beer, ale, lager, microbrew,
Beer Style Guide
© 20011 F. Paul Pacult
All rights reserved.
majestic beer pantheon, there exist only two fundamental categories,
ales and lagers, which dominate the many thousands of barrels
of beer made everyday in breweries and brewpubs from Munich to
Seattle. Each category has its own all-star line-up of variations
within the basic theme.
Ale is a beer that evolved through the biochemical action of
top-fermenting yeast, meaning that the yeast cells floated to
the top of the fermentation vat after they converted the innate
sugars of the wort into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Ales ferment
at temperatures that range between 59 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lager is bottom-fermented and at much lower temperatures (usually
between 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit) than Ale. The name comes from
the German term lagern, which means "to store". Records
and artifacts hint that this style of beer may have been discovered
back in the Dark Ages, possibly as far back as the 8th century
A.D. The evidence points to the deduction that ancient European
brewers may have stowed away their beer in ice caves for later
use. They discovered that the deliberate, very icy fermentation
produced a crystalline beer, free from turbidity.
Specialty beers are styles that are either blends of the processes
that create ales and lagers or beverages that are considered
beers but dwell just outside the ale and lager headings. They
are the fringe beers.
Abbey/Trappist (A): The best Abbey ales come from the
Trappist monasteries. These are great, buxom, wine-like, frequently
high alcohol, brick red to mahogany colored ales. Trappist ales
especially are very fruity due to the presence of esters which
are the result of special strains of yeast and brewing methods.
Each Trappist ale shows some sediment and is perfect for cellar
aging for up to 5 years. Currently in Europe, there are only
a half dozen Trappist breweries, five inhabit Belgium, one in
Altbier, Alt (A/L): Born in German breweries, primarily
in and around the city of Dusseldorf, this often pretty style
of beer is the color of orange pekoe tea-like copper to a rich
brown hue. The term alt means "old" in German and relates
directly to the brewing process, which is more akin to the making
of ale than lager since the fermentation is on the warm side
of the scale. Though the fermentation is warm, the Germans age
alts in cold storage, like lagers, thus the A/L categorization.
Alts are aromatic due to the high hop content.
Amber (A/L): An intensely fruity and hoppy style of domestic
ale or lager thatís the color of unadulterated tea. Though
not a ponderous style, ambers can be very pleasant quaffing.
American Lager (L): The rather neutral tasting beer type
that made Milwaukee famous. Pale straw to golden in appearance,
dry to off-dry, crisp and lean to the point of being flimsy,
these low alcohol (4-5%) beers are decent, if on the whole uninspiring,
Barley Wine (A): Considered a subcategory of Strong Ale,
barley wine is high in alcohol content (8-10%) and traditionally
dark in appearance, usually a harvest gold to medium chocolate
brown. The aroma is sweet and malty while the flavor is normally
quite bitter. Acquired taste.
Bitter (A): The UK reference to the copper-to-bronze-to-ruby
toned ales which are part-and-parcel of the British pub landscape.
Doubtless the most common draft beer type in the land of fish
and chips. Goes from being mildly bitter and astringent to the
mouth-puckering level, which is labeled as ESB (Extra Special
Bitter). Alcohol level is normally 4-5% by volume.
Black Beer (L): An extremely dark, indeed inky opaque,
lager known for its bitter chocolate-like aroma and taste. The
best examples come from Japan.
Bock, also Bok (L): This classic style of bottom-fermented
beer comes in various degrees of strength and depth of flavor.
It is believed to have been developed in Einbeck, Germany in
the early 13th century. Sometimes an off-dry to mildly sweet
beer which traditionally is consumed in the dark months of the
year. Regular bock beer has a deep tawny color and a rich fragrance.
Double Bock, called Doppelbock in Germany, is loftier in alcohol
(6-8%) and thicker than regular bock. Thereís even an
eye-popping triple bock beer available from the Boston Beer Company.
A commonly held misconception is that bock beer is beer thatís
been at the bottom of the barrel. The "dregs" label
that has been foisted upon bock for decades is totally false.
Brown Ale (A): An invention of the brewers in the north
of England who flourished in the UKís coal mining regions,
Brown Ales are stocky, firm, and on the sweet side and exhibit
a high concentration of maltiness. Their low alcohol readings
(4-5%) make them excellent chug-a-lug beers in chilly weather.
