Beer-FAQ

This question was recently submitted by a reader, and to tell you the truth I did not know much about the formaldehyde in beer issue.  My initial reaction was "of course there is not formaldehyde in beer", but as I dug deeper into the research I began to grow concerned.

Now when I hear "formaldehyde" I think of preserving corpses… not exactly getting me in the mood for a cold one.  So to start off I figured a definition of formaldehyde was in order:

** This question was asked by an individual looking to brew beer at home. Even though it is geared towards brewing, it is still a good description of the main ingredients of beer.

In its most simple form, beer is made of four basic ingredients:  Water, yeast, Malt and hops.

Water

As is the case with the human body, the most abundant ingredient in beer is water. Over 95% of your brew is made up of water. With such a large amount of your final product coming from a single ingredient, you can imagine how important it is to use good water.