Beer Basics

BEER, An alcoholic / nonalcoholic beverage that is fermented and brewed from rice, malted barley, corn, hops, water and yeast. Pure water/fresh water is mixed with corn grits and malted Barley.

“Malted” means the corn has been soaked and allowed to germinate or grow. This is then cooked and blended to create a mash. After fermentation the sugary liquid left behind is called “Wort”. It is then boiled and hops are added to it to give it a rich aroma and delicate bitterness that is found in all beers. This wort is placed in a fermentation tank and yeast is added to speed up the fermentation process. There are two types of yeast that could be added: Bottom and Top Yeast. Bottom yeast settles to the bottom of the tank resulting in Lager. Top yeast settles to the top of the tank to form Ale.

 Beers start out as ale or a lager, and their specific styles and flavors continue to evolve from there. Under the broad ale category, there are numerous types of beer, including pale ales, India pale ales (IPA), porters, stouts, and wheat and Belgian styles. Lagers encompass a range of styles, including the pale Pilsners and German Helles and the darker American lagers.

How is Beer Categorized?

All beers are either lagers or ales, and that's determined by the type of yeast used during the fermentation process. Lagers are made with yeast that ferments at the bottom of the beer mixture, and ales are made with yeast that ferments at the top. There are also spontaneously fermenting yeasts, which make wild or sour ales.

The major difference between types of beer comes down to the type of yeast used to ferment it. A beer can qualify as either a lager or ale, depending on the fermenting process. Ales are created through top fermentation, a process in which yeast ferments at warmer temperatures and settles at the top of the beer. Yeast used to make lager tends to settle at the bottom of the beer, and the fermenting process is longer and takes place under cooler temperatures. The yeast in ales has a higher tolerance for alcohol than the yeast used in lagers.

Once you’ve figured out if your beer is a lager or an ale, there is further differentiation determined by the flavor, color, and aroma of the beer. These determine what style family a given beer falls into. Within that style family, there are varieties, which have even more distinct characteristics.

For example, an American Lager and a German Helles are both lagers that belong to the "pale lagers and pilsners" style family. They are two different varieties of beer, however, and while they are similar, they are also distinctly different. Think of the different varieties like brothers; they have definite similarities, but ultimately, they are each their own person.

What is Top Fermentation?

The yeast that is used in ale production ferments throughout the beer and settles at the top of the liquid. It has a higher tolerance to alcohol and ferments at warmer temperatures when compared to the yeast that’s used to make lager.

Top Fermenting Styles of Beer

Brown Ale. Pale Ale. India Pale Ale (IPA).Porter.Stout.Belgian Style Beer. Wheat Beer

What is Bottom Fermentation?

The yeast used in lager production is more fragile than what’s used to make ale, and it settles at the bottom of the liquid vessel after fermentation. It needs to ferment more slowly and at cooler temperatures than the yeast that’s used in ale production, and it has a lower tolerance to alcohol.

Bottom Fermenting Styles of Beer

Pale Lagers and Pilsners, Dark Lagers, German-Style Bocks

What is Spontaneous Fermentation?

Lambics and sour beers are made with a process called spontaneous fermentation. This type of fermentation occurs when beer is exposed to wild bacteria and yeast. These beers originated in Belgium, but brewers all over the world have found ways to manipulate this process to create sour, funky-tasting beers of their own.

Here are a few examples of spontaneous fermenting beers:

American Sour, Belgian Fruit Lambic, Flanders Red Ale, Belgian Gueuze

Different Types of Beer

With over 3,000 craft breweries in the United States, it’s safe to say that craft beer is bigger than ever. Knowing about the different types of beer can help your employees and bartenders make recommendations and suggestions about the best food and beer pairings. Additionally, knowing about the different types of beer can help you choose the right glass for each beer and potentially upsell customers to boost profits.

What is lager?

Lagers are a typical entry point into beer for new drinkers. Made with bottom fermenting yeast that has a lower tolerance to alcohol, lagers can taste light and a little malty. Classic lagers in America include Miller High Life, Coors, Budweiser and Yuengling. Lagers are a great launching pad for newcomers to beer.

They are clean, consistent, well made, and not particularly challenging on the flavor, it’s not a bad place to start as you work your way up the flavor ladder.

What is an IPA?

