Beer Terminology

Abbey, Abbaye, Abdij Bier : Not necessarily made in an abbey, or by monks, but imitating the Trappist style. (see Trappist)

Ale : The English-language term for a brew made with a top-fermenting yeast, which should impart to it a distinctive fruitiness. Ales are produced to a wide variety of colours, palates and strengths (see also Bitter, Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, Light Ale, Mild, Old Ale, Scotch Ale, etc.). Only in some American States is the term determined by law (wrongly) to indicate a brew of more than 4 percent weight (5 by volume).

All barley: made only from barley-malt, with no other grains or sugars.

All malt; Brewed only from malted grains, with no corn, rice, or other sugars.

Alt : German word for ‘old’. (see Altbier)

Altbier : A German term for a top-fermenting brew. Classic examples, copper in colour, mashed only from barley malt, fermented from a single-cell yeast and cold-conditioned, with an alcohol content of 4.5-4.7 by volume, are made in D?sseldorf.

Barley Wine : An English term for an extra strong ale (implied to be as potent as wine). Usually more than 6% by volume and classically closer to 11%. Most often bottled. Both pale and dark versions can be found.

Bayrische : German word for Bavarian.

‘Beer’ : Confusingly, the Americans use the term ‘Beer’ to mean only lager. The British imply it to mean only ale. Neither is correct. Both lager and ale – as well as porter, stout, and all the German and Belgian specialties – are embraced by the general term beer. It is all beer, so long as it is a fermented drink made from grain and seasoned with hops.

Berliner Weisse : Berlin’s classic ‘white’ (cloudy), sediment, top-fermenting wheat beer, with the quenching sourness of a lactic fermentation, the sparkle of a high carbonation, and a low alcohol content of around 3% by volume.

Bière de Garde : French term originally applied to strong, copper-coloured, top-fermenting brews, bottle-conditioned for laying down. Examples have an alcohol content in the range of 4.4%-7.5% by volume, and may be bottom-fermented and filtered.

Bitter : English term used for a well-hopped ale, most often on draught. Although examples vary widely, the name implies a depth of hop bitterness. There is usually some acidity in the finish, and color varies from bronze to deep copper. Basic bitters have an alcohol content of around 3.75-4 % by volume, ‘Best’ or ‘Special’ bitters come in at 4-4.75; the odd ‘Extra Special’ at about 5.5.

Bock : The German term for a strong beer. If unqualified, it indicates a bottom-fermenting brew from barley malt. In Germany, bock usually has more than 6.25% alcohol by volume, and may be golden, tawny or dark brown. Outside Germany, strengths vary, and a bock is usually dark, Bock beers are served in autumn, late winter or spring, depending upon the country. See also Maibock, Doppelbock, Weizenbock.

Brown ale : In the south of England, a dark-brown ale, sweet in palate, low in alcohol (3-3.5% by volume). In the northeast a reddish-brown ale, drier, of (4.4-5% by volume). The slightly sour, brown brews of Flanders are also ales, though they do not generally use this designation.

Cask-conditioned : Draught beer that is neither filtered nor pasteurized and has a secondary fermentation and natural clarification in the cellar of the pub. This cannot take place if the beer is chilled.

Cream Ale : An American designation, implying a very pale (usually golden), mild, light-bodied ale that may actually have been blended with a lager. Around 4.75% by volume.

“Dark Beer” : There are many, quite unrelated, styles of dark brew. If this vague term is used without qualification, it usually means a dark lager of Munich type.

Di?t Pils : This has nothing to do with slimming, but was originally intended for diabetics. A German style so popular in Britain that many drinkers think that there is no other kind of “Pils’’. Carbohydrates are diminished by a very thorough process (about 6% by volume) and therefore lots of calories. In German law, the alcohol now has to be reduced back to a normal Pilsner level (5% by volume).

Doppelbock : “Double” Bock. German extra strong bottom-fermented beer, tawny or dark brown. Around 7.5 by volume or stronger. Southern specialty, seasonal to March and April. Names usually end in –ator.

