In this brief article, we are going to answer the question,”What is the difference between beer and malt liquor?”, and discuss what beer and malt liquor is. We will also address other questions like,”what is top and bottom fermentation?”, and ”What are the different types of top and bottom fermentation yeast used in the production of beer and malt liquor?”.
What is the difference between beer and malt liquor?
The difference between beer and malt liquor is that malt beer is bottom fermented whereas beer can be both fermented by top for bottom fermentation.
What is beer?
Beer is an umbrella term and is an alcoholic drink broadly categorised into ale and lager, when can then be subcategorized into different types of ale and lager. Beer is a mild smooth flavoured beverage which has a bitter taste.
The difference between ale and beer is in the type of fermentation process; whether it is top or bottom fermented. Top fermented beers are known as ale whereas bottom fermented beers are known as lager.
What is malt liquor?
Malt liquor is a beer that is highly fermented with no colour and no hops added during the production. The high filtration strips out most of the malt flavours.
Malt liquor is a beer that contains high alcohol, and the malt liquor is made by enhancing the contact of alcohol with simple sugars such as corn or sucrose.Malt liquor is a cheaper and a more affordable choice in the lower class society.
People often consume it to get drunk easily to relieve the stresses of their lives. Increased intake of malt liquor due to the higher contents of alcohol may also lead to organ failures with most damages to the kidney and livers, obesity which is mainly seen in the abdomen, and other chronic diseases such as those concerning the heart.
Pregnant women should not consume malt liquors.
What is top fermentation?
Top fermentation is the fermentation of yeast to produce alcohol at a temperature of 14-30 degrees celsius. Top fermentation involves carrying of yeast cells to the top of the liquid that is fermented. This type of fermentation is used to produce ale, portar, and wines having high amounts of alcohol. Beer is more expensive than malt liquor and is sold in 12 ounce bottles whereas malt liquor is usually contained and sold in 40 ounce bottles.
What is bottle fermentation?
Bottom fermentation is the type of fermentation by the yeast that works at lower temperatures of about 5-10 degrees celsius to produce alcohol. Bottom fermentation involves carrying yeast to the bottom of the fermented liquids which happens after several days leading to stable and consistent flavours.
What are the different types of yeasts used in the production of beer and malt liquor?
Bottom fermenting yeasts is:
- Hybrids of Saccharomyces eubayanus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Top fermenting yeast is:
- Saccharomyces cerevisiae
What are the differences in beer and malt liquor in terms of processing?
The processing of malt includes creating a mash, fermentation and carbonation of mash and the only requirement is to attain a higher alcohol content. The high levels of alcohol are acquired when the sugars are brewed acting to enhance beers.
The end product is a malt beverage which contains greater than 10% alcohol. Cheaper options of sugar to obtain a sweet taste of malt liquor are added to brew which includes dextrose, rice, corn and special enzymes
The process of making beer requires the grains to be boiled and then the grains are converted to sugar that can be fermented, with yeast added for fermentation. The beer achieved after this has an alcohol content of 4-8%. The grains used for the formation of beer are barley, wheat and rye.
Other FAQs about Beer that you may be interested in.
What does unfiltered beer mean?
What is the freezing point of beer?
What is the main ingredient in root beer?
Conclusion
In this brief article, we answered the question,”What is the difference between beer and malt liquor?”, and discussed what beer and malt liquor is. We also addressed other questions like, ”what is top and bottom fermentation?” and ”What are the different types of top and bottom fermentation yeast used in the production of beer and malt liquor?”