Color ranges from copper penny to coffee brown.
Dry Beer (L): Totally uninteresting, mass-produced beers
of North America that have no sweetness, scant body or texture,
and about as much complexity as mineral water. Clean enough,
however, to kill a hearty thirst on a July day.
ESB: See "Bitter".
Export/Dortmunder (L): Quite commonly an attractive pale
lemon yellow to a straw gold color, this nimble, medium-bodied
lager is a direct product, or a wannabe send-up, of the German
city of Dortmund. The authentic Exports are noted for their inherent
silkiness and crisp drinkability.
Faro (S): A very rare specialty beer thatís part
of the Lambic family. Faros are usually golden to light amber
in color, flabby in texture due frequently to the presence of
residual sugar, sweet and fruity in the bouquet and flavor, and
softly effervescent. Faros are doused with sugar, caramel, or
molasses or any combination of those three additives. Frequently
pasteurized to prevent the added sweetner from fermenting. Very
few bottlings are available, not just in the U.S., but anywhere.
Gueuze (S): Another specialty beer, hay gold to amber
in color, thatís considered a Lambic because itís
a marriage of old and new lambics. What makes Gueuze (pronounced
two ways, gerzz or goo-zah - take your pick) so unique, however,
is not so much the blending of two different ages of Lambic as
it is the secondary fermentation it undergoes right in the bottle
thatís eventually purchased. That process, known in Champagne,
France as methode champenoise, is the reason for the sustained
effervescence. Bottle aging for Gueuze sometimes lasts as long
as 6 to 9 months. It also has an abnormally long shelf life,
upwards of five years in some cases.
India Pale Ale/a.k.a. IPA (A): An under appreciated ale
style in the U.S. which can at its best offer sublime, moderately
bitter aromas and flavors of flowery hops and ripe red fruit.
Appearance ranges from honey gold to rust. The name evolved in
the 19th century when British brewers were transporting ale to
troops stationed in India and other far-flung British Empire-controlled
ports-of-call. The tedious voyage around Africaís Cape
demanded that a beer be robust and immune to drastic changes
of climate. This wonderful variety more often than not survived
Lambic, also Lambiek (S): A top-fermented, fruit-flavored,
wheat beer style which originated in 15th century Belgium in
a hamlet called Lambeek. Doubtless the worldís rarest
beers, Lambics are typically acidic and fruity, but the fruit
is not usually of the ripe or succulent kind and is more green,
sour, and understated. The most common types of fruit employed
include raspberries, peaches, red cherries, plums, and even cranberries.
In a departure from all other types of beer, no yeast is injected
into the wort. Natural airborn yeasts initiate fermentation.
The brewing of Lambics can, in some cases, take years.
Light Beer (L): A lager that is lower in calories than
full-strength standard bottlings. Usually a gutted, vapid, shadow
of a beer. Few exceptions exist.
Malt Liquor (L): Generally, a higher alcohol beer (6-8%
by volume) with a neutral taste and full body. Created more for
a quick hit of alcohol than for any sense of character or complexity.
The bottom feeders of the beer category. Please note, however,
that many beers from Germany have the words "Malt Liquor"
on their labels, which has nothing to do with the over-inflated,
over-alcoholic domestic style of beer.
Marzen/Oktoberfest, a.k.a. Vienna (L): Originated in Munich
in the pre-refrigeration era, Marzen was developed as a beer
that was brewed in the month of March and stored all summer long
in cool caves. Come October, hey, itís party time. Go
get whatís left of the Marzen! As a result, itís
known either as Marzen or Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest moniker
was started in 1810 with the royal marriage (in October) of Bavarian
Prince Luitpold. These are keenly malty, medium to full bodied
lagers which are aromatic and alluring. The color goes from a
burnished orange to a dark copper.
Pale Ale (A): Bitter, which is marginally lighter than
Pale Ale, can be included in this subcategory. Some of the worldís
finest ales inhabit this well-populated subcategory, which evolved
in the great brewing center of Burton-upon-Trent, England in
the 17th and 18th centuries. The beers themselves are rarely
pale, but in reality, more of an amber-bronze-rust hue. Thereís
always the presence of bitterness in the underpinning flavor,
then a dry to off-dry maltiness comes over the top.