Dort : Abbreviation used in Belgium and Netherlands to indicate a beer in the Dortmunder Export style.

Dortmunder : This indicates merely a beer brewed in Dortmund, but the city’s classic style is Export (see Export).

Draft beer in a can : Nitrogen has been added to imitate the creaminess of a beer drawn by pump.

Dry Beer : Originally a milder adaptation of the German Di?t Pils, renamed dry beer by the Japanese. After its great marketing success in Japan, the term Dry Beer was taken up in North America. There the style was made milder still. American Dry beer has a conventional alcohol and calorie content but is notable for having scarcely any taste, and no finish.

Dunkel/Dunkles : German word for dark.

Eisbock : An extra strong (doppel) bock beer in which potency has been heightened by a process of freezing. Because water freezes before alcohol, the removal of ice (eis) concentrates the beer.

Export : In Germany, a pale Dortmund style bottom fermenting beer that is bigger in body than a Pilsner, and less dry, but not as sweet as a Munich pale beer. It is stronger than either, at 5.25%-5.5% by volume. Elsewhere, export usually indicates a premium beer.

Faro : Once Brussels’ local style, a version of a lambic (see lambic) sweetened by candy sugar. 4.5%-5.5% by volume.

Festbier : In Germany, any beer made for a festival. Styles vary, but such beers are usually above average strength, often around 5.5%-6% volume.

Framboise/frambozen : Raspberry beer, usually based on lambic. Alcohol content varies.

Genuine Draft (and similar terms) : Bottled or canned beer that, like most draughts, is unpasteurized. Unlike them, it is sterile-filtered for shelf-life.

Gueuze : A blend of old and young lambic beers. Around 4.5%-5.5% by volume.

Haute fermentation : French for top fermentation.

Hefe- : The German word for yeast, indicating that a beer is bottle-conditioned and sedimented.

Hell : German word for "pale", indicating an everyday beer that is golden in colour. Ordered as Helles (hell-es).

Ice Beer (and similar terms): Otherwise conventional beers that have been frozen at some stage during fermentation , and in some cases reconstituted beer. This knocks out some flavour components and perhaps concentrates others. A marketing-led technique inspired by Eisbock.

India Pale Ale (IPA) : A reminder of the days when the Indian Empire was supplied with ales (high in gravity, and well hopped, to stand the voyage) by the British. Today, the term implies a super-premium pale ale.

Kellerbier : German term indicating an unfiltered lager, in which there is usually a high hop content and a low carbonation. Strengths vary according to the original style.

Kloster Bier "Cloister beer": German term for a beer that is, or formerly was, produced in a monastery or convent.

K?lsch : Cologne's distinctive style of golden, top-fermenting brew.4.3%-5% by volume.

Kr?usen : In German custom, a traditional technique of carbonation is to add a small dosage of unfermented malt sugars (in English, wort) to the conditioning tank. In a normally Kr?usened beer, the wort ferments out and the beer is conventionally filtered. An unfiltered beer based on this technique is called Kr?usenbier.

Kriek : Cherry beer, usually based on lambic. 5%-6% by volume.

Kruidenbier : Dutch-language term for spiced beer.

Lager : Any beer made by bottom fermentation. In Britain, lagers are usually golden in colour, but in continental Europe they can also be dark. In the German-speaking world and the Netherlands, the term may be used to indicate the most basic beer of the house, the bière ordinaire.

Lambic : Spontaneously fermenting style of wheat beer unique to Belgium, notably the Senne Valley. About 4.4%.

Light Ale : English term describing the bottled counterpart of a basic bitter. In Scotland, "light" indicates the lowest gravity draught beer (usually dark in colour), neither term implies a low-calorie beer.

Light Beer : American term, indicating a watery Pilsener-style beer. 2.75%-4% by volume. Low in calories, and in interest. In some other countries, "light" means lower in alcohol than a conventional beer.

