Beerlogue...

I have over the years become a connoiseur of some fine beer... It started with the Kingfisher Premium Lager in India. I am at a point where I have tried a wide range of brands... So what is so good about this drink that has made it so popular that it is being consumed in every corner of the world?

Beer is perhaps the oldest alcoholic beverage and dates to 6th millennium BCE. It is made by fermenting starch just like how any other alcohol is. The source is normally malted barley, however wheat, corn and rice can be used as the source of starch... There are other less common sources as well. Let's see how beer is made before talking a look at some of my recommendations.

Barley is steeped in water (mashing) along with other enzymes to convert the starch to fermentible sugars. This is then subject to Sparging aka lautering. The mixture is taken in a container called lauter-tun which has a porous barrier and acts similar to a sieve. The sugary liquid called wort separates out from the grain and is collected. The grain is then normally discarded. The next step is an important one... The wort is boiled to increase the concentration of sugar... During boiling, hops are added... Depending upon when they are added, hops are classified as bittering hops, flavouring hops and aroma hops. The hops are responsible for the bitter taste of the beer. The boiled wort is then fermented using yeast... This is again a key factor that differentiates different kinds of beers...

The "ale" is made by using top-fermenting brewer's yeast and is brewed at a higher temperature. This results in, apart from the conversion of sugars to ethanol, production of esters... If you remember high school chemistry, it is the esters that have a fruity odour... Another important thing with ale is that fermenting happens for a shorter duration. Thus some of the sugars is still left behind which gives it a sweeter taste.

A counterpart of the ale, the "lager" is made in exactly the opposite way. Bottom fermenting yeast, lower temperature and longer duration... This results in the complete conversion of the available sugars producing a cleaner, clearer beer. There are no esters either. A rather wild brew call "Lambic Beer" is produced in the unconventional fashion... No brewer's yeast is used here. Instead wild yeast and bacteria are used from the Senne valley in Brussels... By this time, you would have guessed why Belgian beers are famous too.

Let me now make some recommendations in the ale and lager sections... If you guys know of something that I have missed, do get back to me :)

I always start with German beer because they are my favourite. Weissebier, the wheat beer from the Bavaria is undoubtedly my favourite... It is made from wheat, top-fermented, mildly hopped and aggressively carbonated. In the lager section, Paulaner, Hofenbrau, Lowenbrau, Augustiner-brau are good to sip onto...

Stella Artois and Blue Moon are the Belgian beers that are worth mentioning. A trivia about Stella is that it is from InBev, the largest brewery in the world. While Stella is pale lager, Blue moon is white ale.

New Castle and Bass ale are my favourites from England. Smithwicks, an ale from Ireland is a decent beer too. Killian Red, perhaps, my most favourite Irish beer is made from roasted malts with the right amount of hops that leaves a clean mouth feeling upon swallowing. It was initially an ale, but Coors Lager in the US has acquired rights to brew and market in the States. While talking about Irish beer, it would be deemed a sin if I did not mention Guinness. Guinness, the only stout (another kind of beer guys!) I have had, is made from dark roasted malts giving it a very rich colour and coffee taste.

Yuengling and Boston lager (Sam Adams) are the only beers brewed in the US that are worth trying. However, the adopted beer "Heineken" does decently well. Born in Holland and brought up in the US, Heineken has been adapted to suit the US palate. Amstel light is a light beer from Amsterdam.

Singha, beer from Thailand is a good try too. I am still awaiting a chance to taste Japanese rice beer "Saki". I however don't recollect how much I liked Sand Piper from South Africa and Fosters from Australia...

All said and done, Kingfisher is certainly a beer i would like to have to chill out!