Hold My Beer...

Beer is one of oldest drinks that we still have around today. For centuries, people have used the basic formula of barley+hops+water+yeast to make the same basic drink. But, like most classic recipes, there are several variations of this that make lots of different flavors.

Not all beer is made of barley (Hordeum vulgare, above). Some is made of wheat, corn, or rice. But the purpose of this is to isolate the sugars contains within them. Once these are exposed, the yeast can feed on the sugars and release ethanol alcohol and carbonation.

Once this process is complete, most modern brewers add in hops. These hops add bitterness to a beer.

Hops aren't a plant, they are the seed cones of a plant called Humulus lupulus. The name of this plant, lupulus, comes from the latin word, "lupus" meaning wolf. It was named this because in the wild, the plant can strangle out others.

Now that the beer is brewed and the hops are added, its time for other flavors to be added. Traditionally, there was a combination of spices called "gruit" that would be used in different quantities to create flavors of beer. In this gruit, there was Sage (Salvia), Sweet Gale (Myrica gale), Common Yale (Achillea millefolium), Pine Resin (Pinus), Broom (Cytisus) and Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium).

Adding these spices gives the beer different flavors. Like tea, these herbs give off the most flavor when they are dried and steeped in the heated liquid.

One of the most flavorful spices is ginger (Zingiber officinale). Ginger is actually the root of a plant that grows in Southern Asia. It can be sliced, pickled, and crushed to use in dishes and teas.

Each type of beer has its own unique flavor from all these different components (and many more). So, now that you know how beer is made and what plants are involved in it, go enjoy one!