Beer 101

Many of us first started learning about beer in college. Back then, the options were pretty simple: dark or light, domestic or imported, can, bottle or pitcher! I could tell you that things like yeast, hops and malt were used to make beer – but really couldn’t say how exactly these things were used or what role they played in making the beer. My limited knowledge of beer was sufficient for only so long. A bit later in life, when I became more discerning about the way my beer tasted, I became curious about beer itself. Where did beer come from? With so many hundreds of variations in beer what are the base ingredients and what is added on top of that to make each beer unique? How is beer classified?

My curiosity increased even more when my husband and I, both big time novice beer aficionado’s, decided to start selling beer steins on the Internet. As I was building my website and uploading a huge variety of beautiful and detailed beer steins of every theme and style imaginable, I couldn’t help but think that the world of beer steins is perfectly accompanied by the world of beer selection to put in those steins! I felt that if I was going to sell beer steins I best upgrade my knowledge of beer and brewing at least one notch above my existing qualification: a gal who really, really enjoys putting back a few icy cold Red Stripes after a long day of work.

I ventured over to my public library for enlightenment. There I found the most useful book for any beer novice: Encyclopedia of Beer (Rhodes, 1995). As I am not a professional beer critic or brewer myself I do not plan on delving into the nitty-gritty science of beer classification here. Below I provide a brief definition of each variable of beer classification, as it is both interesting and important to have a basic understanding of these elements. The purpose of this article is to share some “Beer 101” facts from one layman beer drinker to another.

So where to start? The beginning of course!

The art of brewing is thousands of years old. Through hieroglyphics, cuneiform characters, and artifacts, beer historian have traced the roots of brewing back to the women of ancient African, Egyptian and Sumerian tribes some 8,000 years ago! The beer world has changed quite a bit since 6000 B.C. Beer and brewing is a dynamic, ever-changing industry.

Breweries can be considered as microbrews, brewpubs, homebrew, specialty brewers, etc…and the beer style can be an ale, lager or hybrid (i.e. brews made with fruit, herbs or other “non-traditional” ingredients). Beer style, simply put, is a label given to a beer that describes its overall character and often times its origin. It's a name badge that has been achieved over many centuries of brewing, trial and error, marketing, and consumer acceptance.

If we are to learn about beer the first aspect to understand is beer classification. Beer can be classified in a variety of ways. The color, alcohol content, amount of fermentables, style, type of ferment, and season may all be used to differentiate various beers. A popular way to identify a beer is by its country of origin (where it was produced). However, this classification is less than satisfactory because most countries actually produce beers that are similar to those in other countries. For example, many Norwegian, Swiss, and even Thai beers are very similar in style, content, color and method of ferment to German, Czech Republic, and Dutch beers. Australians, Japanese, Canadians, and Mexicans make beers that are virtually indistinguishable from those made in the United States. Thus, we cannot use simple guidelines to classify beer.

The Encyclopedia of Beer uses the following points of reference for beer classification:

Original Gravity – also known as Original Specific Extract or Original Extract. In sum, the original gravity is the measurement of the specific gravity at that start of the ferment process.

Alcohol Content - Amount of alcohol in beer measured in terms of the percentage weight of alcohol per volume of beer, i.e., 3.2% alcohol by weights equals 3.2 grams of alcohol per 100 centiliters of beer.

Bitterness – Hops give beer aroma, flavor, and a slightly bitter taste. Hops come in many forms: whole hops, flowers (natural form), pellets, concentrated syrup and even hop oils. These forms each have a different effect on beer. The measurable effect of hops is usually expressed as International Bitterness Units (IBU), which are parts of per million of alpha acid, the major flavor element in hops.

Color- Beer color ranges for very pale (i.e. Budweiser) to very dark (i.e. Guinness Stout). Most of the color is the result of the malts used in the mash. Malting is the process by which barley is steeped in water, germinated, and then kilned to convert insoluble starch to soluble substances and sugar. (It is the foundation ingredient of beer.) And mash is the release of malt sugars by soaking the grains in water. Most malts are pale malts. Dark beer is the result of using malts that have been roasted to some degree. Color is expressed in degrees SRM (Standard Reference Method). The higher the SRM number the darker the beer.

It is worth spending a little extra time on the next variable of beer classification: method of ferment. Within the beer community there exists disagreement on when an ale truly becomes an ale. The disagreement has to do with the method of ferment.

Method of Ferment – Another variable in beer production comes from the type of yeast used and the fermenting temperature. The higher the temperature, the faster the ferment (and its effects), because the speed of all chemical changes doubles (or halves) for each 18°F (10°C) temperature change.

A beer fermented at a very high temperature will have some harshness of character, while a beer fermented at very low temperatures will have a very mellow and moderate taste factor. Yeasts are sensitive to temperature and will function only within certain temperature ranges. For the most part, this range is about 58°F to 100°F (14°C to 38°C). This type of yeast is called top-fermenting yeast because it works through the body of the beer and then collects on the surface. The beer produced by such yeasts is called ale.

If the temperature drops too low the yeasts will go into a defensive posture by constructing a protective wall around themselves (sporulating) and will actually die if they are then subjected to high temperatures.

However, not all yeasts operate in this fashion. Lager is brewed with yeasts that do not sporulate when they get cold. These yeasts will keep working slowly right up until they are almost frozen. The benefit here is that cold fermented beer is protected against souring bacteria and hence can be made with fewer hops (less bitterness) and a weaker alcohol content (longer drinking pleasure). When this cold-fermented beer is cold-aged, the result is a very mild and mellow beverage. These yeasts ferment throughout the body of the beer and then settle to the bottom of the vessel-hence the term bottom-ferment.

Beer purists would say that an ale is a top-fermented beer. But the United States brewing industry says that an ale is a beer that is warm-fermented (above 60°F or 1.5°C) during part of the ferment, no matter what type of yeast is used.

Aging System - The final variable in beer production is aging. For most of brewing history beers were not aged. When the ferment was finished, the beer was deemed ready to drink. At some point it was discovered that beer, particularly stronger beer, would improve if it was allowed to stand for a period of several weeks or even months. This type of beer became popular in Bavaria, for example, where it was brewed in the fall, stored through the winter, and th3en consumed in the late spring. It was a great improvement over the beer that had not been aged in this way. Some monks then discovered that if they stored this beer in deep case and covered it with ice harvested from nearby lakes, the end product was even more delicious! As a result, pale, cold-fermented, cold-aged beers called lager were invented. Lager is from the German lagern, “to store”.

In summary, any description of beer styles entails a wide range of possibilities. This is natural for a beverage that comes in such a huge variety of styles. These styles vary in strength from 2 to 13 percent alcohol by volume; in color from very pale to very dark brown; in taste from modest to mind-boggling; and in hoppiness from very low to exceedingly high. Styles can also be in the form of lager beer or ale beer, and a wide range of varietal and seasonal possibilities too.

Today, the more than 1,600 breweries in the U.S. are responsible for billions of dollars that flow each year through channels of American trade and commerce. From agricultural products, can manufacturing, food processing, food stores and general retail, to wholesaling, construction and real estate, brewers, along with their wholesale and retail partners, directly or indirectly employ over 1.7 million Americans who earn over $54 billion in wages and benefits. (beerinstitute.org)

I have barely skimmed the surface of “Beer 101” here, but hopefully next time you are perusing the beer selection at your local grocery store you will do so with a little more appreciation and attention, as I know I will. Cheers!

Great online resources to check out:
www.beeradvocate.com
www.beerbasics.com
www.allaboutbeer.com
www.beerinstitute.org