Miracle Brew: Hops, Barley, Water, Yeast and the Nature of Beer

Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink on the planet, but few who enjoy it know much about how its four ingredients – malted barley, hops, yeast and water – miraculously combine.

We’ve been brewing and drinking beer for thousands of years, without understanding how or why the brewing process works. In the Middle Ages, yeast was called ‘godisgoode’ because no one had any idea what fermentation was. Malting barley, too, has for centuries seemed genuinely wondrous: it’s only in the last …