Below are a few facts and tips about BEER

What Types of Beer are There?

- There are two main categories of beer; ales, and lagers. Within these two categories there are light beers, dark beers, strong beers, weak beers, etc etc etc...

- Whether a beer is an ale or a lager is defined by the type of yeast used in the brew and the temperature at which fermentation takes place.

- Ales are brewed with top-fermenting yeast which allows for rapid fermentation at warmer temperatures.

- Lagers are brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast which ferments more slowly and at colder temperatures.

- The amount and type of grains and barley gives beer its color, strength and most of its flavor.

- Generally, ale have higher alcohol levels, and offer more complex flavors than lagers.

- You can now find quite a few Specialty Beers on the market, which are either ales, lagers, or a hybrid of the two that contain other ingredients that cause it to not fit into a true ale or lager style.


Rating Beer

There are 4 things to take note of when rating a beer
1. Aroma
One of the most noticeable aromas in a beer comes from the malt. Another ingredient you will notice in many beers is the hops

2. Appearance
Look for color, clarity and head retention. If the beer fails to produce or maintain a head, there could be a problem with the beer, or simply a soapy residue in the glass.

3. Taste
In order to establish a common vocabulary to identify the tastes and smells of beer, a brewing chemist named Dr. Morton Meilgaard developed a system called the Meilgaard Beer Flavor Wheel. Click here to see the Beer Flavor Wheel

4. Aftertaste or finish
Sometimes an aftertaste will last a long time and other times there will be no aftertaste at all, which is referred to as being dry.


Beer & Food

- Deciding which foods taste best with which beers is an ever-evolving experiment. Just remember that there are no set rules.

- You can pair beer and food much like you do with wine and food. Try rich recipes with dark, rich beers and pair simple delicate dishes with light, crisp beers.

- Hoppy beers are great at palate cleansing -- so try using a hoppy beer to offset a very rich or creamy dish.

Below are some pairings that we have found go quite well together

- Light ales, light lagers, blond or gold ale, and lighter wheat beers go well with spicy food

- Dry Stouts and porter go very well with a good hearty soup /stew or a meat dish

- A pilsner can enhance the flavor of fish or shellfish. Also good with fried or spicy food

- An Amber goes quite well with pizza and just about anything that IS NOT sweet. Sweetness takes away from the maltiness of the beer

- Fruit Beers can be paired with fruit desserts, or main dishes that have fruit in their ingredients

Cooking With Beer

- Beer adds a depth of flavor to many dishes -- so experiment with your favorites.

- Try using beer to replace the acid in your usual BBQ marinade.

- Our Motto: Never cook with something you would not drink.



Beer Glossary

- Alcohol content
Alcohol content is expressed as a percentage of volume or weight.

- Ale
Beers brewed with top-fermenting yeast strains. The top-fermenting yeast performs at warmer temperatures than yeasts used to brew lager beer.

- Amber
Any top or bottom-fermented beer having an amber color: between pale and dark.

- Aroma Hops
Variety of hop chosen for its bouquet.

- Barley
A grain malted for use in the mash in the brewing of beer.

- Barley wine
A dark, rich, bittersweet beer with higher alcohol content.

- Bitter
Bitterness of hops or malt husks; sensation on back of tongue. A bitter flavor in beer is from iso-alpha-acid in solution (derived from hops).

- Black malt
Partially malted barley roasted at high temperatures. Black malt gives a dark color and a roasted flavor to beer.

- Bottom-fermenting yeast
One of the two types of yeast used in brewing. Bottom-fermenting yeast works well at low temperatures and ferments more sugars leaving a crisp, clean taste and then settles to the bottom of the tank. Also called "lager yeast".

- Cooper
Woodworker who crafts wooden beer kegs.

- Draft
Dispensing beer from a bright tank, cask or keg, by hand pump, pressure from an air pump or injected carbon dioxide inserted into the beer container prior to sealing.

- Dry-hopping
The addition of dry hops to fermenting or aging beer to increase its hop character or aroma.

- Fermentation
Conversion of sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide, through the action of yeast.

- Holding
Also called secondary fermentation, the holding process is a period, following a primary fermentation with yeast, during which the beer matures. During the holding period, sugars and yeast continue to ferment while producing carbon dioxide.

- Hops
A vine grown for its cones (also called catkins) or female blossoms used to flavor beer.

- Ice beer
A beer resulting from a method by which the temperature of a beer is lowered until the water in it freezes. The water crystals are then filtered out to produce a beer presenting a higher density, and therefore a higher percentage of alcohol.

- Keg
Container for beer. Originally made of wood and available in a variety of sizes.

- Lager
Beers produced with bottom-fermenting yeast strains at colder fermentation temperatures than ales.

- Malt
Barley that is steeped in water, germinated, and dried and ground to flour. Used to produce beer.

- Mash
To release malt sugars by soaking the grains in water. A mash is the resultant mixture.

- Mead
Meads are produced by the fermentation of honey, water, yeast and optional ingredients such as fruit, herbs, and/or spices.

- Pasteurization
Heating of beer to 60-79°C/140-174°F to stabilize it microbiologically.

- Pils / Pilsener
Style of bottom-fermented light-colored beer with a very pronounced taste of hops.

- Pitch
To add yeast to wort.

- Pub
An abbreviation for “public house,” a gathering place that serves beer and usually other alcoholic beverages and food.

- Quaff (kwaf)
To drink deeply.

- Sediment
The yeast material at the bottom of a bottle of conditioned beer.

- Shelf life
The number of days a beer will retain its peak drinkability. Packaged beer is best drunk fresh.

- Stout
A top-fermentation beer containing roasted malt, presenting a very dark color, as well as a bitter taste.

- Tannic
An astringent sensation that makes beer appear dry in the mouth. This sensation is often characteristic of very bitter beers.

- Tun
Any large vessels used in brewing.

- Wheat beer
A beer brewed with wheat malt. Pale in color, medium-bodied in texture, and slightly tart in flavor.

- Wort
The solution of grain sugars strained from the mash.

- Yeast
A micro-organism of the fungus family.

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