Revealed: What's really in your beer

Kiwis have a strong interest in beer though we don't drink nearly as much of it as the Germans. Photo / Getty Images

Award-winning beer writer Neil Miller breaks down what's in a brew and the misconceptions among Kiwi beer drinkers.

If you were gearing up to go to Oktoberfest, the world's biggest beer festival and fair, the bad news is you've just missed it. Despite the name, the festival starts in mid-September and finishes in early October. This year it's estimated to have attracted well over seven million visitors to Munich, Germany.

What began as a festival celebrating the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in 1810, locals decided to continue the celebration annually. Later they brought the date forward so people drinking in and around the famous massive beer tents could enjoy better weather. In over two centuries Oktoberfest has been cancelled just 25 times. Suffice to say Germans take their beer very seriously.

They also take what goes into their beer very seriously. In 1516 Germany passed the world's oldest food standard - the Reinheitsgebot (the Bavarian Beer Purity Laws). In the original Reinheitsgebot, the only allowed ingredients for beer were water, hops and malt.

After its discovery, cultured yeast, ironically the real key to making beer, became the fourth legal ingredient. Previously, the process of fermentation (converting sugar into alcohol) had been considered a miracle and was referred to as the "Breath of God".

Those four ingredients of malt, hops, water and yeast are the same four main ingredients in virtually all New Zealand beers today.

Kiwis have a strong interest in beer though we don't drink nearly as much of it as the Germans who are among the most prolific beer consumers in the world.

New Zealand, despite what you might see in the media, is only a mid-table player. Beer remains New Zealand's most popular alcoholic beverage despite steadily falling consumption over the last two decades. We're drinking less beer but we're drinking better beer.

Recent surveys have shown that many drinkers (or potential drinkers) have incorrect impressions of beer in relation to sugar, carbohydrates and preservatives.

Most beer is 99 per cent sugar free as it's fermented out during brewing. However, less than one in ten Kiwi drinkers (or potential drinkers) believed that to be the case. In reality, the recipe for most beers is deceptively simple - back to malt, hops, yeast and water. Of course, other ingredients including fruit, spice, herbs, coffee or chocolate can be added.

MALT

Malted barley (malt) is grain which has been induced to germinate and then kilned (cooked). For thousands of years, malt has provided beer with colour, body, base flavours and the sugary fuel for yeast to produce alcohol. Based on the type of grain and the temperature of the kilning, malt varieties can range from very pale and sweet, to amber and biscuit-like, to black and coffee like.

HOPS

Hops are a comparatively modern ingredient. Hops (Humulus Lupus) are a flowering vine, a cousin of both cannabis and the thistle. It grows particularly well in the upper South Island. There are many varieties of hops which can be judiciously used to provide aroma, flavour (often fruity and spicy) and bitterness in beer. Hops are also a natural preservative.

WATER

In terms of volume, the major ingredient in beer is water. Brewers use all types of water, from their own mountain artisan wells to simple tap water from the local council.

YEAST

The key to making beer is yeast. All the other ingredients may be present but without yeast nothing interesting will happen. Yeast is a micro-organism which transforms sugar from the malt into alcohol, carbon dioxide (bubbles) and other flavours.

That's what's really in our beer.

THREE BEER FACTS TO SHARE NEXT TIME YOU'RE ENJOYING A BREW

The first beer in New Zealand was brewed on Saturday 27 March 1773 on a beach in the picturesque Dusky Sounds by Captain James Cook. It was also the first beer brewed in Australasia.

Growing barley to make beer and bread is considered one of the main reasons that humans ended their nomadic lifestyles and established settlements. In that sense, beer is a foundation of civilisation.

Greek philosopher Sophocles described the perfect diet as "bread, meat, vegetables and beer."