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  FLAVORINGS: Fruits (cherry, curacao orange peels, juniper berry, peach, apple, currant, raisin, strawberry) have been used to enhance beer, and herbs, spices, and other crazy stuff (sage, chamomile, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, rosemary, chilies, chocolate, coffee, honey, molasses, nut extracts, spruce tips) have been used as additional flavorings in beer.

  The use of additional ingredients underlines our point that the homogenized, industrialized light beer we Americans have been drinking doesn’t even scratch the surface of what our beer drinking experience could and should be. If you feel like having a chocolate bar, an orange sherbet, or a licorice whip, you could find it in beer.

  There are some purists, however, who don’t agree with this new fangled beer making. The Germans (big surprise) are among the brewers who pooh-pooh the addition of anything other than the original four ingredients—malt, hops, water, and yeast—to make their beer.

  REINHEITSGE-WHAT? GERMAN BEER PURITY LAW

  Almost every town and village in Germany has at least one brewery, and some have more than one. In fact, Germany has over 1,300 breweries, more than half of which are in Bavaria in southern Germany. This means that about a third of all the breweries in the world are in Germany.

  The Germans don’t make and drink just any beer. Like old French wines with their distinct AOC rules and regulations, Germans have rigid and particular ideas about the ingredients, quality, and origin of their beer. For Germans, a beer must have been brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot.

  REINHEITSGEBOT: (n) Literally means “purity order.” In the 16th century the Bavarian court was concerned about the ingredients that were being used in beer. Brewers used to color their beers with soot or lime, and beans and peas were being used in addition to grains as malt. In 1516, Duke William IV passed a law that restricted the brewing of beer and stipulated that only barley (or wheat) hops and water were allowed to be used in beer (they didn’t know about the function of yeast in 1516).

  The beer styles in Germany vary greatly, extending far beyond the lagers and light beers that we Americans associate with Germany. (Note: Many of us Americans associate this lightness with the beer Heineken, which is not German but Dutch, and is an industrialized beer.) Germans make ales and lagers that run the gamut in color, from the lightest of light Kristallklar to the darkest of dark Schwarzbier.

  What’s Your Type? Beer Styles

  Most every beer is given a name based on its general flavor profile, its origin and history, or both. This name is known as the beer’s style. The style is usually the first thing you know about a beer, as it’s often on the label, so it’s helpful to understand the attributes of the various beer styles.

  We explained earlier that all beers are either ales or lagers. In addition, ales and lagers are broken down into styles. For instance, a Pilsner is a style of lager, a Dopplebock is a style of lager, a Porter is a style of ale, a Stout is a style of ale, an India Pale Ale is a style of ... got it?

  Beers are categorized on the basis of historical tradition, ingredients, and sensory characteristics. According to the Beer Judge Certification Program, which is highly respected in the beer world and the go-to for beer style guidelines, flavors that are most important to a beer style are type and strength of malt, yeast strain, strength of bitterness, and type and strength of hops. Aromatics that are most important to a beer style include strength and type of malt aroma, strength and type of hop aroma, and yeast ester aroma. The feel of a beer in the mouth, from the thickness of the liquid to the amount of prickli ness from the carbonation, are also important factors in determining a beer style. The visual characteristics that are most important to a beer style are color, clarity, and the nature of the head (for example, the thickness).

  Whether the beer is dubbed Bavarian Hefeweizen or Russian Imperial Stout, the name hints at what the aromatics are like, how strong it is, what sort of body it has, how it was brewed, and even what its history is. There are many, many variations of each particular style, and each brewer makes his or her own version of specific styles, but knowing a beer’s style gives you a general idea of what to expect.

  Here are some examples of common beer styles:

  AMERICAN ALL -MAL T LAGER:The designation “all-malt lager” means that no adjuncts were used. Though pale in color, these beers will display a broader depth of flavor and a more complex bitterness than the industrialized mass-produced lagers promoted during football games.

  PILSNER: A type of lager named after the city in which it was created, Plzen, Bohemia (in what is now the Czech Republic). The beer is crisp, clear, and light straw to golden in color, finishing clean and dry.

