Beer Issue - Styles of beer

Altbier: Also known as “Dusseldorfer Alt. Translated from German, alt means “old” or “traditional,” and refers to the top fermentation technique of ale brewing used prior to the onset of lager brewing in the 19th century. Altbier also refers to a general style of ale in Munster and Bavaria. Alts are deep amber to brown in color, and have noticeable bitterness, with milder hop aroma and flavor. Alt Bier, as opposed to the general descriptor Altbier, can only be brewed in the Dussledorf region of Germany.

Barleywine: The name implies a beverage made from barley that has the strength and character of wine. The name came into use at the turn of the century in Britain. This is very strong ale with high alcohol content (6-12 percent). Barleywine requires a long aging period, typically ranging from three months to a year. Often reddish in color, it has a robust malty and hoppy flavor made to be sipped by the experienced and strong at heart. Bottle-conditioned Barleywine can be aged in the bottle for up to 10 years, allowing the flavor to soften.

Bitter: An English pale ale, suited for all tastes. English Bitters are normally served on draught, although they are occasionally bottled. They are slightly drier than standard pale ales. There are three sub-styles that vary in terms of color, strength and hoppiness: ordinary bitter, special bitter and extra special bitter.

Bock: Rich, malty, Bavarian lager. It was traditionally brewed in the fall from the initial barley and hops harvest, aged all winter and enjoyed in the spring at the beginning of the new planting season.

Bocks can be pale (helles), dark (dunkles) or extra strong like doppel bocks or eisbock. Maibock is a special seasonal hellesbock brewed to celebrate May Day.

Brown Ale: An English ale known for its somewhat sweet, caramel-like flavor and moderate alcohol content. There are three main styles: English Mild, English Brown Ale and American Brown Ale. Mild Ale is deep brown in color, very low in alcohol and hop bitterness, with almost fruity undertones. English Brown Ale is more alcoholic, fuller-bodied, and hoppier than Mild, possessing a mellow, roasted malty taste. American Brown Ale is a new interpretation of the English tradition, featuring a more pronounced roasted malt flavor, higher hop bitterness and brewed from American hop varieties. There is a variant style from Belgium known as Flanders Brown Ale that is a sour beer, perhaps the closest beer style to the original London Porter formulation.

Cream Ale: Originally a blend of ale and lager unique to North America. It is somewhat dry with mild malt flavor and very little hop aroma. Closer to Kolsch in style than any other, Cream Ale has light body, moderate alcohol content, and is very pale in color.

Dortmunder Export: A medium to full-bodied pale lager originating in what is now Dortmund, Germany in the fourteenth century. Its taste falls between a Pilsner and Munchener Helles in having a medium maltiness balanced by medium hop bitterness. It was traditionally brewed for a slightly higher alcohol content to enhance stability in shipping.

Kolsch: A pale blond German-style ale, first brewed in Koln (Cologne), Germany. Moderately high in alcohol, dry and fairly bitter, this beer is rarely imported into the U.S.

Lager: A generic name for pale, cold-fermented, cold-aged beer. Lagers differ from ales because they are fermented with bottom-fermenting yeasts at much colder temperatures, over longer periods of time (months as opposed to weeks). Long cold storage, or cellaring, of beer is called “lagering.” The most popular American brands are lagers, which feature a minimalist approach to beer character and flavor.

Lambic : Spontaneously fermented, sour, Belgian wheat beer. By law, it must contain a minimum of 30 percent wheat. Lambic is lightly hopped (due to the use of deliberately aged hops), and can be flavored with fruit. Traditionally brewers have used raspberries or cherries, but new flavors such as peaches, pineapple or plums are now seen. The fruit flavor is attained by adding macerated fruit during the secondary fermentation. Lambic is considered a “wild” beer because the fermentation process begins after exposing the naturally occurring wild yeasts and bacteria to the air. This entire process can take up to two years, thus accounting for the high price of this beer.

Munchener Helles: A pale lager that was first developed in Bavaria in the early 1920s to compete with the extremely popular Pilsner. It is golden in color, medium-bodied, with a delicate caramel sweetness that is balanced by a subdued hop bitterness.

Munchener Dunkel: A dark lager that was the original hallmark of Bavarian brewers. These beers have a dark amber to brown color, medium alcohol and possess an assertive malty, sweet flavor. After the introduction of the Helles lager style, Dunkel waned in popularity.

Pale Ale: Pale Ale was first brewed in England during the eighteenth century. Originally, they were cask-conditioned, and many still are in the UK, whereas most American pale ale is kegged or bottled. Pale Ale, surprisingly, is not that pale — it is amber to slightly reddish in color. It is characterized by a strong hop presence in both flavor and aroma. One type of pale ale is called India Pale Ale (or IPA), named for the beer exported to Britain’s troops stationed in colonial India in the 1800s. A slightly stronger, heartier brew was produced and extra hops were added to the casks to help the beer endure the shipping conditions that spoiled regular beer.

