Compared with industrial beer, the wort concentration and hops number of craft beer are several times higher, the alcohol content is higher, and the flavor is naturally stronger.
After decades of development, craft beer has accounted for 10% of American beer sales. In addition to 2,800 registered boutique breweries, there are more than 500,000 "retail investors" who brew their own beer at home (including their President Obama), forming a deep cultural foundation and stable hardcore users. But it doesn't mean that as long as you brew at home, it is called craft beer. The American Brewers Association has a strict definition of craft beer: for example, you usually use traditional barley malt (sometimes you use other interesting non-traditional ingredients to highlight the difference). The brewing formula announced by Obama at the White House official website has long been despised because the starch source is not 100% barley malt.
Adding auxiliary materials to supplement starch sources can be seen everywhere in various industrial beer brands, such as various domestic beers. In order to reduce the cost, rice is usually added (some even directly add starch and glucose syrup), so there is generally a sour taste that imported beer does not have. European industrial beer is often supplemented with corn, which is often attacked by fine breweries and enthusiasts. As for the "international problem" of mixing water in brewed beer, it is despised by people. Compared with the former, craft beer is famous for its high alcohol content-on the one hand, it can support more flavor substances, on the other hand, it will not dilute these flavors without adding water.
A more conservative craft brewery can already rely on four basic raw materials: barley malt, yeast, water and hops to make a full-flavor beer called IPA (Indian light Al beer). The method is simple. As long as we make good use of water sources, do not cut corners, increase the concentration of wort, and put more hops, we can make IPA beer with mellow taste, strong aroma, solid body, excellent bitterness (but acceptable) and alcohol content above 6 ~ 7%.
Craft beer is not only popular in the United States, but also all over the world: in Belgium, an old beer kingdom, small wineries with a long history and adherence to tradition have been excavated one after another, and they have shined in the market. Monastery wineries with scarce production like Westvleteren are even regarded as the standard by beer lovers all over the world; In Japan, there are more than 200 handmade wineries; In China, domestic craft beer brands such as Master Gao, Da Yue and Panda Craft have all achieved success. There is a data that can illustrate the problem: the total consumption of global beer is decreasing year by year, while the consumption of craft beer is increasing at a high speed against the trend.
What is craft beer?
? The maximum annual output does not exceed 6 million barrels.
? Breweries are not controlled by non-handmade breweries or have less than 25% shares.
? At least one main product, or more than 50% of the sales, does not use auxiliary materials to make wine, or uses auxiliary materials to enhance fragrance rather than reduce it. Like the industrial beer you drink now, most of it will be brewed with rice and starch, not real craft beer.
Those who meet the above three conditions at the same time are called craft beer. In fact, craft beer is the real predecessor of beer. It is only because of the invention of industrial beer that this mass-produced light-water beer can radiate more people, making many people mistakenly think that the plain taste bought in the supermarket is the real taste of beer, but it is actually wet.
How is craft beer made?
Before talking about the difference between craft beer and industrial beer, let's first understand how beer is brewed. First, you need to crush malt, extract starch from it, and then put the grain mixture into boiling water to convert starch into sugar. As you know, sugar is the source of alcohol. After putting these things into the boiling pot, the next step is to add hops, then add water, boil hops and sugar together, and then use soft yeast to convert sugar into alcohol.
Crafted beer actually tastes better because they use pure malt as raw material. Drink some craft beer and you can smell wheat and bread. It's not just the smell of water
Now, craft beer has become synonymous with high-grade beer, which costs tens of yuan or even thousands of yuan a bottle. What's the difference between Budweiser, Snowflake and craft beer?
1, different brewing materials
Beer is a low-alcohol fermented wine containing carbon dioxide, which takes grain and water as main raw materials and hops (or hops products) as raw materials and is fermented by yeast. Beer can usually be divided into craft beer and industrial beer according to raw materials and fermentation technology. Common Budweiser, Carlsberg, Qingdao and Snowflake are all industrial beers.
(1) craft beer: only malt, hops, yeast and water are used for brewing, and no artificial additives are added. Compared with industrial beer, malt content is more, hops are added more, and the brewed wort is thicker. Usually, when brewing craft beer, you don't need to think too much about the cost, and most of them will choose the best raw materials for brewing.
