Store Information     Site Map

Beer    Beer Basics

So, what are the different kinds of beers that we drink today? Of course, like wine, each brewery can claim to have its own recipe and you could say that the number of different categories of beer is equal to the number of breweries in the world! However, there are a number of popular groups into which we may categorize beer. Here, I describe just a small subset of these groups. Note that this classification is not nearly an exhaustive one. It just describes some of the more popular categories. Ale - Beer brewed using the top fermentation process, where yeast cells rise to the top of the brewing tank, to be skimmed off when fermentation is complete. Ales commonly use darker malt and have a higher alcohol content and richer flavor than lagers produced by bottom fermentation. Ales - This is probably the mother of some of the most popular beers in the world, that has roots in Britain. Essentially, it is any beer made with a top-fermenting yeast. It is generally a full-bodied beer with a good hop character; its color can range from a light straw color to a deep, dark brown depending on the type of ale. Some of the popular ales are Pale Ales, India Pale Ales, Mild Ales and Bitters. The brewing process is similar for most ales, but the proportion of malt to hops is what defines the particular beer. It generally has a malty taste with a distinct hop bitterness. The strength of the beer also depends on the type of ale. Light Ales and Mild Ales can describe an alcohol content of about 3 - 5 %, while some of the original pale ales can be quite heavy in alcohol content (upto 10 %). Bocks - Originating in Germany, these beers are exemplary of a full-flavored, strong German beer. The name comes from the city in which it was born - Einbeck. It is generally a dark brown beer with a full malty taste. It is a bottom-fermenting beer and is also a root to many derivatives like Dopplebock, Maibock, Weizenbock etc. It is usually quite strong in alcohol content - an average bock is expected to contain at least 6 % alcohol by volume. Lagers - Any beer that is made by bottom-fermenting yeast can be called a lager (as opposed to top-fermenting beers like ales). Hence, it is really a categorization of the brewing process. Normally, if a beer is just classified as a lager, it is a light, golden-colored beer which could be the basic beer of the house/brewery. Stouts and Porters - Stouts are top-fermenting, dark beers made from roasted barley malts. It is extremely full-bodied with a balanced hop character. Porters are the lighter-bodied version of stouts and generally have a lesser complexity in taste, although they still retain the flavor. Stouts can be further classified as sweet stouts and dry stouts, with the latter being more popular. Guinness is the best of example of a classic stout. In the US, Sierra Nevada forms a good example of a porter. Generally, these beers are high in alcohol content (7 - 10 % alcohol by volume). Top