed beer does not contain yeast and has a clearer body, allowing nutrients to be lost in addition to the taste to be affected.
After reading so much, finally ushered in the heavy part, that is, the legendary craft beer so good, so
how can you pick out the quality and good taste of beer? The focus is to grasp the following three points.
1. The first step is to smell the aroma
Pour the beer into a glass and slowly put it to the tip of your nose to smell it. If the smell is pungent, then the beer is of poor quality. If, in addition to the smell of wheat and hops, there are bursts of hazelnut, milk or different fruit flavors floating around, rich and lasting, then the quality is good.
2, the second step of fine tasting
A high quality craft beer should have a distinct wheat and hops aroma after opening the bottle, and a refreshing mouthfeel. Some poor quality beers not only taste light, but also have more bitterness and astringency, and even have some yeast odor, which affects the feeling of entrance. The better the beer, the more layered the taste will be.
3. The third step is to look at the color and foam
If you say the above two points are too difficult, then the last point according to the color and foam of the beer to distinguish the quality of the drink you must learn.
First of all, whether it is a pale beer or a dark beer, the color should be bright and clear. Secondly, yellow beer should be light yellow or light yellow with green, light color is better. Dark beer, on the other hand, should be dark red or dark brown, and if you are looking at dark brown, then make sure not to choose.
The step is to look at the foam of the beer, I believe many people know that the longer the foam lasts, the better the quality of the beer, this is the same for craft beer, generally choose 4-5 minutes before the foam disappears the beer quality is better.