The brewery world is quite big and there are many options to choose from. The lack of knowledge may devoid you of the best beer you can ever have. Funky sour ales, classic lagers, IPAs and their children and grandchildren, the list is big.
The beer crafting business is serious, and it has gone to the depth of unrecognizable taste, innovative aroma and taste is actually amazing. Here you can know about certain flavours before you try testing all of them one by one.
The kind of yeast used for fermentation has the most influence on a beer. A beer can be classified into a lager or ale.
Lagers: The yeast in Lager tends to settle down at the bottom, due to this the fermentation process takes more time at a longer temperature.
Ales: Ales are made through top fermentation; the yeast gets fermented at a warmer temperature and settles on the top of the beer. Ales have a higher tolerance to alcohol.
Beers start out as young kids (Ales and Lagers). They evolve to pale ales, Indian pale ales (IPAs), porters, stouts, wheat and Belgian styles.
Lagers can be further classified into pale Pilsners, the darker American lagers and the German Helles. Let’s dive deep into it.
Lager
The first a newbie beer drinker probably encounters is Lager. As explained above, Lagers are made with bottom fermenting yeast that has little love for alcohol. These taste light and malty. Lagers make the best beer addicting catalyst for a new beer drinker.
These aren’t the boldest of flavours. Although, it is the best place to start as beer and flavour grows on you.
Pilsner
These are in the Lager category and have roots from the Czech Republic. Looking for a crisp taste? Here you go! For the people who love a little bitterness and dark textures.
Stout Beer
Stout beer is dark. The flavour varies, Ireland produces sweet stouts while England ones have a comparatively low bitterness. Do you know Ireland’s Guinness? It’s a popular stout beer.
Don’t get fooled by the dark colour, these are not that hard to drink. You could match the bitterness to a sweetened espresso.
The American stouts truly have an American spirit- strong, highly roasted, bitter and hoppy, similar to coffee or dark chocolate.
Wheat beer
The malt ingredient in wheat beer is extracted from wheat. It’s perfect for summer, you must add a fruit alongside like orange or lemon. Some wheat beers have funky and tangy flavours, these fall under Belgian style brews; the USA originated brews have a flavour similar to bread.
Indian Pale Ales
The most popular IPAs are British, West Coast and New England IPAs. These are versatile, like your outstanding friend. These extract characteristics from hops and herbals, which give citrus or fruity flavours. You shouldn’t expect consistency from an IPA, get ready to be surprised. The flavour depends upon the variety of hops used: Citrus, strong and bitter, the flavour swings.
Pale Ale
As the name suggests, these are weaker than IPAs because of the lower alcohol content. If you want a beer you can easily gulp down, here’s your pick. These are malty, medium bodied and easy to drink.
Porter
Porters can trace their roots to the United Kingdom. Because Porters come off same ingredients (dark roasted malts and chocolates) as Stouts, therefore these too have dark colour. If you like chocolates, go for porters; if you like chocolate, go for stouts.
Belgian beer
Belgian beer stretches across the pale ales, dark ales, fruity beers and sour ales. Belgium has a heritage of beer culture and it is spilled all over the US. You can easily get tipsy after having a few. These carry a fruity, spicy and sweet flavour with high alcohol content and low bitterness.
Sour beer
For the bold people, who like to drift away from tradition. These are sour, yes, sour. You can beat beer into flavours like one can beat metal into sheets. Flanders ale, fruity Flanders ale, and lemony Berliner Weisse beer. Addition of fruits like cherry, raspberry or peach, make unique beers unlike any flavour available.