Today's beer lovers are truly blessed with an array of delicious brews and quality taprooms springing up in virtually every city. Beer tastings are immensely popular with seasoned connoisseurs as well as neophytes - the only entry requirement is an undying curiosity for the golden brew. To help get the most out of these conversations and experiences, here are some key terms every beer aficionado should know.
9 Terms Every Beer Aficionado Should Know
1. Ale
Ale is one of the main beer categories that includes beer styles such as India pale ale, brown ale, porter, and stout. Ales tend to be more robust and flavorful and are distinguished by the type of yeast used in the brewing process as well as the temperature at which it is fermented. This category of beer uses top-fermenting yeast, which literally means it sits near the top of the fermenting liquid while it does its work.
Ales are typically fermented at much warmer temperatures and may actually be served at warmer temperatures as well. The result is a category of beer that delivers a fruitier, spicier, or generally more full-bodied flavor experience for the beer aficionado.
2. Lager
This is another main beer category that includes styles like pilsner, bock, and Marzen. Lagers have more of a lighter, crisper feel that is cool and refreshing after a long day of work. They use bottom-fermenting yeast and are fermented at colder temperatures, typically in the range of 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Refreshing lagers are usually enjoyed at colder temperatures to enhance their crisp flavors, and while we often associate lagers with lighter color or body, this isn't necessarily always the case. Color, body, and alcohol content can vary from beer to beer, and these do not distinguish an ale from a lager.
3. Adjunct
Adjuncts are sugars or unmalted grain additives that are used to impart flavor or color to a beer. Examples include wheat, rice, corn, and oats, in addition to honey or other types of sweeteners. Large industrial brewers often include these comparatively cheaper ingredients to increase the alcohol content while lowering production costs, which is part of the reason why many mass-produced beers are sold so inexpensively.
While their main use is to reduce the production cost, this does not automatically mean that all adjuncts are an indication of low-quality beer. For example, some renowned Belgian brewers use unique flavor adjuncts like cloves or coriander to enhance their beer's flavor profile.
4. Hops
Every beer aficionado must know about hops, the cone-shaped flowers that brewers use to add bitterness, flavor, and aroma to a beer. There are many different types of hops that come from different parts of the world, including British admiral hops, Czech Angus hops, and American Cascade hops. Each brewer experiments with different hops to find the perfect match of bitterness, flavor, and aroma to achieve a unique beer.
In addition to the choice of hops, there are also different ways to use them in the brewing process. For example, dry-hopping refers to the practice of adding hops to beer after the fermentation process to add more hop presence without increasing bitterness. Since the hops are not boiled, they don't release bitter green alpha acids, instead imparting rich aromatic oils to the flavor.
5. Craft Beer
This is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit, and there is some debate as to exactly what it means. Broadly speaking, it generally refers to both ingredients and the way a beer is produced in addition to the type of brewery that produced it. Craft beer is produced with an emphasis on using quality ingredients, typically using the traditional recipe of malt, hops, yeast, and water without the use of lower-quality adjuncts.
Craft beer is usually made in smaller batches by so-called craft breweries, which tend to be smaller than major beer companies that mass-produce and sell their beer worldwide. The craft beer segment is also where we tend to see the most experimentation with innovative flavor combinations and production techniques, so it's a great place to explore and find new favorites.
6. Session Beer
This is another broad term that refers to beers that are easy to drink and lower in alcohol, typically less than 5%. A session beer can be either a lager or an ale, and you should be able to drink several of them and not run the risk of falling out of your comfortable lawn chair.
While it's a simple concept, a well-made session beer is actually more difficult to execute than its higher alcohol counterparts. A lower alcohol beer will highlight flaws more easily than bold malty or hoppy brews, meaning the true test of a brewer's talent is how well they can execute an easy-drinking session beer.
7. Bottle Conditioning
Conditioning is the final step of maturing and carbonating a beer before it is ready for consumption. There are two ways that beer can be carbonated: either artificially or through a more natural process known as bottle conditioning. The artificial process is known as force carbonation and involves adding carbon dioxide to the brewer's brite tank. Bottle conditioning, on the other hand, is more of a natural process that is favored by many beer purists.
In bottle conditioning, sugar or yeast is added to the fermented beer just before it is bottled. A secondary fermentation then takes place inside the bottle, with the yeast turning the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This tends to create a beer that is softer and has less of a bite on the tongue. Bottle conditioning may also increase shelf life.
8. Head Retention
The head of a beer is the foam that sits on top of it, and head retention refers to how long the foam stays in your glass once it has been served. A long-lasting head is desirable for aesthetic reasons, but it does have a specific functional purpose as well. As many of us know, smell plays a major role in how we perceive taste, and the head does a great job of presenting the beer's aroma attributes.
Simply put, a long-lasting head will continue delivering aroma to the drinking experience, and the aroma dissipates as the head dies down. While strong head retention is often viewed as an indication of quality, it's important to note that not all beer styles call for it.
9. International Bittering Units (IBUs)
Acids from the hops dissolve into the beer during the boiling process, and this is what delivers its bitterness. A beer's IBU rating is a numeric measure of the amount of alpha acids in the hops, the amount of hops used, and when the hops are added to the beer. In essence, the IBU rating is a general indication of how bitter a beer might be.
However, it's important to keep in mind that the IBU rating alone will not determine how bitter a beer is. This is because a number of other factors may emphasize, complement, or balance the bitterness provided by a beer's hops.
These are some of the more important beer terms that every beer lover should know. Being a beer lover does not require you to become a snob, but it doesn't hurt to have a basic vocabulary so you can have more informed discussions with other beer fans. Stop by LowerCase Brewing to learn even more terms while sampling some well-made and thoughtfully served suds.
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