Beer and mixed beer drinks
Beer style is a term used to differentiate and categorize beers by factors such as colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin.
The modern concept of beer style is largely based on the work of writer Michael Jackson in his 1977 book The World Guide To Beer in which he categorised beers from around the world into style groups according to local customs and names. In 1989, Fred Eckhardt furthered Jackson's work publishing The Essentials of Beer Style.[2] Although the systematic study of beer styles is a modern phenomenon, the practice of distinguishing between different varieties of beer is ancient, dating to at least 2000 BC.
The study of what constitutes a beer's style may involve provenance, local tradition, ingredients, and/or empirical impression, which is conventionally broken down into several elements; typically - aroma, appearance, flavour and mouthfeel. The flavour may include the degree of bitterness of a beer due to bittering agents such as hops, roasted barley, or herbs; and the sweetness from the sugar present in the beer.
Types
While there are many types of beer brewed, the basics of brewing beer are shared across national and cultural boundaries. The traditional European brewing regions—Germany, Belgium, England and the Czech Republic—have local varieties of beer.
English writer Michael Jackson, in his 1977 book The World Guide To Beer, categorised beers from around the world in local style groups suggested by local customs and names. Fred Eckhardt furthered Jackson's work in The Essentials of Beer Style in 1989.
Top-fermented beers are most commonly produced with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a top-fermenting yeast which clumps and rises to the surface, typically between 15 and 24 °C (60 and 75 °F). At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, or prune, among others.
Before the introduction of hops into England from the Netherlands in the 15th century, the names "ale" and "beer" were exclusively applied to unhopped fermented beverages, the term beer being gradually shifted to describe a brew with an infusion of hops.
The word ale comes from Old English ealu (plural ealoþ), in turn from Proto-Germanic *alu (plural *aluþ), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European base *h₂elut-, which holds connotations of "sorcery, magic, possession, intoxication". The word beer comes from Old English bēor, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą, probably from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeusóm, originally "brewer's yeast, beer dregs", although other theories have been provided connecting the word with Old English bēow, "barley", or Latin bibere, "to drink". On the currency of two words for the same thing in the Germanic languages, the 12th-century Old Icelandic poem Alvíssmál says, "Ale it is called among men, but among the gods, beer."
Real ale is the term coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973 for "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide". It is applied to bottle conditioned and cask conditioned beers.
Yeasts that ferment at warmer temperatures, usually between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, form a layer of foam on the surface of the fermenting beer, which is why they are referred to as top-fermenting yeasts. Yeasts that ferment at considerably lower temperatures, around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, have the ability to process a chemical compound known as raffinose, a complex sugar created during fermentation. These yeasts collect at the bottom of the fermenting beer and are therefore referred to as bottom-fermenting yeast. The majority of beer in production today is fermented in this way and is called lager.
Two other types of beer styles include beer of spontaneous fermentation and beers of mixed origin. Beers of spontaneous fermentation are mainly produced in Belgium using wild strains of yeast. These types of beers are often referred to as Lambic. Beers of mixed origin include Altbier and Kölsch.
Elements of beer style
Beers may be categorized based on a number of factors.
Appearance
The visual characteristics that may be observed in a beer are colour, clarity, and nature of the head. Colour is usually imparted by the malts used, notably the adjunct malts added to darker beers, though other ingredients may contribute to the colour of some styles such as fruit beers. Colour intensity can be measured by systems such as EBC, SRM or Lovibond, but this information is rarely given to the public.
Many beers are transparent, but some beers, such as hefeweizen, may be cloudy due to the presence of yeast making them translucent. A third variety is the opaque or near-opaque colour that exists with stouts, porters, schwarzbiers (black beer) and other deeply coloured styles. Thickness and retention of the head and the lace it can leave on the glass, are also factors in a beer's appearance.
Aroma
The aroma in a beer may be formed from the malt and other fermentables, the strength and type of hops, the alcohol, esters, and various other aromatic components that can be contributed by the yeast strain, and other elements that may derive from the water and the brewing process.
Flavour
The taste characteristics of a beer may come from the type and amount of malt used, flavours imparted by the yeast, and strength of bitterness. Bitterness can be measured on an International Bitterness Units scale, and in North America a number of brewers record the bitterness on this scale as IBUs.
Mouthfeel
The feel of a beer in the mouth, both from thickness of the liquid and from carbonation, may also be considered as part of a beer's style. A more dextrinous beer feels thicker in the mouth. The level of carbonation (or nitrogen, in "smooth" beers) varies from one beer style to another. For some beers it may give the beer a thick and creamy feel, while for others it contributes a prickly sensation.
Strength
The strength of beer is a general term for the amount of alcohol present. It can be quantified either indirectly by measurement of specific gravity, or more directly by determining the overall percentage of alcohol in the beer.
Gravity
Measurement of the specific gravity of the beer has been used to estimate the strength of beer by measuring its density. Several different scales have been used for the measurement of gravity, including the Plato, Baumé, Balling, and Brix scales, with the Plato scale being the most common modern measure.
