So, I have been taking it upon myself
to learn about beer in addition to wine. I will admit I have never
been a fan of beer. I like to cook with it and I will drink it, but it has never been a first
or even a second choice while drinking. Where I live there are several micro
breweries. The significant other is quite fond of them. I am tying
to learn about beer so we are able to enjoy the craft brews together.
My knowledge of beer up until lately
has been: You rent it...as in it makes you pee. Everyone seems to love Budweiser, I think it is horrible.
I tolerate Miller Light the best, but if it is cold enough I can deal
with Coors Light, Rolling Rock, or National Bohemian aka Natty Boh.
I do like Redds Apple Ale, but that has a sweet taste. I also quite
enjoy Crispin, but that is another cider.
I find the taste of hops unpleasant.
(Hops are the female flowers [also called seed cones or strobiles] of
the hop plant. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability
agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor. Hops are
also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal
medicine.) This is the root of my dislike of beers. I have always
been sensitive to bitter and that is what I don't like about the
hops. In my research I have found most all beers fall into one of
two categories: ales or lagers. Crazy right?
Ale is brewed from malted barley using
a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will
ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity
taste. Most ales contain hops, which help preserve the beer and
impart a bitter herbal flavor that balances the sweetness of the
malt. Ale is the oldest kind of beer.
Types of Ale
- Barley Wine - Use of the word wine is due to its similar alcoholic strength as a wine; but since it is made from grain rather than fruit, it is, in fact, a beer. There are two primary styles of barley wine: the American which tends to be more hoppy and thus more bitter with colors ranging from amber to light brown and the English style which tends to be less hoppy and thus less bitter with more variety in color ranging from red-gold to opaque black.
- Bitter - An English term for pale ale. Bitters vary in color from gold to dark amber. English bitter is widely considered by English drinkers to be the best beer in the world, as a result of its style being difficult to find elsewhere.
- Brown Ale - They range from deep amber to brown in color. Brown ales from northeastern England tend to be strong and malty, often nutty, while those from southern England are usually darker, sweeter and lower in alcohol. North American brown ales are usually drier than their English counterparts, with a slight citrus accent and an aroma, bitterness, and medium body.
- India Pale Ale - The body will be golden to amber and it is extremely hoppy. It was first brewed in England in the 19th century.
I wouldn't drink it, but the name is hilarious! - Pale Ale - is a beer made by warm fermentation using predominantly pale malt.
- Porter - a dark style of beer originating in London in the 18th century, descended from brown beer, a well hopped beer made from brown malt. The name is thought to come from its popularity with street and river porters.
- Stout – A dark beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were originally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters. There are several variations of stout.
- Wheat Beer - A beer that is brewed with a large proportion of wheat in addition to malted barley. wheat beer is the oldest style still in existence today.
Lager is light in color and is aged at
cool temperatures. Lager was developed by German brewers who
discovered that aging beer in natural caves after the initial
fermentation produced a cleaner beer and made their brews less
susceptible to contamination. Eventually this aging, called lagering,
led to the isolation of yeasts that thrived at lower temperatures
than the traditional ale yeasts. This bottom fermenting yeast is more
aggressive than ale yeast yielding a drier beer with almost no flavor
or aroma contributed by the yeast itself. Lagers are typically
served cold.
Types of Lager
- Bock - Bock originated in Einbeck, Germany. It is rich and malty. There is noticeable balancing hop bitterness but the depth of the full malt flavor dominate.
-
of origin. They typically range in color from amber to dark reddish brown. They are characterized by their smooth malty flavor.
- Oktoberfest/Maerzen - The body is light brown with a white head. This lager is distinctly German.
- Pilsner - It is one of the youngest beer styles in the world and was originally brewed in Plzen, Czech in 1842. Pilsner is brewed all over the world. The head is white and dense and the body is straw colored. The aroma should contain hops with a hint of graininess. The flavor is simple with light grain and hops bittering.
I've recently discovered through
research and tasting, I seem to like stouts and porter. IPA's are a
no go because the hoppiness of them turns me off. I have also
learned that some beers taste better with food. Wines do too. Who knew!?!
Stay tuned for the next installment of
beer!
References
