Intro
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.
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.
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.
Dialogue (Download Audio Here)
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.
DiscussionGrammar PointQuiz
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?
Marni says that a person could get sick from drinking moldy beer. Could is a modal verb.
Modal verbs come before the main verb in a sentence. They help express ideas that have to do with possibility, obligation, and ability.
Could expresses that there is a possibility that someone might become sick from drinking bad beer. Could is slightly more tentative, or less factual, than can, another modal verb.
Which is correct: “I could decide to brew beer at home” or “I could to decide brew beer at home”?
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?
Modal verbs come before the main verb in a sentence. They help express ideas that have to do with possibility, obligation, and ability.
Could expresses that there is a possibility that someone might become sick from drinking bad beer. Could is slightly more tentative, or less factual, than can, another modal verb.
Which is correct: “I could decide to brew beer at home” or “I could to decide brew beer at home”?
- Why is Jason uncertain about making his own beer?
- Marni thinks that the scientific aspect of brewing beer is __.
- A hot trend is something that _.
- Which of these is not something you need to brew beer?
- What information do you think is true about the person Marni lives with? Answer Key: 1:D 2:A 3:B 4:C 5:D
[Learning English Daily] - Lesson: Brewing Beer
.png)
