Here comes the summer, a season of vacations, picnics and Beer Season. Beer is a low-alcohol beverage which contains 3-10% alcohol. Among all alcoholic drinks, beer is the most consumed in all countries, and it is especially loved in Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic takes first place in the world for consumption of beer, where it reaches 159 liters per capita per year.
Why do people like beer? Because it has a distinctive taste, quenches thirst and allows you to relax after the hardships of life. First, you enjoy its calming yellow transparency with playful bubbles and a cap of foam in a slightly sweaty glass. Then you take a sip of this fragrant, tingling foam to get the first impression of the aroma and taste of the drink. With the first big gulp comes a sense of joy from the tart and slightly bitter taste that caresses and excites your taste buds. A few minutes later you feel a pleasant languor flowing through the body, and life becomes beautiful again.
The history of beer dates back to such ancient times that the exact era of its appearance cannot be determined. Since the process of fermentation can occur naturally, the discovery of a beer-like drink probably happened by accident, but brewing beer on purpose began at the time when people started cultivating cereals. The oldest vessel for beer was found in the territory of modern Iran and its age is about 7000 years.
The process of beer production has evolved over the centuries, and now it includes several steps. First, cereal grains (barley or wheat) are allowed to sprout a little so that the starch in them splits into simple sugars, and then the grain is dried and cleaned of germs. After that, they grind the grain, add water, and heat the mass several times up to different temperatures. During these several heating processes various enzymes break down different sugars untill the fermentation is complete. Then the liquid, called wort, is drained into special boilers, and the remaining grain is rinsed with hot water again. The second wort is then added to the first one. At this point, the concentration of the future beer is determined. In the next stage, the wort is boiled with hops and other ingredients, centrifuged, and the solids are allowed to settle. Then the wort is pumped into another tank, where yeast is added to it. During the fermentation process the yeast turns sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which, in turn, leads to the transformation of the wort into an intoxicating, frothy beer.
Besides its great taste, beer also has nutritional value as it is rich in calories and B group vitamins.
The Russian people love beer and respect Russian beer brewing and drinking traditions that are rooted in the distant past, when peasants brewed beer in their homes and drank it to celebrate important holidays. Russians especialy honor the tradition of drinking beer with dried or smoked fish among a small company of friends. No picnic is considered complete without beer, not to mention fishing or hunting which Russian men adore, and drinking beer after sauna, which is a must. Beer, for Russians, is not just a drink; it is a style of socializing. Just remember that everything is good in moderation!