Maibock : A bock beer of super-premium quality. Usually pale. Made for the end of April/beginning of May to celebrate spring.

Malt Liquor : Not especially malty, though they are usually low in hop character. Certainly not liquors, though they are usually the strongest beers in an American brewer's range. Malt Liquor is the American term for a strong, pale lager, at anything from 5-7.5 by volume, often cheaply made. Regrettably, laws in some states encourage the term to be used on imported strong lagers of far greater character.

M?rzen : From "March" in German. Originally a beer brewed in March and laid down in caves before the summer weather rendered brewing impossible. Stocks would be drawn upon during the summer, and finally exhausted October. In Germany, this tradition has come to be associated with one specific style. M?rzenbier has a malty aroma, and is a medium-strong version (classically, more than 5.5 % alcohol by volume) of the amber-coloured Vienna style. It is seasonal to the Oktoberfest, where it is offered as a traditional speciality alongside paler beers of a similar strength. Confusingly, in Austria the term refers not to style but to gravity.

Mild : English term indicating an ale that is only lightly hopped. Some milds are copper in colour, but most are dark brown. These beers were devised to be drunk in large in large quantities by manual workers, and have in recent years suffered from their blue-collar image. Around 3 by volume, but often relatively full in body.

Münchener/Münchner : Means "munich-style". In international brewing terminology, this indicates a dark brown lager, a style that was developed in Munich (although another Bavarian town, Kulmbach, also has a long tradition of - very dark lagers). In Munich, such a brew is clearly identified by the word Dunkel ("dark"), and classic examples have an alcohol content of around, or just over, 5% by volume. The brewers of Munich, and Bavaria in general, also impart their own distinctively malty accent to their everyday, lower-gravity (alcohol content around 3.7%) pale beers. These are sometimes identified as Münchner Hell, to distinguish them from the same brewers' Pilsener-style product.

Oberg?rrig : German for top fermenting.

Old (Ale) : In Australia, "old" simply means dark ale. In Britain, it is most commonly used to indicate a medium strong dark ale like Old Peculiar, which has just under 6% by volume. However, by no means all ales describing themselves as "old" are in this style.

Oscura : "Obscure" (i.e. dark) beer. Spanish word used on some Mexican labels.

Pale Ale : Ale in this instance means bronze or copper coloured, as opposed to dak brown. Pale ale is a term used by some English brewers to identify their premium bitters, especially in bottled form.

Pilsener/Pilsner/Pils : Loosely, any golden-coloured, dry, bottom fermenting beer of conventional strength might be described as being of this style (in its various spellings and abbreviations), though this most famous designation properly belongs only to a product of "super-premium" quality. Too many brewers take it lightly, in more senses than one. In their all-round interpretation, it is the German brewers who take the style most seriously, inspired by the Urquell (original) brew from the town of Pilsen, in the province of Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. A classic Pilsner, has a gravity of around 12 Balling and is charaterized by the hoppiness of its flowery aroma and dry finish.

Porter : A London style that became extinct, though it has recently been revived. It was a lighter-bodied companion to stout, and the most accurate revivals are probably the porters made by American micro-brewers like Sierra Nevada. Around 5 % by volume. In some countries, the porter tradition remains in roasty-tasting dark brews that are bottom fermented, and often of a greater strength.

Rauchnier : Smoked malts are used in the production of this dark, bottom-fermented speciality, principally made in and around Bamberg, Franconia. Produced at around 5% by volume and in M?rzen and Bock versions. Serve with Bavarian smoked ham, or bagels and lox.

Saison : Seasonal summer style in the French-speaking part of Belgium. A sharply refreshing, Faintly sour, top-fermenting brew, sometimes dry-hopped, often bottle-conditioned, 5.5%-5.8% by volume.

