OUT JACKIE CREMER A look into how Lawrence brewpubs create their own craft beers. At the top of a spiral staircase lays a hidden chamber. It is dimly lit with wet cement floors. Giant steel cone-shaped containers encompass the rooms, with tubes and pipes lining the ceiling and floor. Security is tight. Only a select few work up here, formulating equations to make their creation. No, this is not Frankenstein's lair. And its workers are not mad scientists. They are brewers, formulating crafting, and creating a well-known beverage-beer. Craft breweries are gaining momentum in the alcoholic ahead of the competition. ALES VS. LAGERS "It's certainly not sitting around and drinking beer all day," says Micah Welichert, head brewer at 75th Street Brewery, Ales: Beers are divided into two categories. As there are white and red wines, there are ales and lagers. Fruity Fruity Fermented in about 3 weeks at warmer temperatures Most often bitter Hoppy Most styles originated in England beverage industry. Creating the brew is tedious and labor-intensive, but the brewers' special attention to history and detail in their designer beers may be what is pushing them Lagers: Ferments in about 2 months at colder temperatures Smooth,crisp flavor Moderate to low bitter taste Developed in Germany Lagers: Source: Micah Weichert, head brewer at 75th Street Brewery 3512 Clinton Park way. Brewing is a science; and beers are designed using numbers and equations."I do a lot of history and reading to try and recreate a style and then add my personal flair," he says. Weichert apprenticed in a handful of breweries for about four years before becoming an actual brewer He first gained interestbyusing a homebrew kit. He taugh himself the scientific aspect of his job, and because he doesn't have a degree in brewing science, he isn't technically considered a brew master. "After seven years of being able to produce those equations and come out with a beer, I think that earns you that title,"he says. Based on percentages, craft beer is the fastest growing alcoholic beverage in the United States. Sales have increased 11 percent in the first half of 2006, according to a report by the Brewers Association. Last year sales rose 9 percent, and they rose 7 percent in 2004.The growth is on the account of the work of small, independently owned breweries, like Lawrence's local brewpubs, Free State Brewing Company, 636 Massachusetts St., and $ ^{7th}$ Street Brewery. Free State Brewery was the first legal brewery in Kansas since prohibition. It has four brewers on staff and creates about 2,500 fifteen-barrel batches per year. There are 32 gallons in a barrel, which is about two kegs. Although Free State Brewery could expand its business to become more mainstream, that isn't the goal."We have a passion for the art of making beer. We take so much time, effort and care," says Ray Dalton, Free State Brewery manager.People should come to Free State to enjoy the beer, and that's part of the experience of craft breweries, he says. Chad Gray, Wichita senior. drinks beer at a Lawrence brewery about once a week. The Royal Raspberry Wheat at 75th Street Brewery is his favorite, but he also likes to go to breweries and sample every beer on the menu. "I like trying new things," he says,"I've been drinking Miller Lite and those kind of beers since I was in high school." The biggest difference between craft beers brewed at local breweries and mass-productions like Anheuser-Busch are the ingredients. The ingredients that make up Lite American Lagers — like Miller Lite, Bud Light and Coors Light — consist of barley with a high percentage of rice or corn as adjuncts. Adjuncts are any unmalted grain or ingredient added to the mix other than mated barley."Most domestic beers are not even considered beer," Weichert says. Craft brewers stick to an old German law that a beverage isn't considered beer unless it is made from four basic ingredients: water, malted barley, hops and yeast, he says. Next time you want to enjoy a brewski after finishing your biology test, ditch the Bud Light and enjoy a home-brewed classic from one of Lawrence's brew pubs. CRAFT BEER TERMS Mikrobrewery: A brewery that makes less than 15,000 barrels of beer in one year. Brewpub: A restaurant-brewery that sells 25 percent or more of its beer in the restaurant or bar. Free State Brewing Company and 75th Street Brewery are brewpubs. Regional Craft Brewery: A brewery whose flagship brand is an all-mask or specialty beer. These breweries produce more than 50 percent craft beer. For example, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium Brewing Co. and Magic Hat are regional craft breweries. Craft Brewer: Any brewer who sells mainly craft beers, and whose flagship brand is a craft beer. Craft Beers: Generally, domestic beers that are made with all malted barley by small brewers. Craft beers have a wide range of colors and alcohol content. They can also have additional ingredients added like fruit, herbs or spices. Flavor is the main goal in the production of craft beers, not necessarily for mass appeal. Source: May/June 2006 Issue of The New Brewer, the journal of The Brewers Association Water INGREDIENTS AND PROCESS Beer is 90 percent water. Different minerals are added to the water, or it is filtered to a certain degree depending on the style of beer, says Welchert, head brewer at 75th Street, Brewery. Hard water is used to make darker beers, soft water for lights, he says. Malted barley Hops Barley is a basic grain that creates the alcohol content,color, sweetness and flavor of a beer. It is malted before the breweries use it. Maths are shipped in from around the world and can be combined by the brewer to make new flavors. Malt comes in flavors such as chocolate, toasted, earthy or caramel. Hops are fluffy, green pine cone-like flowers of a perennial vine. Broweries usually use them in pellet form for easier storage, but can also use them fresh. Hops create bitterness, flavor and aroma. The longer they are boiled, the more bitter a beer will taste. Boil them less, and there will be more flavor and aroma. Yeast Yeast, which is a fungus, ferments the sugar from the malt in the barley to create the alcohol content. The fermenting tanks at breweries are cone-shaped because after the yeast is done fermenting, it falls out of the beer and collects at the bottom of the cone to be reused in another batch. The Brewing Process 1. Malting: This germinates raw grain to produce enzymes, which converts white starch to sugars. 2. Roasting Heat is added to the grain to produce most of the flavor and color. 3.Milling: The "art" phase of brewing. Malts imported into the brewery from other countries such as Germany, Canada, Belgium, or England with other specialty malts to create a specific style of beer. 4.Mashing: The carbohydrates and proteins in the malt are converted to simple sugars by the enzymes in the malt. 5.Boiling: Boiled in kettle for about 90 minutes and hops are added. 7. Fermentation: Yeast converts sugars to alcohol. The more sugar, the higher alcohol content. Different yeast strains are used to create different styles of beer. 6. Whitpool: Spins the protein chains created during boiling and hop particles to the center to clear them out. The mixture is now cooled. 8. The beer is dispensed directly from the brewery's storage tanks to the taps at the bar. Source: Micah Weichert, head brewer at 75th Street Brewery 09.14.2006 JAYPLAY <07