Beer Education

What is beer?

Beer is an alcoholic beverage made with cereal grains (such as barley, wheat, rye, corn, or rice), water, and hops which are fermented through the addition of yeast. Of course, beer is much more than its simple ingredients. It is what brings friends together for a night on the town. It is what relaxes us after a hard day at the office. It is a perfect accompaniment to our favorite meals, and a distinct part of our American culture. Broadly speaking, there are 2 main categories of beer: Ales and Lagers. The distinction between the two lay mainly in the styles of yeast and temperatures used in the fermentation process.

What is a Lager?

A lager is any beer fermented with the yeast Saccharomyces Pastorianus aka Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis (sometimes called “pure yeast”). Lagers are fermented at lower temperatures than ales (50*F), and then stored for 30 days or more close to their freezing point. Lager production is sometimes called Bottom Fermentation, since the yeasts tend to collect at the base of the fermenter during the fermentation process. Lagers possess a mellow, crisp character, and tend to be less fruity than ales. Though very often pale, lagers can range from very light all the way to black in color.

What is an Ale?

An ale is a beer fermented with any yeast other than Saccharomyces Pastorianus aka Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis. Ales are fermented at higher temperatures than lagers (59*-68*F) and get their character from the esters that are produced as a result. Ale production is often called Top Fermentation, because the yeasts used rise to the surface of the beer during the brewing process. Ales tend to have a fruity character and rich dimension. Ales range from pale all the way to opaque black in color.

Style Varieties

Of course, a trip to any beer distributor will show that there a many more than 2 types of beer available to you. While Lager and Ale represent the main beer “families”, there are a vast number of styles within each of those categories. Each of these styles possesses its own unique flavor and character. The Brewers’ Association has named the following styles of beer as categories for the Great American Beer Festival.

Ale

Golden or Blonde Ale.
German-Style Kölsch
English-Style Summer Ale
Classic English-Style Pale Ale
English-Style India Pale Ale
American-Style Pale Ale
American-Style Strong Pale Ale
American-Style India Pale Ale
Imperial India Pale Ale
American-Style Amber/Red Ale
Imperial Red Ale
English-Style Mild Ale
     A. English-Style Pale Mild Ale
     B. English-Style Dark Mild Ale
Ordinary or Special Bitter
     A. Ordinary Bitter
     B. Special Bitter

Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter
     A. English-Style Strong Bitter
     B. American-Style Strong Bitter
Scottish-Style Ale
     A. Scottish-Style Light Ale
     B. Scottish-Style Heavy Ale
     C. Scottish-Style Export Ale
Irish-Style Red Ale
English-Style Brown Ale
American-Style Brown Ale
German-Style Altbier
German-Style Sour Ale
     A. Berliner-Style Weisse
     B. Leipzig-Style Gose

South German-Style Hefeweizen
German-Style Wheat Ale
South German-Style Kristal Weizen
South German-Style Dunkel Weizen/Dunkel Weissbier

South German-Style Weizenbock/Weissbock
Belgian-Style Witbier
French- and Belgian-Style Saison
     A. Belgian-Style Blonde Ale
     B. Belgian-Style Pale Ale
     C. French-Style Bière de Garde
     D.: Belgian-Style Table Beer
     E. Other Belgian- and French-Style Ale
Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale
     A. Belgian-Style Lambic
     B. Belgian-Style Gueuze Lambic
     C. Belgian-Style Fruit Lambic
     D. Belgian-Style Flanders/Oud Bruin      or Oud Red Ale
     E. Subcategory: Other Belgian-Style Sour Ale
Belgian-Style Abbey Ale
     A. Subcategory: Belgian-Style Dubbel
     B. Subcategory: Belgian-Style Tripel
     C. Subcategory: Other Belgian-Style Abbey Ale
Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale
Brown Porter
Robust Porter
Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout
Foreign-Style Stout
American-Style Stout
Sweet Stout
Oatmeal Stout
Imperial Stout
Scotch Ale
Old Ale or Strong Ale
Barley Wine-Style Ale

Lager

International-Style Pilsener
German-Style Pilsener
Bohemian-Style Pilsener
Munich-Style Helles
Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest

American-Style Light Lager
     A. Light ( Low Cal )
     B. Low-(Carbohydrate)
American-Style Lager or Premium Lager
     A. Subcategory American-Style Lager
     B. Subcategory American-Style Premium Lager
American-Style Specialty Lager
    A. Subcategory American-Style Pilsener
    B. Subcategory American-Style Ice Lager
    C. Subcategory American-Style Malt Liquor
Vienna-Style Lager
German-Style Märzen
American-Style Amber Lager
     A. Amber Lager
     B. California Common Beer
C. American-Style
Märzen/Oktoberfest
European-Style Dunkel
American-Style Dark Lager
German-Style Schwarzbier
Bock
     A. Traditional German-Style Bock
     B. German-Style Heller Bock/Maibock
German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock
     A. German-Style Doppelbock
     B. German-Style Eisbock
Baltic-Style Porter

Usefull resources:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/

History of Beer

Beer is one of the oldest prepared beverages in the world. As the 3rd most widely consumed beverage, behind water and tea, it has a proud history that stretches back to the very dawn of civilization. The foundation of agriculture between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago in areas of the Middle East provided the first readily available supply of cereal grains needed for the brewing process. It is believed that stores of those grains, accidentally allowed to get wet and sit fallow, produced the first “brewed” beverage at the very dawn of civilization itself.

The earliest proven records of brewing have indicated that beer was being deliberately produced in Sumeria (in the area of modern day Iraq ) approximately as far long ago as 4000 B.C. A 4000 year old Sumerian prayer to the goddess Ninkasi is the oldest recorded recipe for beer. The Babylonian king Hammurabi codified a method of beer rationing within his system of laws in the 2nd century B.C. Reliefs inside Egyptian tombs from 2400 B.C. pictorially depict the process of combining crushed barley and water, and fermenting the result. The Roman historians Pliny (1st century B.C.) and Tacitus (1st century A.D.) both record that the Germanic tribes on the outskirts of the Roman Empire were producing and consuming ale. Evidence of a fermented rice beverage has been found in China dating back to 7000 B.C., and the peoples of Meso America have fermented a beverage called pulque for more than 1000 years. Beer has been a part of the culture of people all over the world from time immemorial.

In prehistoric and ancient times, the process of brewing beer was primarily a domestic act. Each home was, in a way, its own microbrewery. During the Middle Ages, Roman Catholic monasteries began brewing beer on a larger scale as a craft. This tradition is still practiced in the same fashion today, and can be savored through any modern beers designated as “Trappist”. Producing Ales primarily through the Top Fermentation style, many monastic orders in many geographical areas across Europe produced their own distinct style of beer. In the 11th century A.D., German monks introduced hops to the brewing process as a flavor and preservative component. In the 13th century, with help from the cold climate and new breeds of yeast, some German brewers began utilizing the Bottom Fermentation method, and storing the beer they produced in cool caves during the summer months. We still call these Bottom Fermented beers Lagers today, because those original brewers named their creation lagern (the German word for “to store”). In 1502, the German government instituted the Reinheitsgebot, the first beer purity law, dictating that the only acceptable ingredients for brewing were malted barley, malted wheat, hops and water. The European tradition for beer making, which we still follow today, was thus fully established. When the original settlers moved to the New World, they brought their beer tradition with them, and America developed its own beer tradition.

The Industrial Revolution turned beer into a large and thriving business. Mechanization and new advances in technology (such as the thermometer, the hydrometer, and the saccharometer) allowed for better control over the brewing process and greater consistency in the beer produced. The advent of refrigeration and pasteurization allowed beer to be stored for longer periods of time, and shipped much farther from the brewery.

The 20th century saw the beer industry turn into a large scale industry. The strain of World Wars and American Prohibition led to the centralization of the beer industry into the hands of a smaller number of large scale breweries. The European, small scale brewing tradition continued on, and the 1990s saw an significant upsurge in the microbrewery industry in America .

Homebrewing of beer having an alcohol content higher than 0.5% remained illegal until 1978 when Congress passed a bill repealing Federal restrictions on the homebrewing of small amounts of beer. Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, signed the bill into law in February 1979; however, the bill left individual states free to pass their own laws limiting production. This repeal paved the way for the explosion of "craft brewing" we see today.

The 21st century offers its beer drinkers a greater variety for taste and pleasure than any other time in history. Following along the great history from Sumeria to America , today’s beer drinker can get an ale or lager for any taste or occasion. From the smallest monastery in Belgium , to the biggest pilsner maker in St. Louis ; from the international brewers across the globe, to the brewpub down the street, beer is a proud and undying part of our global culture and personal palate.