Scotch ale : The ales of Scotland generally have a malt accent. In their home country, a single brewery's products may be identified in ascending order of gravity and strength as Light, Heavy, Expert and Strong. Or by a system based on the old currency of shillings, probably once a reference to tax ratings : 60/-,70/-,80/-,90/-. Alcohol content by volume might rise through 3, 4, 4.5 and 7-10. The term "Scotch ale" is something used specifically to identify a very strong, and often extremely dark, malt-accented speciality from that country.

Schwarzbier : "black" or very dark beer. The most famous type in the K?stritz, Germany.

Steam Beer : A name trademarked by the Anchor Steam Beer brewery of San Francisco. This brewery's principal product is made by a distinctive method of bottom-fermented at high temperatures and in unusually wide, shallow vessels. This technique, producing a beer with elements of both lager and ale in its character (though also distinctive in its own right), is said to have been common in California when, in the absence of supplies of ice, early brewers tried to make bottom-fermenting beers. The very lively beer beer was said to "steam" when the casks were tapped.

Stout : An extra-dark, almost black, top fermenting brew, made with highly roasted malts. Sweet stout, an English style, is typified by Mackeson, which has only about 3.75% alcohol by volume in its domestic market but more than 5 in the Americas. Sweet stout usually contains milk sugars (lactose), and is a soothing restorative. Dry stout, the Irish style, is typified by Guinness, which comes in at around 4% in the British Isles, a little more in North America and as much as 8 in tropical countries. Dry stouts sometimes contain roasted unmalted barley. Imperial stout, originally brewed as a winter warmer, for sale in the Tsarist Russian Empire, is medium dry and distinguished by its great strength: anything from 7% to more than 10%.

Trappist : This order of monks has five breweries in Belgium and one in The Netherlands. By law, only they are entitled to use the term Trappist in describing their products. Each of them produces strong (6-12 percent by volume), top fermenting brews, characteristically employing candy sugar in the kettle, and always bottle-conditioned. Colour varies from full gold to deep brown.

Tripel : (various spelling) Dutch-language term usually applied to the strongest beer of the house, customarily top-fermenting and often pale in colour, occasionally spiced with coriander. The most famous example is made in Westmalle, Belgium.

Trub : German term for sediment.

Vienna : Amber-red, or only medium-dark, lager. This was the style originally produced in Vienna. Brewers still talk of a "Vienna malt" to indicate a kilning to this amber -red colour, but the beer-style itself is no longer especially associated with the city.

Ur-/Urquell : "Original"/ "source of ", in German. Justifiable when applied to, for example, Einbeckar Ur-Bock or Pilsner Urquell, but often more loosely used.

Weiesse/Weissbier, Weizenbier : The German term for "white" beer, implying a pale brew made from wheat. In the north, a special renown is enjoyed by Berliner Weisse, a style in its own right. A different style of Weissbier is made in the south, with a more conventional alcohol content (usually a little over 5 percent by volume), a higher proportation of wheat ( at least 50 percent ) and a yeast (again top-fermenting) that produces a tart, fruity, spicy palate, sometimes with notes of cooking apples and cloves. Often, instead of Weissbier, the southerners prefer the term Weizen ( a similar-sounding word but it means, quite simply "wheat"). If the beer is sedimented with yeast, it may be prefixed Hefe-Southern wheat beers are also produced in dark versions ( these Dunkel Weizen brews have a delicious complex of fruitness and maltiness), and in Export and Bock strengths. Weizenbock is sometimes served as a Christmas beer.

White : A term once used in several parts of Europe to describe wheat beers. Apart from those of German-speaking countries, Belgium's white beers (Witbier, Biere Blanche) are of considerable interest.

Wiesen/ Wies'n : Among several words that are confusingly similar to the non-German speaker, this one means "meadows". It implies a beer brewed for a carnival or festival; (an Oktoberfest beer may be described as a Wies'n M?rzen) or a rustic speciality (such as Küppers' unfiltered wiess).

Witbier : A dutch / Flemish term used in Belgium and, increasingly, the United States.

Zwickelbier : German term for an unfiltered beer without the distinguishing features of either a Kellerbier or a Kr?usenbier.