  PALE ALE: A type of English ale that is usually bitter (hoppy) and higher in alcohol content than your average Pilsner.

  INDIA PALE ALE (IPA): A beer created by British brewers who were sending their Pale Ales to India. They found that the ales were going bad on the long journey, so they added more alcohol and hops to help preserve them, creating a bigger brew. IPAs today are generally bitter and higher in alcohol than a Pale Ale.

  WHEAT BEER: Simply put, an ale or lager brewed with a portion of malted wheat in the mash. There are two common types of wheat beers: Hefeweizen (light, fruity, unfiltered wheat beer) and Dunkelweizen (darker unfiltered wheat beer).

  WITBIER: A Belgian-style ale that’s very pale in color but cloudy in appearance both because it is unfiltered (meaning the yeast has been kept in) and because a high level of wheat and sometimes oats are used in the brewing process. These beers are spiced, often with coriander, orange peel, or herbs. The crispness and slight twang come from the wheat and the high level of carbonation. A popular style often replicated well in the United States.

  BROWN ALE: Brown Ales are typically rather malty and often full in body. They tend to have a nutty, toasty character, some with lighter notes and others with a heavy malt quality.

  PORTER: This is a dark ale and is generally not too high in alcohol content. The name of the style comes from its popularity with the street and river porters of London in the 18th century.

  STOUT: Porters were so popular that the English started making Double Porters and Extra Stout Porters, which eventually became known simply as Stouts. These ales are black ales that use deeply roasted barley for their toasty character and dark color. Stouts vary greatly in alcohol content, sweetness, and bitterness. Though these attributes change from stout to stout, the richness of the roasted barley is the common thread.

  DUBBEL: A Belgian-style ale that is usually dark in color, with a dark fruit profile of figs and plumbs, and a spice profile of clove, nutmeg, and similar spices. Dubbels have a mild hop bitterness and are effervescent and medium to full-bodied. Dubbel refers to the use of up to twice the amount of malt used in a standard Belgian Ale.

  TRIPEL: Tripel refers to part of the brewing process in which brewers use up to three times the amount of malt used in a standard Belgian Ale. Traditionally, Tripels are yellow to gold in color with a dense, creamy head. The aroma and flavors are complex, often spicy, yeasty, and fruity, with a semisweet finish. Small amounts of spices and herbs are sometimes added as well. Tripels are notoriously alcoholic, and the best crafted ones hide this character, so proceed with caution: sip slowly.

  QUADRUPEL: Inspired by the monk brewers of Belgium, a Quadrupel is a Belgian-style ale of great strength, bigger in flavor than its Dubbel and Tripel sister styles. The colors range from deep red to brown. These ales are usually full bodied with a rich malty character. They are often sweet on the palate and rarely bitter, but the alcohol is there all the way; average alcohol by volume (ABV) range: 9% to 13%.

  SAISON: These are farmhouse ales that were traditionally brewed in the winter, stored, and consumed throughout the summer months. This is a complex style, and many are very fruity and spicy in aroma and flavor, with earthy yeast tones, and finishing with a tartness or sourness. They are often described as dry, making them perfect companions for food.

  BIÈRE DE GARDE: This ale is usually golden
to deep copper to light brown in color. It is moderate to medium in body. This style of beer gives off a toasted malt aroma, sometimes with a bit of fruit in the nose and with a slight malt sweetness and medium hop bitterness on the tongue. Earthy, cellar-like, musty aromas and flavors are possible.

  FRUIT BEER: Any beer (ale or lager) made with fruit. The sweetness, sourness, bitterness, alcohol content, and viscosity depend on the fruit used.

  HERBED/SPICED BEER: This is a style of beer (ale or lager) that is specially herbed or spiced to make anything from the common spiced fall pumpkin beer to Christmas beers with nutmeg and cinnamon to ginger beers to heather ales. Brewers like to get crazy with things like hot peppers, hemp, ginseng, and spruce needles. Many of these beers will blow away your idea of what a beer can be.

