Cooks Illustrated Unframed Print: Beer Ingredients

Over the past 20 years, renowned illustrator John Burgoyne has produced more than 150 intricate, hand-drawn illustrations for Cook’s Illustrated magazine. Now, for the first time ever, America’s Test Kitchen is proud to partner with Mr. Burgoyne and offer a select number of fine art prints featuring this iconic artwork.

Beer is the alchemical result of converting cereal grain starch to sugar (“malting”); steeping the grain in hot water (“mashing”); and then boiling, fermenting, and packaging the liquid. Malted barley is the most common form of malt; typically, brewers use a large proportion of pale, delicate “base malt” such as German pils and complement it with darker, sweeter specialty malts such as caramel or chocolate to add color and character. wheat and rye, which are sold whole or flaked, are used in combination with barley as “adjunct grains.” The former brings lighter color and fuller body; the latter, distinct spiciness. Often, brews are seasoned with orange peels (other citrus may also be used), coffee, vanilla, or spices such as coriander. During fermentation, yeast consumes sugars from the strained liquid (“wort”) and converts it to beer by creating alcohol, carbon dioxide, and a range of complex flavors. Hops—flowers that look like artichokes when fresh and rabbit food pellets when processed and dried—impart distinct bitterness and a wide range of aromas. Brewers add them at varying intervals: early in the boiling phase to infuse maximum bitterness and sometimes again after fermentation to extract the plant’s more delicate aromas.