This approach relies on the fact that dissolved sugars and alcohol each affect the density of beer differently. Since sugars are converted to alcohol during the process of fermentation, gravity can be used to estimate the final alcohol. In beer brewing, a distinction is made between the original gravity, the gravity of the wort before fermentation has begun, and the final gravity of the product when fermentation has completed. Since the concentration of sugars is directly proportional to the gravity, the original gravity gives a brewer an idea of the potential alcoholic strength of the final product. After fermentation, the differences between the final and original gravities indicates the amount of sugar converted into alcohol, allowing the concentration of alcoholic strength to be calculated.
The original gravity of a beer was the basis for determining taxation in both the UK and Ireland from 1880 until the late 20th century, and a legacy of that system remains in the largely arbitrary division of bitter into "bitter", "best bitter", and "special bitter" substyles. In continental Europe, the strength of a beer in degrees Plato is sometimes used by a brewery to distinguish a particular beer produced in a line. For example, Rochefort Brewery produces three beers, all dissimilar in colour, flavour, and aroma; and sells them as Rochefort 6, Rochefort 8, and Rochefort 10, the numbers referring to the original gravities of the beers. Westvleteren Brewery, meanwhile, produces three beers, and calls them Blonde, 8, and 12.
Alcohol concentration
Modern classification of the strength of alcoholic beverages for the purposes of taxation and regulation typically discriminates according to the percentage of alcohol by volume, generally abbreviated as abv. Additionally, although less common, some brewers throughout the world use also alcohol by weight (abw), particularly on low-point versions of popular domestic beer brands. At the relatively low alcohol concentrations of beer, the alcohol percentage by weight is roughly 4/5 of the abv (e.g., 3.2% abw is equivalent to 4.0% abv),[9] but this becomes increasingly inaccurate as the alcohol concentration increases.
Before the development of modern brewing practices and the complete understanding of the biochemistry of yeast, the final abv of a beer could not be precisely controlled, making its value inconsistent and therefore unsuitable as a determinant for taxation or regulation. Contemporarily, though, abv is often used in to determine the duty on beer and cider, and sales of beer and cider above a certain abv is sometimes restricted or prohibited. For example, in Texas, beers below 4% abv cannot be sold as stout regardless of other stylistic considerations.
Yeast
A variety of yeasts are used in making beer, most of which are strains of either top-fermenting yeast or bottom-fermenting yeast. Different strains impart different flavour and aroma characteristics,[citation needed] and may vary in which complex sugars they can ferment and how high their alcohol tolerance is, both of which are factors in attenuation. Some beers use other microbes in addition to yeasts, such as Lactobacillus or Brettanomyces. For example, the distinctive flavour and aroma of Belgian Abbey ales largely result from the yeast strains used to ferment the beer. There are a few modern styles, notably lambics, where spontaneous fermentation is used — that is, rather than being inoculated in a controlled fashion with a nurtured yeast, the unfermented wort is allowed to be colonized by microorganisms present in the environment.
Grains
Most beers use barley malt as their primary source of fermentable sugars, and some beer styles mandate it be used exclusively, such as those German styles developed under Reinheitsgebot. Some beer styles can be considered varietals, in the same sense as wine, based on their malt bill.
Kilned pale malts form the basis of most beer styles now in production, with styles that use other grains as a base distinguished by those grains (for example bock, which uses Munich malt as a base). The Rauchbier and Alaskan smoked porter styles are distinguished by the use of smoked malt.
Some styles use one or more other grains as a key ingredient in the style, such as wheat beer, rye beer, or oatmeal stout.
The inclusion of some grains such as corn and rice is often viewed as making less of a flavour contribution and more of an added source of fermentable sugars. Rice in particular "is considered by many [craft] brewers what the nasty industrial brewers use to water down their beer".
This is due in large part to the use of rice by large scale American breweries. While it is commonly held that these breweries introduced these grains to their formulas during war shortages, author Maureen Ogle states "The mythology is that these giant beer makers began adding rice and corn to their beer after World War II to water it down, but that's simply not true. The American brewing industry was built in the late 19th century by first-generation German American immigrants such as Adolphus Busch, Adolph Coors and Frederick Miller. Although these men, craft brewers themselves, initially re-created the full-bodied beers of their homeland, many Americans had not developed a taste for the malt-heavy style. They needed a domestic ingredient that would make the beers more effervescent, bubbly and lighter. Rice and corn did that – it was a desired flavor, not inexpensive filler."
Hops
Hops contribute bitterness, flavour and aroma to a beer in different ways depending on when they are added during the brewing process. How much hop bitterness and aroma is appropriate varies between beer styles. There are many varieties of hops, some of which are associated with beers from specific regions. For example, Saaz hops are associated with Czech Pilsners; Hallertau and Tettnanger are two of the "noble" hop varieties one expects to find in German beers, and Kent Goldings are an English variety.