(2) Industrial beer: It is also brewed with malt, hops, yeast and water, but in order to pursue the cost, more raw materials such as rice, corn and starch are used instead of malt. The beer wort brewed in this way has a very low concentration and a light taste.
2. Different fermentation processes
The fermentation process of craft beer is also different from industrial beer. Ales (upper fermentation process) is usually used for craft beer, and Larges (lower fermentation process) is used for industrial beer. The main differences between them are the location of yeast and fermentation temperature. As shown in the figure:
(1) craft beer: Al technology is mostly used. Yeast works at the top of fermentation tank and floats above liquor, and the fermentation temperature is generally controlled at 10-20℃. Fermentation tanks are usually small and are not filtered and sterilized after fermentation.
(2) Industrial beer: Lager process is mostly used, and the yeast works at the bottom of the fermentation tank and sinks below the liquor, and the fermentation temperature is generally controlled below 10℃. The fermentation tank is large, and after fermentation, filtration and pasteurization are usually used to increase the shelf life of beer.
3. Different fermentation time
Craft beer and industrial beer are different in fermentation process and fermentation time.
(1) craft beer: Because there is no need to care too much about the cost, fermentation time is often not particularly valued, and time cost is not considered too much. The fermentation time of the most traditional craft beer can be as long as 2 months, which makes the beer fully fermented, with higher wort concentration and stronger flavor.
(2) Industrial beer: For industrial beer, time is money, so the fermentation time of industrial beer is usually only about 7 days, so the fermentation will not be particularly sufficient, resulting in low wort concentration and light flavor.
4. The development history is different.
The fermentation history of craft beer is longer than that of industrial beer, and craft beer appeared long before the appearance of industrial beer.
(1) craft beer: At first, Al beer was produced by women to protect their families from bad environment (such as plague, famine, water pollution, etc.). In the Middle Ages, a large number of people died of plague, and the church took over the production of beer. Due to the increasing market demand and high profit of beer, craft beer has developed rapidly. At that time, many European royal families also set up their own royal breweries to brew craft beer. However, with the appearance of refrigeration equipment, industrial beer with stable quality, not easy to deteriorate and suitable for transportation has become popular. Coupled with the prosperity of glass products, Al beer mixed with turbidity in transparent glasses is not very pleasing, and people like Lager beer (mostly industrial beer) more and more.
(2) Industrial Beer:19 In the 1940s, a brewer from Bavaria, Germany brought beer fermentation technology to Pierson, Czech Republic, and produced the world's earliest golden beer-Pierson Beer (industrial beer). With the appearance of refrigeration equipment, this kind of beer with stable quality, not easy to deteriorate and suitable for large-scale industrial production and transportation is popular all over the world. With the development of transportation mode, Pearson beer and Pearson brewing method soon spread throughout Central Europe.
Later, the beer popular in Europe was brought to the United States by immigrants, and Americans gradually liked it. However, due to the lack of barley in the United States, corn was gradually used to brew beer instead of barley, and then it evolved into rice or starch to brew beer instead of barley, forming the American industrial beer that is now seen on the market.
5. Different styles and nutritional values
(1) Craft beer: Craft beer usually contains more kinds and quantities of malt, yeast and hops, and can brew different styles of beer, such as ale, stout, amber beer and fruit beer. There are nearly 100 kinds of craft beer in the world. These craft beers have the characteristics of rich aroma, high wort content, mellow and full taste, high nutritional value and high price. The alcohol content of craft beer is above 1 1 degree, and some craft beer can reach 20 degrees.
(2) Industrial beer: In order to unify the taste of finished products, industrial beer usually has a single brewing process and style, and the fermentation time is extremely short. Therefore, industrial beer has the characteristics of light taste, many bubbles, low wort concentration, low hops content and low alcohol content, and its natural nutritional value and price are also low.
6, save time is different
(1) craft beer: Most craft beer has not been filtered and sterilized, so it is not easy to preserve. Most craft beers have a short shelf life, and some have a shelf life of only tens of days.
(2) Industrial beer: In the later stage of fermentation, industrial beer is often filtered and pasteurized, with a long shelf life. The shelf life of general industrial beer is 1-2 years, and some can even reach decades.
7. Different drinking methods
(1) Crafted beer: It usually has a rich and heavy taste and high alcohol content, and is suitable for slow products.
(2) Industrial beer: generally, it has a light taste and low alcohol content, so it is suitable for big mouth drinking.