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May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
How beer works
By
Marshall Brain
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT)
We have all seen enough beer commercials to know that beer contains malt and hops. And there is something about beechwood aging. But have you ever wondered what malt and hops are? And what does beechwood have to do with beer? Let's take a look at how beer works by going through the entire brewing process.
Traditional beer has only four ingredients: malted barley, hops, yeast and water. The malted barley is key. Without it the yeast would have nothing to eat, so there would be no alcohol and no carbonation. Your beer would also be missing most of its flavor and color.
If you were going to make malted barley completely from scratch, you would plow a field, plant it with barley, and then cut and thresh the grain. You would end up with sacks of barley. To malt this grain you would mix the dry barley with water and allow it to sit for a couple of days. Like any seed, the damp barley grains would start to sprout. If, at the point where the sprouting action is just getting started, you roast the grains to stop the sprouting process, you would have malted barley.
The reason why the malting step is important is because it creates enzymes. The grain is filled with starch. By moistening the grain, the seeds will start the process of converting the starch to sugar so that the plant can start growing. To handle this conversion process, the seed will produce several important enzymes. Those enzymes will convert the rest of the starch to sugar once we start making the beer.
So the brewer sprouts the barley and roasts it to create malted barley. The amount of roasting controls how dark the beer will be, as well as the flavor of the beer. Now it is time to start brewing.
If you take malted barley, crush it and mix it with warm water, you create a mash. By letting the mash sit for an hour or two, the enzymes in the malt will convert the rest of the starches to sugar. Once the process is complete, you can drain off the liquid and it is sweet, almost like a thin syrup.
The next step is to boil the sweet liquid and add hops to create a wort. Hops are the dried flowers of a vine that grows almost like a weed. These flowers have an interesting property - they are incredibly bitter. If you were to chew a petal from a dry hop flower, you would be amazed at how bitter and astringent it is. The taste is not pleasant and stays in your mouth for hours. But that bitterness, diluted in water so that it is not overpowering, is essential to the flavor of beer.
Now it is time to ferment the wort. You do this by adding yeast. The yeast cells eat the sugar in the wort and create carbon dioxide and alcohol. After two weeks or so, the yeast have eaten all the sugar.
At some breweries the beer is then aged. For example, quite a bit of the beer in the United States is aged with beechwood. This means that the fermenting wort is put in a tank that contains a layer of beechwood strips at the bottom. They harvest beech trees, cut the trunks into thin strips about the size of a wooden ruler, and boil the strips. Then they line the bottom of a tank with a layer of these strips. The yeast cells in the wort settle out onto the wooden strips and continue eating any remaining sugar. They use boiled beechwood because it is a light, neutral wood that doesn't really change the flavor of the beer in any big way.
What you have at the end of this multi-week process is beer. Because the yeast has eaten all the sugar, there is no sweetness. And the yeast byproducts have made the beer alcoholic and bubbly. The hops add the hoppy bitterness and aroma. After a little filtering and perhaps a pasteurization step, the beer is ready to go into bottles, cans and kegs.
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Previously:
How holding your breath works
How smoke detectors work
How heat pumps work
How your night vision works
How concentrating solar collectors work
How your key fob works
How the common cold works
How the Large Hadron Collider Works
How making a TV show works
How dry cleaning works
How exoskeletons work
How an oil refinery works
How landfills work
How the Orion spacecraft works
The cutting edge in HDTV
Redefining the CD
How the HDMI cable scam works
How glow-in-the-dark toys work
How the subprime mortgage crisis works
How gift cards work
How Tasers work
How giant TV screens work
How foreclosure works
How Air Force One works
How wildfire fighting works
How vitamins work
How ejection seats work
How reattaching limbs works
How hot air balloons work
How paparazzi work
How counterfeiting works
How CDs work
How the Edsel worked
How Stinger missiles work
How hybrid cars work
How sharks work
How mosquitoes work
How diesel engines work
How water towers work
How the Dawn mission works
How Kassam rockets work
How the North American Eagle works
Why aren't we flying to work?
How tofu and soy milk work
How Colony Collapse Disorder works
How airbags work
How the U.S. income tax works
How gum works
How caffeine works
How Daylight Saving Time works
How a cruise missile works
How snow making works
© 2007, How Stuff Works Inc. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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