Beer Kettles, Prague, Czech Repiblic

Along one side of Restaurace Vojanův dvůr, a restaurant and pub in the Malá Strana section of Praha, Česká Republika are the copper beer kettles, also known just as coppers, used in the making of beer.

The restaurant and beer house, whose name translates into "Vojan's Court" and was the home of late National Theatre actor Eduard Vojan.

As a part of our tour, we were given a choice of dark or light beer, and my mother and I chose the dark dark beer. While it would have been nice to have sampled something that was brewed in-house, we were served a delicious mug of Krušovice instead, one of the most popular beers in the Czech Republic.

The Královský Pivovar Krušovice (the Royal Brewery of Krušovice) is one of the oldest breweries in the Czech Republic, established in 1517. The beer features spring water from the Křivoklát Woods and Moravian malt and hops from the Žatec area.

The dark beer is one of the brewery's traditional products and has been in production continuously for over 100 years. The beer has a full, sweet caramel taste and a light hop flavor.

Learn more about Královský Pivovar Krušovice here: www.krusovice.cz/en/index.php

Here is information that I am adding for the "Eye for Science" pool, mostly cannibalized from various Wikipedia and other online articles:

Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage, and the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, usually cereal grains such as malted barley. Most beer is flavored with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative.

Some of humanity's earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi (dating from 1790 BC and originating in ancient Babylon) included laws regulating beer and beer parlors.

The copper beer kettles seen here are the last destination in the process of beermaking before fermentation. By the time unfermented beer mixture, a sugary liquid mash called "wort," reaches the beer kettles, it has already undergone multiple steps including mixing of malted barley or other starch with hot water and crushed malt and boiling before the wort has the the grain strained out and is put into the coppers. Usually, the grains are washed and the wash liquid is added to the coppers to allow the brewer to gather as much of the fermentable liquid from the grains as possible.

The coppers boil the wort, evaporating the water, leaving the sugars and other components of the wort and destroying any remaining enzymes left over from the previous stages. Hops are added during boiling to extract bitterness, flavor and aroma from them. The longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness they contribute, but less of the hop flavor and aroma remains in the beer.

After boiling, the hopped wort is cooled, and yeast is added, and fermentation begins. During fermentation, the wort becomes beer in a process that takes from a week's time to months depending on the type of yeast and strength of the beer.

Two general categories of yeast are used in the production of beer. Brewers classify yeasts as top-fermenting and bottom-fermenting. "Top-fermenting yeasts" form a foam at the top during fermentation and can produce higher alcohol concentrations. They aslo produce fruitier, sweeter, ale-type beers. An example of a top-fermenting yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, known to brewers as ale yeast.

"Bottom-fermenting yeasts" are typically used to produce lager-type beers. These yeasts ferment more sugars, leaving a crisper taste. An example of bottom fermenting yeast is Saccharomyces pastorianus.

On a culinary note, there are people who take spent yeast, the product that remains after the brewing of bee and make candy out of it:

“Rather than waste all that good yeast, which is very healthy, I pour it into a pot. I add sugar, and I heat it,” Walker said. Then he adds some corn syrup, cuts the sugary mass into small chunks, and rolls them into balls. After coating them in dry malt so they don’t get sticky, he wraps them in wax paper, ready to share with friends. (From: greengrog.com/when-beer-gives-you-spent-yeast-make-candy/ ) There is also evidence that spent yeast, which is high in Beta-glucan, the much-studied fiber that is also found in oat products, helps lower cholesterol.

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