Pilsner: A golden, malty, and well-hopped lager. This world-famous style originated from the town of Plzen in the Czech Republic in the mid-nineteenth century, and first arrived in the U.S. in the 1850s. Pilsner Urquell (“Original Pilsner”) Brewery, has maintained the very traditional practices in producing its pilsner beers, including the use of soft water and Saaz hops. Budweiser, Coors and Stroh’s are all examples of American pilsners. By definition however, Pilsner is beer from Plzen, such that American versions are mis-named Pilsner, and are more correctly called Pils. They also do not adhere to the original style in that they fail to use all malt products and have a weak hop profile.

Porter: A dark, malty, and strong ale originally brewed in London. Until the microbrewing phenomenon, the porter style was almost extinct in the United States. Porter was introduced in 1722 to replace a pub blend popular with London’s deliverymen — or porters. It consisted of three different beers blended together and called “Entire Butt.” As the story goes, one brewer named Ralph Harwood figured out how to duplicate the flavor in the brewery, and eventually this beer became known as “porter’s ale,” then shortened to porter. Today, there are two recognized styles of porter: robust and brown. Robust porter is full-bodied, high in alcohol, and has deep brown hues but is not opaque like stouts. Brown porter has medium body, has a lower alcohol content and is lighter than its counterpart with a reddish brown color.

Schwarzbier: Literally “black beer,” this beer is the darkest of lagers. It often has a medium body, roasted malt flavors and a mild sweetness. This style is very difficult to find in the U.S., and is usually confined to Germany. Recently, Japan has begun producing black beers.

Scottish Ale: A brown, full-bodied ale, darker and maltier than their English counterpart. Scottish ales come in four different designations of 60, 70, 80, 90 shilling, with 60 being the lightest of the four. The odd designation is said to come from the old method of taxing beer based on its strength and gravity (sugar density). 90 shillings are known as “Scotch Ales,” and are traditionally served in small portions because of their richness and alcoholic strength.

Steam Beer: A medium-bodied hybrid beer with similarities to India Pale Ale and Dortmunder Export. The name is traditionally associated with the Industrial Revolution, during which breweries in Britain were among the first businesses to utilize the steam engine. However, controversy surrounds the origin of this style of beer. Some say Steam Beer has been a tradition in Britain for centuries, but others say it is the only beer style indigenous to America. It was popularized in California during the Gold Rush era by German immigrants who knew lager brewing techniques but lacked refrigeration. Today, the trademark for Steam Beer in the U.S. arguably belongs to the Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco. Their style employs lager yeast fermented at ale temperatures, which gives it some fruitiness similar to ales.

Stout: A very dark, typically opaque ale with a pronounced roasted barley character. Originating in England in the mid 1700s as “stout porter” (i.e. strong porter), it was perfected in Dublin, Ireland in the 1770s by Arthur Guinness, whose brewery later became virtually synonymous with Stout. By 1886, Guinness, brewing only stout, was the largest brewery in the world due to the widespread popularity of the style. Variations of stout have grown over time. Dry Stout is the granddaddy of stouts, made from roasted barley, and lacks residual sweetness. On the other hand, Sweet Stout (sometimes sold as Milk Stout) is smoother and milder. It is sweet due to the use of unfermentable lactose (milk sugar) in the brew that lends a subtle sweetness to the finished product. Oatmeal Stout can be considered a variety of Sweet Stout and the addition of oatmeal contributes to the beer’s fullness of flavor and a slightly oily note. Imperial Stout is the strongest of all the stouts, with a high alcohol content and deep color. It was originally called Russian Stout because this was brewed in England beginning in 1780 for export to the Russian court. To withstand the voyage, the British brewers increased the strength and used more hops. Today, true Imperial Stouts are almost impossible to find, but some American microbreweries are producing interpretations of the style.

Trappist: A protected name that applies to ales produced by only six breweries in the world — all in active monasteries located in Belgium and the Netherlands. Bottle-conditioned, warm-fermented and quite strong, these beers are regarded as some of the finest beers in the world. Beers made elsewhere to similar specifications are called Abbaye or Abbey. There are three levels of Trappist beer: 1) single, the lightest of the three types was originally brewed for everyday consumption by the Trappist monks; 2) dubbel, a stronger version reserved fort special occasions; and 3) trippel, the most potent and newest style. These beers are noted for their complex yeast character, often described as estery (fruity), spicy, or phenolic.

Vienna: A medium-bodied, malty lager developed in Austria during the mid-nineteenth century. This style beer uses Vienna malt that is dried at higher than normal temperatures to achieve its famous amber color. Mexico has played a key role in continuing production of this style in the Americas, with beers such as Negra Modelo.

Wheat Beer: A light-bodied ale made from malted wheat, typically 30 percent to 50 percent of the grist. Germany has two styles: Weizenbier from the south, and Weissbier from the north. The wheat beer styles differ quite a bit from country to country, with American Wheat beer being milder in flavor than the spicier German Weisenbier.

Witbier: Flemish for “wheat beer”: a medium-bodied, pale yellow ale made from at least 30 percent unmalted wheat. It differs from other wheat beers due to the addition of ingredients such as bitter orange peel and ground coriander. Previously not produced outside of Belgium, this beer is undergoing a reawakening in the American microbrewery movement. It is also known in French as biere blanche (white beer).