Typically when beer is though of or mentioned, people usually always think of the four main ingredients that it is comprised of. These four ingredients are water, barley, yeast and hops. Although water, barley, and yeast have, for the most part, always been key ingredients in beer, the fact that tends to shock people the most is that the addition of hops in beer came long after beer was discovered. Contrary to popular believe, Hops, which are the female counterpart of the plant species Humulus Lupulus, are a fairly new ingredient in what most of us think of as typical beer that we have in our fridge at home. The mystery is what took so long for us to finally figure out that the addition of hops benefits the brewing process and the taste in many ways. For example, before the use of hops, beer would typically go bad very quickly. With the addition of hops, beer stays good for many months. Along with this, yellow glands called lupulin glands that are found within the hop itself produce alpha acids that give beer its distinct bitter flavor. Although the majority of hops produced are used in beer and alcoholic beverages, hops are also useful as cures to diseases as well as pain killers in today’s society. The health benefits of hops can be extracted through the consumption of beer, however; using the hop plant by itself gives you a better outcome of its health benefits.
Native to what is now modern day Europe, the earliest discovery of Humulus Lupulus recorded goes back as far as 75 to 80 AD. Although discovery was around this time frame, the use of hops for anything important was put off many decades. Up until this point the hop plant was just observed at it grew in the wild. According to author Loftus, to our understanding, the earl...
... middle of paper ...
...ation arises for the plant when you venture further beyond its taste and start to appreciate the plant as a whole for its natural ability to act as an anti inflammatory, pain killer and of course as a natural way to calm the body and cure many other symptoms. Along with doing all of these things the hop plant comes with far less possible side effects witch means not only an effective alternative to over the counter medicine, but also a safe alternative. Discovered in 75 to 80 AD Humulus Lupulus has come a long way and has not only worked its way into, but has become an essential part of life today. With the knowledge and truth of the hop plant now uncovered, you can now start to think about using the power of hops in your own life, or at the very least, be able to think about its benefit to your body next time you crack open that next beer after a hard day at work.
Understanding the process of brewing will help explain the time limitations of brewing and storing beer, and will ultimately help explain how this tug of war came into existence, as the process of brewing itself is largely responsible for the limited availability of beer early in American history. The process begins with malted barley which is heated to, and held at, a temperature between 60o and 71o C. This process is known as mashing and serves to activate the amylase enzymes which convert the complex starches into fermentable and unfermentable sugars. The wort is then transferred to a boil kettle where hops are introduced and the liquid is boiled extensively to isomerize the bittering oils in the hops. In their isomerized states, these oils will be more soluble and able to impart their bittering qualities into the wort. Finally the wort is chilled as it is transferred into a fermenter and yeast is added to begin the fermentation. The fermenter is sealed from the environment to prevent oxygen, which would stop fermentation, from entering. Fermentation must then be carried out at cool temperatures – about 18o C when using ale yeast and much colder when using lager yeast. Fermentation above these temperatures will still occur but yields an unpalatable product. These temperature requirements made beer a seasonal beverage and limited storage prior to the advent of mechanical refrigeration.
The American chestnut was not only an important food source for almost all living organisms of the Eastern, North America, but it was very important in providing housing and furniture and numerous other wooden necessities. The tree possessed rot resistant properties and strait grained wood which were valuable in buildings and many other applications. Its enormous trunk rose one-hundred feet into the canopy of the forest. Diameters of five feet have been recorded and many photos of the tree show greater trunk girths. The tree was able to produce its eatable fruit within seven years of germination. It was said to be truly treasured by early Americans.
The author gives an elaborate explanation on the history of the beer and how the beer has led to the development of human civilization. The article has a lot of outside sources such as researches and theories that support the author’s point. According to this article, beer has played an important role in human civilization and the article points out a lot of examples on how beer was important to the people of the people for a lot of purposes. This article also uses some credible information from the research to explain how the beer was made and how it was first discovered. Finally, the article proves the point that beer has helped to improve the human
The Crowning of Flora. 1816. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Brief Third ed. Vol. One. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 274. Print.
Chemistry is at the heart of all nutrition. Thus, to truly grasp alcohol, one must know the basic molecular compounds that the body consumes and divides. The most accessible energy resource the body ingests is carbohydrates (rice, beans, breads, pasta, sugar, fruit, etc…). Carbohydrates are made
Marijuana is one of the oldest cultivated plants (Nahas 8). Since it became illegal in 1967, there have been questions of whether or not it is good for purposes, such as medicine, other than being a leisure drug. Debates between pro and con groups for the use of marijuana in the medical profession, have been heated and in recent months, referendums have been pasted in a least three states to make it accessible for medical treatment. Personally, I feel that marijuana has the potential to be a significant help with certain aliments, however, more research needs to be done to maximize its potential.
