Styles Of Beer
Lager
Lager is a bottom fermented beer brewed at low temperatures and for a longer period than other beer styles such as ales. Lagers have a neutral flavour and are clean in appearance. There are two main categories of lager, namely, pale lager and dark lager and comprise of the following types of lager: American lager, American Light lager , Pilsner, Amber lager, Oktoberfest and Bock.
Pale lager is the most popular consumed lager in the world. It is a light bodied, dry beer with low levels of malt flavour. The better known of the pale lagers are Pilsner and Helles.
Dark lager or Dunkel beer are as the name suggests darker in colour, generally range from a dark golden colour to a dark reddish brown colour and have a distinctive malt flavour. The alcohol volume in dark lager ranges from 4 – 6%.
Marzen, also known as Oktoberfest has German origins and was named after the last German brewing period before summer, which took place in the month of March. This is a dry beer which has distinctive malty falvours and a clean finish.
Bock is a dark lager, copper to brown in colour. It has strong malt flavours and is available in many varieties, namely, Traditional Bock, Helles Bock, Doppelbock and Eisbock.
Traditional Bock is light copper / brown in colour, lightly hopped, malt and toast aromas on the nose and has sweet undertones. Alcohol volumes range from 6 .3% upwards.
Helles Bock is lighter in colour than a traditional bock. It has a lot of hop flavours and alcohol volumes range from 6.3 % upwards.
Doppelbock is dark gold to dark brown in colour. It is much stronger than the Traditional Bock with alcohol volumes ranging from 7% upwards. It has strong malt presence, toasty undertones and chocolate and fruity notes.
Eisbock involves partially freezing a dobbelbock. The ice is then removed and the result is a stronger presence of alcohol. Alcohol volumes in Eisbock can range from 9%. It is dark copper to dark brown in colour, there is no hop flavours present, it has fruity undertones and is smooth in the mouth.
Ales
The difference between ales and lager is primarily concerned with the type of yeast used and the fermenting process. They are top fermented. Malted barley is used in the production of ales. This beer is fermented at a higher temperature than lagers, between 15 – 24 °C. Ales have complex flavours and are often fruity in character.
The alcohol content of ales ranges from 2.5 % upwards. There are many different types of ales brewed worldwide including, Pale Ale, Porter, Bitter, Blond Ales, Indian Pale Ale, Barley Wine, Brown Ale, Strong Ale and Organic Ales.
Wheat Beers
In the production of wheat beers a high proportion of the mash should contain wheat malt and the remainder normal barley. Wheat beer has a cloudy, haze-like appearance. It is light in flavour, smooth in the mouth and overall a refreshing beer. A wheat beer may be served in different types of glasses, depending on where in the world you are drinking a wheat beer for example in Belgium it is generally served in a schooner.
The two most famous types of wheat beer are Weisbier from Germany and Witbier from Belgium.
Stout
Stout is produced using roasted malt or barley, hops, yeast and water. It is a beer which is heavy in body, dark in colour and has strong roast flavours. The first stout produced was Guinness in 1759. There are many types of stout including Dry Stout (Irish Stout), Porter, Milk Stout, Imperial Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Chocolate Stout and Coffee Stout.
Cider
Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples.
Cider Production:
This process begins with picking and maturing the apples. They are then crushed in a scratcher or a large mill made of stainless steel. After the apples are ground, the residue pulp is known as pomace.
The pomace (pulp) is then crushed in a cider press to extract the juice.
The fresh juice can be fermented straight away. In the production of traditional ciders no yeast is added, only the wild yeast in the fruit is used. There are two different types of fermentation in producing cider. The first fermentation (fusel alcohols) involves yeasts that exist naturally in the apple skins resulting in the conversion of sugars to alcohol. The second fermentation (malo-lactic fermentation) results in the presence of a small amount of carbon dioxide.
In the traditional production of cider the fermentation can take many weeks and once completed the cider is matured for 5 – 6 months. Production methods for highly commercially produced cider may differ.
Perry
Perry is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of pears. It is becoming more widely known as pear cider. Perry pears tend to have higher levels of sugar than in apples used for making apple cider and they have a high presence of tannins.
The process in producing perry is similar to that of producing apple cider, however differs in that the pears must be left to mature for a certain period after picking and the pomace must be left to stand once the initial crushing is completed. This allows for the softening of the tannins in the pears.
Fruit Beer?
Fruit beer is a beer which contains fruit and is used to embellish the flavour. Sugar is the main ingredient used instead of unmalted grains. In medieval times, sugar was used to as a method to brew beer and was a vital ingredient for the fermentation process.
Today, natural or artificial flavourings can be used instead of engaging with the fermentation process. Fruits are usually added to lambic beers due this beer being made up of unmaleted wheat and unmated barley. These ingredients are considered to have a biter flavour, and the fruit is added to complement the taste. Belgium is considered to be the largest fruit beer producers in the world. Belgium mainly used raspberries and cherries as their main choice of fruit due to their region producing a large quantity of these fruits.
