The
Beer Essentials- by the OU
Just the other day I read about a recently
discovered beer recipe. It was carved into a tablet roughly 5,000 years
ago. Ancient Romans called their brew, cerevisiae
from the Celtic word for the drink.
Surely this is the basis for the cerveza (Spanish for beer) enjoyed in
Latin American cultures as well.
An admitted fan of a nice glass of suds, I took my son to
“the home of beer,” Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. While touring an old beer brewery, we learned
about the history of the age-old ale. Although modern beer brewing has gotten
more sophisticated, the product remains quite similar to how it appeared in the
vast variety of drinking vessels of yesteryear.
Beer can be made by fermenting any of various starch
sources, most typically from cereal grains such as rice or malted barley, which
are mixed with hot water for a few hours, then drained and washed to procure as
much fermentable liquid as possible. The collected fluid is boiled in copper
kettles, evaporating o the water, leaving the sugars behind. This process kills
the naturally- occurring enzymes that could adversely affect the
fermentation.
Next, hops is added to
infuse a bitter flavor into the beer. Many breweries put significant e ort into
procuring the world’s nest and rarest hops to create signature flavors. The
product is then cooled, and brewer’s yeast is added. Once fully fermented, the
beer can be canned, bottled or placed in kegs.
Although there are few things which will create kosher
issues, in our experience handling the kosher certification of beer, we have
come across a few concerns which require careful monitoring.
Kosher concerns in beer production:
Flavoring: In order to distinguish one beer from
another, sometimes manufacturers nd that hops sources and cooking time are not sufficient
to get one’s product to stand out. Frequently, for marketing purposes,
companies will add something extra to their beer products, such as cafeine or
hemp! While fresh fruits or pure
extracts of lemon or orange don’t usually contain kosher issues, more involved flavors
would require kosher supervision – to confirm the flavor itself is made from
kosher elements.
Time magazine featured an article in a March 2016, which
noted that: “[in 2015] 27% [of] new beers that came onto the market were flavored
varieties.” The article went on to state
that most beer drinkers who increased their beer consumption credited the
increase to a wider availability of flavors.
Apparently, the future of beer is flavored beer, and flavored beer needs
to be OU Kosher certified.
Equipment concerns: Often beer
breweries make other products on the same equipment as kosher beer production.
These products can include items made with grape must, such as the famous
(not-kosher certified) Dog sh Head’s Midas Touch, an unusual grain and grape
hybrid, made from an ancient recipe that scientists were able to recreate from
alcohol residue found in King Midas’s tomb.
Equipment can be shared with products mixed with clam juice, such as
Micheladas, a Mexican cerveza preparade made with beer, lime juice, and assorted
sauces, spices, and peppers. or Cubana sometimes containing Worcestershire
sauce.
Beef broth can also be added to
beer. An OU kosher beer operation needs
to be dedicated to kosher productions or schedule the production of non-kosher
beer in a way as to allow Kosherization of the equipment prior to restarting a
standard beer production.
Clarifiers: In order to remove particulates from beer
production, a clarifier is often used. One major source of clarifier is
gelatin, which can come from beef or pork sources. Another is isinglass, a type of collagen
taken from the swim bladder of cod,
sturgeon, or cat fish (the latter are non-kosher fish). While use of non-kosher ingredients is
usually forbidden in kosher production, sometimes use of a clarifier can be
permitted if it is removed shortly after its addition; is used in small enough
volume relative to the product it is added to; and another kosher equivalent is
not available. OU kosher would need to
confirm these factors prior to certifying a beer.
Whether drinking an age-old brew befitting a monarch, or a
custom microbrew more apropos for a hipster, one thing remains the same, OU
certification is your guarantee that all the kosher requirements of this staple
beverage are being met!
1 comment:
The OU is at least 20 years late to the party while many consumers were nichshol on the false assumption that non-flavored beers supposedly don't need hashgocho.
The vegans have been warning for a long time that some beers are clarified with spider silk.
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