Beer Encyclopedia

Ingridients: Hops / Malt / Yeast

Hops: Flowers that give beer its bitter and aromatic character. Specific hops are selected for their taste or aroma giving properties. They are also a natural preservative and enhance the alcohol effect. 

Malt (malted barley): The defining ingredient, malt gives the beer its distinctive roasted, grain or sweet character by influencing color, flavor, aroma and head retention.

Yeast: A single-celled organism that converts sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide. Also contributes to the production of certain flavors and aids in the expression of malt and hop flavours.

Fermentation: Ales / Lagers

Top fermented: Ales are made from a type of yeast that ferments at the top of the liquid, the process involves warmer brewing temperatures and a shorter brewing time, often only days. Prior to the refrigeration and the introduction of hops as preservatives Ale was the only kind of beer in history.

Bottom fermented: Lagers are made from a type of yeast that ferments at the bottom of the liquid. The brewing process involves longer brewing times and colder temperatures. During brewing, the beer is stored for a period of several weeks depending on beer style. Storing or lagering, encourages a smoother more settled taste in the beer. 

Beer Styles

Altbier: Well hopped and fairly malted, Alt beers are quite aromatic and bitter. These beers are a well-defined amber color to a deep brown.

Bitter: Highly hopped and quite bitter. Strength varies from Odinary to Best of Extra Special Bitter (ESB).

Bock: Traditionally full-bodied strong and high in alcohol content. It has an obvious malt and hop presense. Color is copper to dark brown. The more full-bodied Doppelbock is even higher in alcohol content. Helles Bock is a lighter version, both in color and taste and is sweeter and softer.

Pale Ale: Pale ales combine distinct bitterness with some malt-based sweetness. Distinguishing characteristics are dryness and defined hop taste. Ales range from amber to copperbrown and may be fairly mild to quite bitter.

Pilsener: Light-bodied with high hop bitterness. Clean, dry, rich taste and restrained flowery finish. Pale color with medium alcohol content. Pilsener is the most widely brewed and copied beer style in the world.

Porter: Black or chocolate malt contributes significantly to the dark brown color. Well-hopped aand heavily malted. Porters can be malty sweet and range from bitter to mild and are drier than stouts.

Wheat Beer: Wheat malt concentration, high carbonation and lover alcohol content. Yeasty tartness is a distinctive characteristic with fruity/spicy tones. Wheat beers that are conditioned in the bottle resulting in cloudiness with remains of the yeast as a sediment.