Pilsener, also Pils, Pilsner (L): Pilsenerís color
spans from pale straw yellow to sunny, rich gold. This is a typically
light to medium-bodied, floral-scented, hoppy, stone dry, and
intensely malty lager whose rÈsumÈ was begun in
1842 in the old Bohemian town of Pilsen. Alcohol level is routinely
in the 4 to 5 percent range. Itís said that this was actually
the first clear, golden beer of its kind. One of the top five
styles of beer and certainly the most globally emulated.
Porter (A): Appearance-wise, Porter runs a narrow corridor
of color from deep amber to dark copper to black coffee, all
with hints of red. Characterized to the point of distraction
as the cruiserweight to Stoutís heavyweight, Porter is
one of the more flavorful and deeply satisfying styles of ale,
whose aromas and flavors can evoke bittersweet chocolate, coffee
beans, roasted nuts, baked apples or pears, malt, and even spice.
Portersí depth of flavor and appearance come from the
use of black patent malts and roasted, unmalted barley. Definitely
a cool month or winter variety of ale, which should never be
served too cold. Thought to have been introduced to Britain in
the early 18th century. The name developed from the fact that
train porters in England used to sell Porter to passengers. People
would shout out, "Porter!".
Scotch Ale/Scottish Ale, a.k.a. Wee Heavy (A): If beer
has a rough equivalent to single malt Scotch Whisky, this is
it. The best are heavily malted, full-bodied, show a deep amber-auburn
hue, and offer a husky texture that fills the mouth like few
other beer styles. The deep, grainy, mashy flavor and dark tone
are the products of the roasted barley malt. Only a few can be
located in the U.S.
Seasonal/Winter/Christmas Beers (S): Special brews have
long been produced for consumption during the winter solstice/Christmas
holidays. These beers, which more often than not are ales, are
frequently enhanced with spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves,
coriander, and ginger. Appropriate for the season, of little
use past then.
Smoked Beer/Rauchbier (S): Smoke beers can be either lagers
or ales. The smoky aroma and flavor is derived from the drying
of the barley malt in kilns. The brewers in Bamburg, Germany
fire their kilns with beechwood for the smoke flavor. American
brewers employ hickory, apple, alder, and maple woods while other
brewers simply use peated malt. Admirers of single malt Scotches
from the island of Islay might take note of smoked beers for
their summer drinking.
Steam Beer (S): This idiosyncratic beer combines the ale
and lager brewing processes, in that, it is a bottom fermenting
beer fermented at temperatures that are normally utilized for
top fermenting varieties. Germany has long espoused steam beers
which they call dampfbiers, but itís been a San Francisco
brewer, Anchor, who has championed the steam beer cause in the
Stout (A): A broad subcategory of the meatiest, most complex,
and darkest of top-fermented ales that includes Oatmeal, Cream,
Dry, Sweet, and Imperial. More potent than Porter, Stouts are
like a meal in themselves and in the past have been viewed as
such. Stout is a beer category that one works up to rather than
employs as a launching point. Stouts range in taste from dry,
velvety, and roasted to sweet, thick, creamy, and chocolatey.
Strong Ale, a.k.a. Old English Ale (A): A very potent,
endowed, texturally bulky ale that runs in color from pale amber
to tawny and in bouquet and flavor from almond-like to fruity
to creamy sweet. Usually quite bitter to the taste and low in
Vienna (L): See Marzen/Oktoberfest.
Wheat/Weizen/White/Weissbier/Wit (S): The majority of
brewers believe that the malt made from barley grain makes the
best beer. Others tout wheat beers as the best. Wheat is, after
all, the most cultivated grain (though like its cousin barley
is really a grass) on the planet. Normally light to medium in
body, these golden, extremely fizzy, lower in alcohol beers are
made mostly from wheat malt with some measure of barley malt
thrown in for balance. They are commonly very tart, dry, and
yeasty to the taste. Some, especially those from Europe, exhibit
a lovely yellow fruit bouquet that can be immensely pleasurable.
Very similar in appearance to French pastis such as Pernod or
Ricard, part of the package of wheat beers is a harmless cloudiness
© 2011 F. Paul Pacult
All rights reserved.