Happy Thanksgiving

Lecture Outline

Right-click to download MS Word File

Lecture 14 - Types of beer and beer nomenclature
 

Objectives

•      Define basic beer styles

•      List characteristics of each style

•      Describe famous beer regions

Definitions

•      Barrel: barrel holds 31.5 US gallons

•      Brewpub: Pub that makes its own beer and sells at least 50% of it on premises

•      Microbrewery: Brewery that produces < 500,000 gallons of beer per year

•      Regional specialty brewery: Brewery which brews 15k - 2,000k  barrels of beer/year

•      Standard reference method (SRM): measure of color

•      International bitterness units (IBU): measure of bitterness

Beer in the USA - US has more brands than any other country

•       1978 - 89 breweries, 25 national beers, no brewpubs

•       1995 - 400 breweries marketing over 1000 beers

•       2001 - 994 brewpubs, 420 microbrews, 44 regional specialty brewers

–    Beer Market Share:

•    Large & traditional regional breweries    86.14%

•    Imports                                                        10.77%

•    Craft breweries                                            3.09%

–    Market share ranks of Specialty Brewers

•    1. Boston Beer Co, MA (Samuel Adams)

•    2. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, CA

•    12. Anchor Brewing Co, CA

•    17. Gordon Biersch Production Brewery, CA

•    23. Goose Island Beer Co, IL

Market share - Most of the beer mass-marketed is lager

•         US Market dominated by 3 main players (1995 data):

–        Anheuser-Busch        44%

–        Miller Brewing            22%

–        Adolph Coors            10%

•         Top 10 selling lagers:

Basic types of beer

•      Ale - top fermenting yeast, faster fermentation, warmer T°

–   Robust, Fruity, Complex taste and aroma, Drunk at warmer T° (50-55°F)

•      Lager - bottom fermenting yeast, at cooler T° and longer time

–   Often highly carbonated and crisp; Smooth, clean, balanced taste; Usually lighter, less complex flavors than ales; Drunk cooler (40-45°F)

Ale styles

•      Traditional and until 400 years ago the only available beer

•      Can be defined by

–   Color - Standard reference method (SRM)

–   Bitterness - International bitterness units (IBU)

–   Geography - German, English etc. (Can be as strict as “Champagne”)

•      Pale ale (lightest colored ale)

–   Honey to copper color with medium body

–   5% alcohol, 8-12 SRM, 20-50 IBU

–   Classic English style (not as gassy as lagers)

•      India pale ale

–   Higher hops and alcohol to withstand the long sea voyage to India

–   6.4-8.2% alcohol, 6-15 SRM, 40-60 IBU

•      Bitter (Extra-special Bitters) – less bitter than Pale ale

–   Brewed from hard water, mild in taste, always draft

–   Most popular beer in UK

–   Traditionally reddish amber color

–   3-5% alcohol, 7-23 SRM, 28-40 IBU

•      Amber ale - (not really a style) similar to pale ale in taste but a darker malt is used

•      Brown ale – sweetish, mild, dark in color, nutty

–   Popular in UK

–   4-5.5% alcohol, 16 SRM, 20 IBU

•      Porter - complex, chocolate & coffee flavors, tar, toast

–   Dark color, lighter in color and flavor than Stout

–   5-6.5% alcohol, 24-45 SRM, 20-40 IBU

–   First mass-produced beer, flowed from the Industrial Revolution

–   Originated in London, style being revived in US

•   Stout - rich, dark, full-bodied with tan head

–   Burnt malt and molasses flavors

–   4-8% alcohol, >40 SRM, 30-60 IBU

–   Guinness: world’s best selling; nitrogen makes creamier

–   Multiple subtypes: oatmeal, milk (sweet), oyster, Russian (Imperial)

•   Barley wine - full-bodied (almost syrupy), reddish

–   7-15% alcohol, 14-22 SRM, 50-100 IBU

–   Long time maturing in oak casks

–   Must be called barley wine-style ale in US

–   Bass Barley wine is one of best known English barley wines

•   Abbey – strong, fruity ales brewed in Belgium

–   Modeled after Trappists ales, which are bottle conditioned

•   Weizen (Weisse) – wheat beer, 50-60% malted wheat

–   Very pale, often cloudy (and served with lemon)

–   Kristall: filtered wheat beer

–   Hefeweizen: unfiltered, clouded, contains yeast

•    Lambics - true lambic is specific to SW of Brussels, Belgium

–    Only 12 breweries left

–    Spontaneous fermentation with wild yeast (high risk)

–    30-40% wheat and the rest 2-row barley

–    Longer boil and use of aged hops

–    S. cerivisiae and Brettanomyces yeasts plus several acid-forming bacteria

–    Made only in cool months

•    Lambic - uncarbonated, usually draft, < 1 year old

•    Faro - lambic sweetened with sugar, bottled and pasteurized

•    Gueze - blended lambics from 1-3 yrs old, carbonated

•    Fruit lambic - often cherries (Kriek) or raspberries (Framboise) put in casks of 1 year old lambics for maturation

Lager styles

•      Most mass produced beers are lagers

•      American pale lager from 6 row barley

–   4-5% alcohol, 2.7 SRM, 10-15 IBU (often 10.1)

–   Usually add corn or rice to clarify and soften

–   Serve very cold

–   Budweiser is typical of the style which is loosely based on Bohemian Pilsner

•      Light beers are derived from American pale lagers

–   No standard definition but may be 3.2% alcohol or 1/3 to ½ the kcal of beer

–   3.2 beer available at end of prohibition and to 18 -21 year olds in some states before all states moved to the “21 to drink” rule

–   Extremely pale, with low flavor and body

•      European lager

–   Bohemian Pilsner (Czech Republic)

•   Best of the lagers and pattern for others

•   Golden, hoppy, aromatic

•   4.5-5.5% alcohol, 2.5-4.5 SRM, 25-45 IBU

–   Bock - dark, malty, strong, multiple types

•   6.7% alcohol, 20-30 SRM, 20-30 IBU

•   Usually brewed in winter

–   Dopplebock – stronger version of Bock, ~7.5% alc

–   Eisbock – extra-potent bock, ~10% alcohol

•   created by removing frozen water

•   Märzen - Originally brewed in March, matured over summer, drunk during Oktoberfest

–   Full-bodied, copper colored, ~6% alcohol

•   Malt liquor - higher in alcohol than beer, less malt and more sugar to increase final alcohol content, low flavor profile

•   Steam beer – American cross between ale and lager

–   Originally made during the Gold Rush days in CA

–   Brewed with lager yeast at warm ale temperatures using wide, shallow pans

–   Was said to “steam” when tapped since it was so carbonated

Beer tasting

•      T° important

–   Lighter color beers 45°F

–   Darker beers 50°F

–   Darkest beers 55°F (65°F in Britain)

•      Glass size and shape

–   Tall narrow footed glasses for lagers; Pint glasses for ales

•      Evaluate beer for color, clarity, aroma and lack of “stuff” in the bottle neck

•      Pour highly carbonated beers down the side of a glass and less carbonated beers and ales down the center of the glass

•      Bouquet is not long-lasting; have to evaluate quickly