ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Malt beer

Malt beer is a special type of drink that is made from a few different ingredients. The main ingredient is something called malted barley. This means that barley has been soaked, sprouted, and then dried again. When the barley is malted, it creates a special sugar that is really important for making beer.

After the malted barley is ready, it gets mixed with hot water in a big pot. This mixture is called a mash, and it looks kind of like oatmeal. The mash gets stirred a lot, and after a little while, the special sugar that was created during the malting process starts to dissolve in the water.

Once the sugar has dissolved, the mash gets drained and the liquid is put in a big pot again. This is where the magic happens! Yeast, a special type of fungus, is added to the liquid, and it starts to eat the sugar. When yeast eats sugar, it makes carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. This process is called fermentation.

Over a few weeks, the liquid with the yeast in it sits in a big tank and the yeast keeps eating the sugar and making alcohol. When the amount of alcohol is just right, the liquid gets put in bottles or cans and shipped off to be sold.

When you drink malt beer, you get to taste all the different parts of the process. It might taste a little bit sweet because of the special sugar, and it also tastes a little bit bitter because of another ingredient called hops. Overall, it's a delicious drink that lots of people enjoy!
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