Question 1

What is wort?

Accepted Answer

Wort is a sugar-rich liquid. Wort is necessary for the beer-making process and comes from malted grain. Wort is the basis of all beers.
Wort is a sugar-rich liquid that begins by converting the starches of malted grains into sugar (the process of mashing). Hot water is added to this mash to allow the enzymes to finish the conversion from starch to sugar. This process creates the wort.
The next step is lautering. During this stage, the brewer separates grain husks and other solids out of the wort. 
The resulting wort is sugary liquid which is mostly water (as much as 90%). 
According to Oxford Companion to Beer, the carbohydrate and basic sugar content will be approximately:
12% monosaccharides
5% sucrose
47% maltose
15% maltotriose
25% higher saccharides (e.g. dextrin)

Question 2

During the beermaking process, what enzyme is made that converts carbohydrates to sugars?

Accepted Answer

Amylase is the enzyme that is made during the beer making process that converts carbohydrates to sugars.

Question 3

During the beer making process, crushed malts are also known as ______.

Accepted Answer

Crushed malts are also known as grist. After the wort is prepared and mixed with hot water, the crushed malts or grist is then mixed in a mash tun, where the starches are converted to sugar.

Question 4

After the beer mashing process, the grains are then washed, which is also known as _____.

Accepted Answer

After the beer making process, the grains are washed, or go through sparging. Sparging makes it possible to remove the fermentable liquid from the grains.

Question 5

During the boiling process of beer making, _______ are added for bitterness and aroma.

Accepted Answer

During the boiling process of beer making, hops are added for bitterness and aroma. The longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness they exude, but they also contain less of the hoppy aromas and flavor after boiling.

Question 6

Beer is mostly _______.

Accepted Answer

Beer is mostly water. Beer has at least a few ingredients in it, such as a starch source (barley, wheat, rice), yeast, hops, and flavoring ingredients, but most of beer is made up of water.

Question 7

The most common grain used in beer is _____.

Accepted Answer

Barley is the most common grain used in beer making. There are many kinds of grains that can be made into beer such as wheat, rye, sorghum, oats, rice and others, but the most common is barley.

Question 8

The top fermenting yeast used to make ales is called _______.

Accepted Answer

The top fermenting yeast used to make ales is called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The bottom fermenting yeast used to make lagers is called Saccharomyces pastorianus.

Question 9

In the beer world, Kriek is:

Accepted Answer

Kriek is a fruit lambic beer that produced in Belgium. Lambic beers are a Belgium specialty. Fruit lambics go through another fermentation process with fruit added.

Question 10

What is the average alcohol content in beer?

Accepted Answer

The average alcohol content for beer is 4-6%. Non-alcoholic beers can be as low at .5% and normal beers can be much higher depending on the type of beer, the yeasts used, and many other variables.

Quiz 2: Beer