Difference between dark and light beer.

There are probably few people in the world who don't like beer. This foamy drink is one of the most ancient alcoholic drinks. And in the overall popularity rating, it is in third place after water and tea. A lot of treatises have been written about the dangers and benefits of beer, and every day it has more and more fans. And although there are a huge number of types and varieties of beer, the most common division of beer is dark and light. Adherents of one type or another tirelessly argue about their advantages and disadvantages, because, in addition to color, dark and light beer have many differences.

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One of the most common misconceptions is that dark beer is ale, and lager is lager. In fact, lager is a beer that has a small addition of hops, so it has a lighter flavor. Ale is brewed using a completely different technology; this group includes such varieties as bitter and porter. And if porter is a dark beer, then bitter is made from very light and refined barley, and it has a golden color. Thus, the division between light and dark beers is somewhat different than between lagers and ales.

According to the rules, light beer should be transparent, have a golden color, and not brown, as is commonly believed. In light beer, malt is barely perceptible, it rather gives the beer a fragrance, light beer has practically no aftertaste. Dark beers have no specific color limits. It can be black or brown. The main thing is a sweetish taste, without bitterness, often with a caramel or even chocolate note. Dark beer always leaves a malt aftertaste. And if you can only quench your thirst with light beer, then you can also quench your hunger with dark beer.

Method of preparation

Any beer is hops, yeast, water and malt. And if everything is clear with water and yeast, then malt and hops need some clarification. Everything is simpler than simple: malt is a grain that has undergone special processing, and hops are a climbing plant in which cones are used in brewing, and even then not all. The ingredients are quite simple, but somehow, when you open a bottle with dark beer and light beer, you will immediately feel the taste difference. The secret is that barley is lightly roasted before making dark beer, which gives it a caramel flavor. This beer also gets its color thanks to the roasted beans, which become coffee or almost black in color. When making light beer, malt is not roasted.

In addition, barley for making light beer is germinated for a week, and then dried for another day. Barley for dark beer takes longer to germinate - nine days, and drying takes two days. Contrary to popular belief, much less hop is added to dark beer than to light beer.

One of the most important components - water, also affects the quality of the foamy drink. Not all minerals are good for beer. For example, excess salt can affect the taste of beer and not for the better.

Many argue that dark beer is stronger than light beer. In fact, this is not entirely true. The color of the beer does not affect the strength, the fermentation time does - the longer it is, the stronger the beer.

Harm and benefits

Before talking about the benefits of beer, it is worth remembering that this is still a drink containing alcohol. And its excessive use leads to addiction, and as a result - alcoholism. In addition, beer is a diuretic drink that at the same time removes minerals from the body, for example, chlorine and sodium.

But beer also has beneficial properties. For example, beer has a beneficial effect on the skin, making it cleaner. Although for this they came up with brewer's yeast in capsules, which are recommended to drink for acne. One of the beneficial properties of beer is preventing hair loss. And for this it is not at all necessary to take it inside, it is enough to wash your hair.

In defense of the beneficial properties of light beer, we can say that, unlike dark beer, it contains silicon, which is destroyed during barley roasting. But in the dark - a high content of iron, almost twice as much as in the light.

Conclusions TheDifference.ru

  1. Light beer has a transparent golden color, dark - all shades from brown to black.
  2. Light beer has practically no aftertaste; after drinking dark beer, a sweetish caramel aftertaste remains.
  3. In light there is bitterness, in dark, as a rule, it is absent.
  4. When brewing dark beer, barley is roasted.
  5. Dark beer barley takes longer to germinate and dry.
  6. Less hops are added to dark beer than to light beer.
  7. Dark beer is rich in iron, and lager beer is rich in silicon.
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