Water
Water is the main ingredient in beer, and, though water itself is flavourless, the chemical composition can have an influence on the finished taste; indeed, some brewers regard it as "the most important ingredient in beer". In particular, two styles of beer are especially noted for their water chemistry: pale ale, for which the process of Burtonisation is widespread; and Pilsener.
Other ingredients
Fruits and spices are key ingredients in some beer styles. While fruit beers and herb beers are often listed as style categories unto themselves, fruits and spices are sometimes used to contribute to the flavour and aroma profile of other styles. Vegetables have also been used in beers. Honey, molasses, candy sugar, or other fermentable sugars may be added to impart their distinct flavours to a beer. While not an ingredient per se, some brewers have experimented with aging their beer in barrels previously used for bourbon or other distilled spirits, imparting the flavour of both the wood and the spirit to the beer.
Alcoholic beverages made from the fermentation of sugars derived from non-grain sources are generally not called "beer," despite being produced by the same yeast-based biochemical reaction. Fermented honey is called mead, fermented apple juice is called cider, fermented pear juice is called perry (sometimes, pear cider), fermented plum juice is called plum jerkum, and fermented grape juice is called wine. Chinese jiu and Japanese sake are made using much the same process as beer with one additional step in the fermentation as well as using rice instead of primarily barley malt.
Beer styles
Most beer styles fall into types roughly according to the time and temperature of the primary fermentation and the variety of yeast used during fermentation. As the terminology of brewing arose before the advent of the science of microbiology, "yeast" in this context may refer not only to fungi but to some bacteria, for example Lactobacillus in Berliner Weisse.
Top-fermenting yeast typically ferments at higher temperatures (15–23°C, 60–75°F), producing significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavours and aromas, often resembling those of apple, pear, pineapple, grass, hay, banana, plum or prune.
Top-fermented beers include Brown Ale, Mild Ale, Old Ale, Pale Ale, Stout and Wheat beer.
Pale lagers are the most commonly consumed type of beer in the world. Lagers are of Central European origin, taking their name from the German lagern ("to store"), and normally use a bottom-fermenting yeast which begin fermenting at 7–12 °C (45–54 °F) (the "fermentation phase"), and then stored at 0–4 °C (32–39 °F) (the "lagering phase"). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "crisper" tasting beer.
Modern methods of producing lager were pioneered by Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger, who perfected dark brown lagers at the Spaten Brewery in Bavaria, and Anton Dreher, who began brewing a lager in Vienna, Austria, in 1840–1841. With modern improved fermentation control, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks.
Most of today's lager is based on the original Pilsner style, pioneered in 1842 in the town of Pilsen (Plzeň), in an area of the Austrian monarchy now located in the Czech Republic. The modern pale lager that developed from Pilsner is light in colour and high in forced carbonation, with an alcohol content of 3–6% by volume. The Pilsner Urquell or Heineken brands of beer are typical examples of pale lager, with the Pilsner Urquell brand having a hop presence more associated with the pilsner style. Principal styles of lager include pale lager, Bock, Dunkel, Helles, Oktoberfestbier / Märzen, Pilsner, Schwarzbier and Vienna lager.
Beers of spontaneous fermentation use wild yeasts rather than cultivated ones. By the Middle Ages, brewers had learned to crop the yeast from one brew and use it in the next. Only in a few isolated regions were wild yeasts still used. The best-known region where spontaneous fermentation is still used is the Senne Valley in Belgium where lambic is produced.
Hybrid or mixed style beers use modern techniques and materials instead of, or in addition to, traditional aspects of brewing. Although there is some variation among sources, mixed beers generally fall into the following categories:
- Altbier and Kölsch, both of which are top fermented before being cold conditioned, i.e. lagered.
- Steam beers were invented by German immigrants living in California and are made with a type of bottom-fermenting yeast that can ferment at warmer temperatures. The name "steam beer" is a trademark of the Anchor Brewing Company, though other brewers brew this beer under the designation "California common".
- Fruit and vegetable beers are mixed with some kind of fermentable fruit or vegetable adjunct during the fermentation process, providing obvious yet harmonious qualities.
- Herb and spiced beers include herbs or spices derived from roots, seeds, fruits, vegetables or flowers instead of, or in addition to hops.
- Wood-aged beers are any traditional or experimental beer that has been aged in a wooden barrel or have been left in contact with wood chips or cubes. Often, the barrel or wood will be treated first with some variety of spirit or other alcoholic beverage; bourbon, scotch and sherry are common.
- Smoked beers use malt that has been treated by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering wood so that a smoky aroma and flavour is present. The best known examples of this style are the Rauchbiers of Bamberg, Germany. Brewers outside Germany have also used smoked malt in porters, Scotch ale and other styles.
- Champagne-style beers are finished "à la méthode originale", mainly in Belgium, and include Grottenbier, Deus and Malheur Bière Brut.