  Tainted Love: Off-Flavors in Beer

  You now know that real beer flavors include a complex array of sweet, salty, bitter, and alkaline. The aromatics of beer also run the gamut from caramel, grainy, and grassy to nutty, roasty, and toasty. But sometimes there are flavors present in beer that aren’t supposed to be there. We all know about “skunked” beers, but bad flavors in beer can also vary greatly. These off flavors can have tastes and aromatics like the burnt qualities of asphalt and sulfur, metallic qualities, aspects of wet moldy newspaper, wet dog, or wet leather. Detecting off-flavors can be confusing because sometimes, except for the wet dog perhaps, one of these flavors might be intended for the beer. For instance, some Rauchbiers can have burnt qualities that work well, and sometimes a Gueuze can have a funky wet-leather earthiness to it that makes it great.

  The trick to spotting off-flavors is knowing the variety of flavors that you can expect from the beer style that you’re drinking and what flavors shouldn’t be there. If these off-flavors are faint, they may go unnoticed by the novice. But an experienced beer taster will be able to tell if a beer he or she had before tastes significantly different this time. When we get to this point in beer school, we actually have our students taste a beer that’s off so that they’ll be able to distinguish truly bad from an intentional sourness or funky flavor. They forgive us, but they’ll never forget that spoiled beer they sipped.

  Off-flavors usually come from oxidation, bacterial contamination, an unexpected or accidental spontaneous fermentation, or cork taint. Oxidation is simply when the beer has been exposed to oxygen, possibly from an improper cap seal. Oxidation will generally give you wet-cardboard flavors. Bacteria in beer can produce acid in the beer, which creates sour and tart flavors. As you’ll learn in Chapter 6, certain beer styles, like the Berliner Weisse, actually benefit from a fermentation process in which the bacteria Lactobacillus is purposefully added. Lactobacillus produces lactic acid, which gives the Berliner Weisse its distinctive sourness and citric qualities. A bacteria that is frequently the culprit in producing off-flavors is Acetobacter. Acetobacter is a bacteria that produces acetic acid in beer and that gives vinegar its sourness and pungency. This organism is great in a Flanders Red Ale, but when it appears in an American Pale Ale, you know something is wrong. If a beer becomes infected by this bacteria, it’s usually due to improper cleaning and sanitizing.

  Phenols are off-flavors that also come from improper sanitization or from some wild yeast strains. Phenols smell like Band-Aids. Yes, it’s true. If you have a beer that smells like plastic or has mediciny, burnt, or smoky qualities, it may contain phenols. Once again, not all phenolic qualities are bad. Wheat beers, many Belgian Ale styles, and Smoked Beers make good use of phenols, but if you’re tasting Band-Aids and smoke in your Pale Lager, there might be a problem.

  Another fault in beer that can be caused by bacterial contamination or unhealthy yeast is the presence of a compound called diacetyl. Diacetyl gives off buttery and butterscotch aromas and flavors. Again, these qualities might be great in a British Cream Ale, but if you smell buttered popcorn in your Nut Brown, call Houston. Beer can also be contaminated with wild yeast strains that can ferment sugars in beer that normal beer yeast can’t ferment. Wild yeast doesn’t just exist in the Senne Valley of Belgium. It exists everywhere. If you get a beer that’s been contaminated by wild yeast, you could get a super-foamy and bad-tasting mug. Flavors that can come from these accidental and spontaneous fermentations can be the worst of the bunch: sulfuric aromas like rotten eggs and burning rubber. Mmmm ... sounds tasty. These flavors usually come from the autolysis of yeast, when the enzymes in the yeast cause it to start eating itself.

  One more cause of off-flavors that we’ll talk about is a little something called cork taint. Sometimes, with specialty beers, brewers will finish the beer with a cork to allow aging or to be fancy. Cork taint is simply cork contamination (usually by a compound called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole). When a well-stored wine bottle is bad, the culprit is most likely cork taint. We in the industry, who try to limit our use of the word taint, call a wine or beer bottle that has gone bad due to cork spoilage “corked.” Generally, if a bottle is corked, it will taste musty and moldy like a damp basement. Once again, a great quality in some beers but not so much in other clean, crisp beer styles.

