1.) Describe 3 differences in ales and lagers. The differences in ales and lagers stem from yeast.

There are different strains and verities of yeast. Yeast occur naturally which effected the beer in the beginning of beer making, when things were not sterilized. In summer, fall, and spring there were ale producing yeast. The ale yeast produces a fast acting process. The fermentation process will only take a few weeks. They are also fermented at room temperature. It also is a top fermenting yeast. In a lager the yeast is naturally there in the winter. It is a slow acting yeast. It can take months to years for the yeast to finish the process. It ferments at a cold temperature. The yeast ferments at the bottom. 2) Describe basic chemical changes that take place during any of the 3 processes: malting, brewing, fermenting, bottling, and enjoying (tasting) The basic process of brewing is taking the wort and boiling it, hoping it and cooling it. The basic chemistry of can be broken down in to parts. The proteins are coagulated and denatured. The hop oils are extracted from the hops. The hops are added at different times to produce different effects in the beer. When added at zero minutes they are boiled to get maximum isomerization of the alpha acids. Some of the sugars during the boiling process are caramelized. It is then cooled fast. There is also the fermenting process. There is two parts to the yeast. The primary phase is when the yeast is added to the liquid. The yeast eats the sugar and produces ethanol. When sugar starts to run out the yeast begin going into hibernation. In the secondary phase, the yeast starts to convert side products into other forms. At this point the yeast should be separated out. The last process is bottling. For this process a small amount of sterilized sugar is added to the beer. The beer is then bottled and capped. The sugar feeds the remaining yeast and this carbonates the beer. The beer conditioned this way for 7-10 days. Then the bottles are sold and drank.

3) Explain two reasons why it is possible to have so many varieties (colors and flavors) of beer. There are so many different colors and flavors of beer because of the grains, hops and yeast. The grains effect color mostly. However, yeast effects taste greatly. You can have two beers that use the same grain and when different yeast is added they can be completely different. Yeast will make a difference between an ale and lager. There are also different strains of yeast that affect the taste. Hops also effect taste. They can make the beer sweeter or bitterer. They can change the aroma. There are different verities and strains of hops that all have an effect on the taste. 4) Explain the historical and political signficance of Reiheitsebot. The Reiheitsebot is an old German law that governs what beer is. It is the oldest law, created in 1516, in the world that governs food/beverage. It states that beer must be made with a malted grain, hops and water. The law did not talk about yeast because yeast was not discovered until the 1800s. This still has significance today, many beer producers with sell their brand by referring to this law. It is a marketing plus. It will distinguish a quality brand from a mass produced one. However, it has caused some problems. Some places use sugar cane in beer, which does not fallow this law. They could not sell their product as beer in Germany.