India Pale Ales (IPAs), which encompass numerous styles of beer, get their characteristics largely from hops and herbal, citrus or fruity flavors. They can be bitter and contain high alcohol levels, though the final product depends on the variety of hops used. Some IPAs can taste like pure citrus, while others are strong and bitter. Prominent IPA styles include West Coast IPA, British IPA and New England Style IPA.

New England IPAs carry a fruity flavor with low bitterness, while the British style is maltier and bitter. West Coast IPAs appear to stand somewhere in the middle, with a balance between the fruitiness and bitterness. The best way to figure out your preference would be to figure out which IPA style goes best with your taste buds.

IPAs are usually a beer drinker’s first introduction to the world of craft beer suggest trying out a variety of IPA types before eventually settling on a couple of favorites.

What is pale ale?

Pale ales are usually hoppy but carry lower alcohol content than IPAs. Most types of pale ale, which can include American amber ale, American pale ale, blonde ale and English pale ale, are malty, medium-bodied and easy to drink.

What is a pilsner?

Pilsners, which originate from the Czech Republic, fall under the lager category. German pilsners give off a pale gold color and crisp flavor, while Czech pilsners are a little darker with higher bitterness.

What is a stout beer?

A dark beer, the flavor of stouts depends on where they come from. Sweet stouts largely originate from Ireland and England and are known for their low bitterness. In fact, Ireland’s Guinness brand produces some of the world’s most recognizable stout beer. Stouts are “sweet, full-bodied, slightly roasty ale that can suggest coffee-and-cream, or sweetened espresso.” While the darker color of the beer gives the impression it’s tough to drink, these stouts carry sweetness from unfermented sugars that offset any bitterness.

Stouts produced in the U.S. combine the typical dark body and creamy notes with the hoppy bitter flavors characterized by American beers. American stouts are strong, highly roasted, bitter and hoppy, with high malt flavors that give them the taste of coffee or dark chocolate.

What is a porter?

Traditional porters, which can trace their roots to the United Kingdom, are dark in color like stouts due to common ingredients like chocolate or other dark-roasted malts. Porters tend to taste less like coffee than stouts, with more of a chocolaty feel.

What is Belgian beer?

Belgium’s rich beer culture has poured into the U.S. over the years, giving enthusiasts on this side of the Atlantic a deep appreciation for the wide variety of Belgian-style flavors. Belgian beers span pale ales, dark ales, fruity beers and sour ales, Belgian-style beers as carrying fruity, spicy and sweet flavors with a high alcohol content and low bitterness.

Popular Belgian beers also include Trappist ales, which are produced only at Trappist monasteries that brew their own beer. Trappist ales encompass beers like Belgian Dubbel, which is somewhat strong and complex, and Belgian Tripel, which is pale, spicy and dry. Blond ales like Delirium Tremens further add to the strong flavor profile of Belgian beers.

What is wheat beer?

Wheat beers rely on wheat for the malt ingredient, which gives the beverage a light color and alcohol level that makes it perfect for kicking back with during the summer and for combining it with fruit, like a slice of lemon or orange. Some wheat beers, with their funky and tangy flavors, fall under Belgian-style brews while the ones made in the U.S. have a light flavor that recalls bread.

What is sour beer?

Sour beer has shot up in popularity in the U.S. over the last few years, becoming an enticing beverage to people looking to branch out their beer palates or to those wanting to try something new. Highly tart, sour beers can take on many forms, including Belgian-style Lambic beer, fruity Flanders ale and lemony Berliner Weisse beer. With the addition of fruits like cherry, raspberry or peach, sour beers marry sweet and sour to make beer flavors completely unlike the lagers and IPAs of yore.

No/Low Alcoholic beer.

Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol content and aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating the inebriating effects of standard alcoholic brews. Most low-alcohol beers are lagers, but there are some low-alcohol ales. Non-alcoholic beer has several health benefits making it one of the healthiest drinks available behind the bar. For instance, drinking non-alcoholic beer can reduce your risk of heart disease, help you sleep, aid bone growth and reduce your risk of getting illnesses like the common cold.

Almost every No/Low Alcoholic beer contains no more than 0,05% alcohol so as such it is a non-alcohol beer.

Beer should be stored in an ideal temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit (38 being the lowest). Any lower tends to dull the taste of the beer.