The Brewing Process Beer is an industrial product. A brewery is literally a beer factory in which the brewer takes advantage of and manipulates natural processes to create the perfect growth medium for yeast. On the surface the brewing process is simple. But it you look a little deeper you find that there is a complex set of chemical reactions at work in the creation of beer.
Now that the reader has had a chance to view this subject from another perspective, surely they would agree that the advantages of drinking light beer far out-weigh the advantages of drinking a full flavor beer.
Marijuana’s use in the medical field is very valuable and dates back centuries. Marijuana usage dates back to 2737 B.C. in ancient China. The Chinese transcribed its medicinal values during this time and it rapidly spread to India, North Africa, and eventually Europe. As detailed by the emperor Shen Nung, cannabis had healing “powers” that alleviated symptoms of “rheumatism, gout, and malaria” (Narconon n. pag.). In India, the substance has been known to “quicken the mind, lower fevers, induce sleep, and cure venereal disease” (Grinspoon, Lester, Bakalar, James 3). Physicians from centuries ago seem to underst...
The plant’s therapeutic potential became known in the Western countries during the nineteenth century.(Abel, 1996) From 1840 to 1900, more that one hundred articles on cannabis appeared in European and American medical journals, recommending it as an appetite stimulant, muscle relaxant, painkiller, sedative, and for eliminating convulsions. Since then, marijuana has undergone many tests and thorough analysis for its use as a medical value.
The history of marijuana in the United States dates to early colonial times. ``In 1619, America's first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Va., `ordering' all farmers to `make tryal of' (grow) Indian hemp seed.” (Tribune) A by-product of the cannabis plant is hemp. Today, hemp can be used to make fabrics, construction, paper, medicines, oils, body care products, and molded plastics. In colonial times hemp was used to make various textile products and in the 1800s hemp was found to have medicinal benefits. Herer says in his book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, “various marijuana and hashish extracts were the first, second or third most-prescribed medicines in the United States from 1842 until the 1890s. (Herer) For centuries people have recognized the medicinal properties of cannabis; “depending on the c...
Since the beginning of time, marijuana has been used for healing—and science has, to an extent, corroborated its healing properties. Marijuana helps users cope with pain amongst several other alleged benefits. Research remains suspended due to the prejudices of today’s society.
Marijuana has been proven to treat numerous diseases and help cope with the pain from them. There is scientific research behind Medical Marijuana being able to treat these diseases. Research shows that it is effective managing and treating certain symptoms and diseases. It is legal in some states in the U.S. and has been helpful to many patients with their struggles related to their condition. A doctor who supports the use of medical marijuana stated that "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS -- or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day." (Joycelyn Elders 1) This quote supports the use of medicinal marijuana for reliving patient’s symptoms in a safe way with lo...
According to an article by Johnston (2015a), Ale was the common and most popular drink of the Germanic regions, because ale was very simple to make, ingredients included: yeast, barely malt, water, and herbal additives were determined by the specific region they lived in. Beer, however was very similar in production and brewing compared to ales, but beer used hops for flavor and preservation (Johnston, 2015a). Hops are dried flower of perennial vines called Humulus Lupulus they provide both tangy and bitter flavor and preserve beer by warding off bacteria (Spiegel, 2014). Another primary difference between ale and beer is that ale is limited to local area, while beer on the other hand could be distributed at much greater distances because the hops allowed the beer to last longer without spoiling (Johnston, 2015a). Alcohol content in beer also shows contrast to ale, beer had lower amounts of alcohol, which made beer cheaper and more accessible to the general population. Wine was very different to what most people are accustomed to today. Unlike modern-day wine, medieval wine could only ferment for about six months until it
Common names for Datura are numerous, some of the most common ones being raving nightshade, thorn apple, stinkweed, Devil's apple, Jimson weed, and angel's trumpet (Heiser 1969:140 and Avery 1959:19). Datura can be found throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas as either native or adventive plants, and some have also been found in Africa and Australia (Conklin 1976:5). The epicenter of diversity of this plant is in the New World, specifically in Andean South America and in the southwestern United States/Mexico region (Lewis 1977:423-4). This data correlates with the generally agreed upon origin of Datura, although this topic was debated for some time. Researchers now believe the plant originated and evolved in Mexico and the American Southwest, followed by adaptive radiation into new desert environments (Conklin 1976:5).