TheImbiber.net - All About Beer

Thursday, 22 January 2009 03:34

All About Beer

Written by Dan Dunn

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The great statesman Ben Franklin once opined that beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. And a hearty "Amen, Ben" to that!

But what do most people who aren't Ben Franklin really know about beer besides that it makes you feel good and has been known to induce a phenomenon known as belly swelling? Well I, for one, know a thing or two about it... or, at least I know a thing or two about how to look up a thing or two about it on the Internet. Here, then, a pocket guide to beer (assuming you have either a PDA or a very tiny computer that fits in your pocket).

All beers are brewed, but not all beers are brewed exactly the same way. The brewing process is all about mixing starches – usually malted barley, but sometimes stuff such as wheat and corn — with hot water, converting it into a wort, then fermenting it with yeast so that it magically turns into the stuff that makes Homer Simpson swoon.

But there are variations in the brewing process that determine the style, flavor, color and character of the beer. Lager and Ale are the two main beer categories, with lots of different types of beer falling under those umbrellas. To wit:

Lager - made with pale malt and “bottom-fermenting” yeast that flocculates at the bottom of the fermentation tank, which isn’t nearly as kinky as it sounds. (Flocculate means to form a puffy mass…wait, maybe it IS as kinky as it sounds!) fermented at a cool 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit, lager yeasts grow a lot less quickly than their ale counterparts, resulting in light-colored brew with dry, crisp taste; “pale” lager is the most popular beer in the world (Budweiser, Pilsner Urquell, Miller High Life, Asahi); most lagers have an ABV content between 3.8 and 6 percent; best served well-chilled at 45 degrees
FLAVOR PROFILE: crisp, clean, with a little bit – lager flavor is determined mostly by

the strain of yeast used and the temperature of fermentation.

Ale - made with “top-fermenting” yeasts that cause a thick, rich head to form during fermentation; fermented at a higher temperature than lager (between 58 and 70 degrees) which produces elevated levels of “esters” that imbue ale with fuller body and sweeter taste; ale is Genesee Cream Ale heavier and tends to have a slightly higher alcohol content than lager; among the many popular variations of ale are pale, red, brown, dark, old and cream (show some love for Genesee!!!)
FLAVOR PROFILE: fruity, round, bold — again, flavor is determined mostly by the strain of yeast used and the temperature of fermentation.

Stout and Porter - there’s ongoing debate among beer aficionados as to whether stout and porter are the same thing or what, if any, the actual differences are. Ask 100 stout brewers and you’re likely to get 100 different answers; in the end, does it matter? Just drink it! They’re both dark ales, have high ABV and are very popular in England and Ireland; I guess you could say stout is slightly more potent than porter; Guinness is the most popular stout in the world; Dogfish Head (from Delaware) makes a “World Wide Stout” that is 21 percent alcohol; best served at 55 degrees or slightly higher
STOUT VERSUS PORTER FLAVOR — the roasted flavor of stouts and porters is primarily achieved by brewing with malt that has been kilned (or fired) until it resembles burnt toast or coffee beans; the main difference between the two is that stouts often contain roasted barley as well.

Bock — Bocks are dark lagers that originated in Germany several centuries ago; modern Bocks usually have an ABV of over 6.2 percent; the oldest Bock Brewery in Norway is called Aass, which of course is very funny; most Bocks are made with a combination of Pilsner, Munich, chocolate and crystal malts (insert “crystal malt dealer” gag here!)
BOCK FLAVOR: the “maltiest” of all beer styles, bock is a great “comfort” beer for those cold winter months; it tastes like a warm fire on a at a ski lodge while a blizzard rages outside.