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Brewing Beer

How to Use Modal Verbs

Date: Oct 10 2012

Themes: Food, Hobbies

Grammar: Modal Verbs

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Intro

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risky
trend

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If you drink alcohol, you have probably enjoyed a beer in one of its many forms: in the can, bottle, or on tap. In fact, beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world. But where does it come from?

Beer is made through a process called brewing. Though the exact science may be over the head of the average person, the basics are pretty simple: cereal grains get converted to sugar, and the sugar is then fermented, with the help of some yeast. Some brewers use hops to add flavor to beer, producing a bitter taste, while others flavor their beer with fruit or other herbs.

Lots of the beer you find at the store is produced at huge breweries, but more and more craft brewers are making smaller amounts of beer and paying more attention to detail. There is even a growing homebrewing movement, with people making their own beer in their kitchen or garage. Hear Jason and Marni chat about brewing beer.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Jason

Marni: Seems to me in the last few years that one really hot trend is homebrewing.

Jason: Yeah! I know a lot of people who’ve been trying that. I just didn’t think I’d be very good at it. I thought I’d make some beer that’d be really undrinkable.

Marni: Well, there’s definitely a huge science component to it. You have to get everything just right. There’s the yeast and the hops and then it has to sit for a certain amount of time. But it is pretty fascinating watching the whole process.

Jason: Is it? So you’ve observed it?

Marni: I’ve observed it firsthand. I live with someone who homebrews, and you know, there’s a lot of equipment and it all looks very scientific, which is very cool. There’s definitely…just the slightest thing can go wrong and then you’ve ruined this entire batch of beer.

Jason: Can you die if you make your beer wrong?

Marni: I don’t think that can happen. You probably could get sick, though, if it gets moldy or something. But hopefully nobody’s died from it, ‘cause that sounds pretty awful.

Jason: Alcohol is so weird like that, like it has to ferment.

Marni: Exactly.

Jason: Yeah, it’s like, take this substance and let it sit around for a year, and then drink it. Seems risky to me. I just want to leave it in the hands of others I think.

Marni: Yeah.

Grammar Point

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Discussion

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Jason and Marni discuss the hot new trend of brewing one’s own beer at home. Marni has seen the process at work because she lives with someone who homebrews. She thinks it’s pretty cool, particularly the science behind the process.

Jason, on the other hand, isn’t so sure about home-brewing. He worries that he might make beer that tastes bad, or, even worse, that homebrewed beer could make someone get sick or die. For Jason, the whole thing seems too risky.

What do you think about the homebrewing trend? Have you ever experimented with making your own beer or other fermented foods or beverages at home? Would you like to try? Or would you prefer to buy ready-made beer that you know is tasty…and safe?

Comments

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21 through 26 of 26
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lovesound

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

who,s know where is the place that makes best beer?

wannicho

China

i think it’s cool , homebrewing was a trend when i was a kid , but it seems all women in china seeing home – made food and drinks are a burden rather than a pleasure or hobby. thats a shame. we have a kind of homebrewing drink made by rice ,very tasty, and it’s widely welcome by all ages of ppl , even little kids can drink. but nowadays ppl just bring it from supermarket , even ppl who knows the receipt won’t bother to take their time to make it …

Ngubo Sixtus

South Africa

brewing beer is a right thing to do,it’s save the money.my grandparents brew african beer.

sam 35

Dominican Republic

i love presidente beer i think i wont try to do it at home i prefer to buy them.

ola33

Japan

I like wine. My friend makes wine at home. It’s not much of a difference from the store ones. You even feel less alcohol in it. You just buy a kit and follow the instructions. One day I’ll probably try it. It’s cheap – $2 a bottle when in a store it’s $16.

So far, from the fermented foods, I make Sauerkraut. i love it and it’s very simple. You just need cabbage and salt. You squeeze it with your hands to releas juice, than put it in a jar, press with a big heavy rock, I found in our neighbourhood :)), and wait until brine is out of the cabbage. For a couple of days, you watch for the bubbles which is a good sign – the process is on. If you want the kraut less sour, you stop it to ferment and put it in a fridge, and if more sour to the likes, just let it ferment up to 5 days. Fermentation increases the value of the cabbage, it’s very rich with vitamin C and recognized as one of the healthiest products.

Wanna try ;)