  Get Some Digits: IBUs and ABVs

  Don’t worry. We won’t be doing any math here. There are only two numbers you will really need to know in the beer world: IBUs and ABVs. It’s important that you know these numbers for a couple of reasons. First, knowing them will aid you in determining what the taste of the beer might be like before you try it. If you don’t know that the beer you are ordering has 90 IBUs and you hate bitter, dry beers, you will be in for a shock when you taste it. Second, knowing how strong the beer is will help you steer clear of potential beer goggle incidents and overall whorishness. If you don’t know that the beer you ordered is 11% alcohol, you could be ass up in your neighbor’s flower garden and doing the walk of shame before you can say “three sheets to the wind.”

  The first acronym, IBU, stands for International Bitterness Units. The IBU scale provides a way to measure the bitterness of a beer. The number on the bitterness scale is a result of some complicated empirical formula using something called a spectrophotometer and solvent extraction. We don’t pretend to understand that, and the good thing is that you don’t have to understand it either. The bottom line is that this scale was based on tasting beer samples and correlating the perceived bitterness to a measured value on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the number, the higher the concentration of bitter compounds in the beer. For example, a mass-produced American lager might have an IBU of 5 on the scale, whereas an extreme Tripel IPA could have an IBU as high as 100.

  We encourage you to use your own palate to determine bitterness because the IBU scale can be a bit confusing for newer craft beer drinkers. Some of the more advanced drinkers, and those who are adept at brewing, may begin to pay closer attention to these numbers. Some innovative brewers are starting to put this number on bottle labels, but more often than not, this number is not shown on the beer bottle. If you’re worried about bitterness, it will help to know the general range of IBUs for each beer style. You can usually find the IBU number for a beer on the brewery’s website. For an IBU range for beer styles, check out the Beer Judge Certification Program’s website (w w w.bjcp.org).

  The second acronym, ABV, stands for alcohol by volume and directly relates to how drunk you are going to get. If you’re used to drinking mass-produced lagers, the beers you’ve been drinking are probably between 3% and 5% ABV. When you start getting into craft beers, the ABVs range from the familiar 3% to 5% to big beers that come in at 13% or more (drzunk!!).

  If you’re going to drink a beer, or a few, you’d better know your ABVs. Believe us when we tell you that there is a huge difference between a 5% beer and an 8% beer. A 5% beer can make you friendly; an 8% beer can make you French kiss a tree. Of course, this all depends on how well you can hold your liquor. Can you handle your martinis, or do you get sauced after half a glass of Pinot Gris? It’s critical, especially for women, to be vigilant about how much alcohol we are actually consumi
ng. Know your ABVs, and you, your neighbor, and her flower garden will thank us.

  The Secret of Beer: How to Get the Beer You Want

  Now that you’ve got Beer 101 under your belt, it’s time to take what you know out for a spin in the real world. You now know more than probably 80% of the beer-ordering public, and you have the power to get what you want out of your beer experience. Ordering your first real beer can be daunting. Even we were intimidated the first time we ordered a craft beer. We were dry mouthed and tongue tied. We thought, “Hey! We know about fermentation, we know our ales from our lagers. What’s the problem here?” The fact is that even though we knew what we liked, we didn’t know how to communicate it. Communication is a continuing challenge for any relationship, and learning how to ask for what you want from beer can take some practice, but the Universal Law of Attraction and the Secret of Beer is, If you know how to ask for what you want, you just might get it.

  We’ve already told you that beer falls into two types: ales and lagers. But it’s not good enough to be this general when asking for beer. Would you go onto Match.com and describe the person you’re looking for as brown-haired, with no other descriptors? If you do, every brown-haired freak under the sun is going to think you have extremely low standards and that he or she may finally have a chance. In short, do not go up to the bar and ask simply for an ale or a lager or, worse yet, “something light.”