Nowadays, friends gather for dinner, but more and more are drinking craft beer. Including various restaurants, they also began to provide mid-to-high-end beer. So, what are the classifications of beer? What are the characteristics of each style? Next, 3 minutes will allow you to sort the beer.
1. The basic classification of beer
The most basic classification of beer is based on the brewing process. There are two types of beer brewing processes: Top Fermenting and Bottom Fermenting. Therefore, beer can basically be divided into three types: upper fermented beer (ie Ale), lower fermented beer (ie Lager) and l(hybrid beer, which combines two brewing processes). The first two Species account for the majority of beer.
What are upper fermentation and lower fermentation?
History: Ale beer brewed with fermentation originated in the British Isles in ancient times, and has a history of thousands of years; Lager beer brewed with fermentation began after Columbus discovered the New World of America, and has only a few hundred years of history. .
Fermentation temperature and time: The upper fermentation requires a higher fermentation temperature, about 10-20°C, and the fermentation time is shorter; the lower fermentation requires a lower fermentation temperature, below 10°C, and the fermentation time is longer.
Yeast type: Top-fermenting Yeasts are used for the top fermentation to allow the yeast to float on top of the wort; bottom-fermenting yeasts are used for the bottom-fermenting to allow the yeast to sink to the bottom of the wort.
Style characteristics: top-fermented beer is generally full-bodied, with obvious fruit or spice flavors, strong and complex taste, and a very pleasant hop aroma aftertaste. Many craft beer (Craft Beer) are brewed with top fermentation; bottom fermentation Beer has a lighter body, a refreshing taste, and emphasizes the aroma of malt. The industrial beer we often drink is brewed by fermentation.
What’s wrong with mixed beer?
Mixed beer is a beer made by combining the two brewing processes of upper fermentation and lower fermentation, such as using upper fermentation yeast to ferment at a low temperature, or use lower fermentation yeast to ferment at a higher temperature. The style of this beer is difficult to define, but it is generally based on classic beer styles, such as Porter and Weizenbier, with some additional flavors added; or beer brewed with other unconventional ingredients , Such as vegetables, fruits, etc.
What are the common styles of fermented beer on ？
Pale Al
is called Pale Ale because this type of beer uses a higher percentage of lighter roasted malt and the beer is also lighter in color. Around 1703, the name “Light Ayre” began to appear, and it was regarded as synonymous with Bitter in the 1830s. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that bitter beer was separated from light beer, but it is still Some brewers label bitter beer as “Pale Ale”. In a typical pale Ayre, malt and hops can be well balanced, that is, the sweetness brought by malt is combined with the bitterness brought by hops. The bitterness adds a touch of fruity and sweetness, which makes people feel mild and Very balanced.
Brown Al
Brown Ale style beer is usually dark amber or brown, and the taste of chocolate and caramel is obvious. The real brown ale appeared in England in the 18th century and was brewed with 100% brown malt. But this beer did not have any advantages at the time, because many breweries tended to use cheaper light-colored malt for brewing. Nowadays, it is considered the representative of sweet beer in some regions, especially the United Kingdom, Belgium and North America. There are also many styles of brown Alcohol, including low-alcohol, light-flavored, medium-alcohol, slightly bitter, and heavy.
Porter
Porter’s English name comes from the English word “Porter”. In the British docks in the 18th century, workers liked to mix pale Al, brown Al, and brown Al that was sour after age. Inspired by this, a British brewer brewed this flavor of beer. Because it was very popular with market porters, the beer was named “Porter”. Porter beer is black in color and has a very smooth taste. The caramel sweetness and bitterness are well balanced, with a hint of chocolate.
Shi Tao
Stout and Porter are actually in the same line. After Porter was passed to Ireland, the locals improved it and added roasted black malt to the raw materials. The color of Shitao Beer is very dark, with the taste of chocolate, toffee or even coffee, with a sweet aftertaste, and a dry and rich taste. Shi Tao and Porter are so similar, so what is the difference between them? In fact, compared with Shi Tao, Porter has a purer malt taste, and the caramel taste is much lighter. If you compare Shi Tao to sweet chocolate, then Especially bitter chocolate.
wheat beer
Most beer is made of 100% barley malt, while wheat beer uses about 40-60% wheat malt. Wheat malt will make beer have a brighter, fresher, and fresher taste. In addition, because of the high protein content of wheat malt, it will give the beer a little more fruity flavor such as bananas, and the color will be whiter, so wheat beer is also called white beer. . In general, wheat beer has a soft taste, medium sweetness, and full of clove, banana, toast and yeast flavors.
Ayr, Belgium
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the fermented Pilsner has become the most popular beer in the world for various reasons. In order to resist this trend, Belgian beer brewers began to brew all kinds of Ayers. Belgians like to add a variety of sugars and spices to beer, so it has created a variety of styles and personalities, and the taste is also varied, from sour, sweet, bitter, spicy to various spices.
Acid Al
Sour Ale (Sour Ale), the sour Ale beer, originated from Belgium. The traditional brewing method of Sour Alley is to aging the beer in large wooden barrels, and the lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria and wild breast yeast brought by the wooden barrels will produce various sour tastes. The final maturation result is a deep red wine with a rich sour fruity taste, not only has a light malt sweet aroma, but also has a distinct acidity, faint woody aroma and complex fruity flavor.
Labick
Lambic also originated from Belgium, and is a more special beer. In fact, in a strict sense, it is neither Al nor Lager, but natural fermentation-placed in a ventilated room waiting for the tiny natural wild yeast in the air to ferment (this has very high environmental requirements). In addition, Rubick beer is generally aged in wooden barrels and blended to blend wines of different years together, which has a rich taste and deep taste.
What are the common styles of fermented beer?
Pale Lager
Pilsner beer
Pale Lager is the most widely produced and sold beer in the world. Rice or corn may be added to the raw materials. Usually the liquor is light golden yellow, the liquor is thin, the taste is very light, and it has a slight malty aroma. The most representative of this style is Pilsner, which originated in the Pilsner region of the Czech Republic in the 19th century. It is now the most popular beer in the world, accounting for 2/3 of the world’s total beer production. . Pilsner beer has a refreshing taste and a relatively light taste, but because it uses malt, it has a strong aroma.
Dark Rag
Dark Lager has many colors, ranging from amber to very deep reddish brown. The alcohol content is generally between 4.5-6%, and it usually has flavors such as roasted, cocoa and caramel. Medium body, soft and full mouthfeel. The well-known dark rags are generally German dark beer. If you see “Dunkel” (meaning “dark”) or “Schwarz” (“black”) on the label, it is German in the general sense of the public. It’s dark beer.
Bock
Bock beer (Bock) first appeared in northern Germany in the 13th century. At first, it was a dark Ale with a distinctly malt flavor. In the 17th century, it was transformed into a lagger beer by Munich brewers. It has a strong flavor, a thick body and a dark color. There are also many categories of Bock beer: Traditional Bock (Traditional Bock) has a more obvious malt flavor; Doppelbock is an enhanced version of traditional Bock with a stronger flavor; Mailbock is lighter in color and has a strong hop flavor; Ice Bock ( Eisbock) is frozen during brewing, and then the ice residue is removed to achieve the purpose of concentrating the flavor and alcohol.
4 What styles of mixed beer include?
Fruit beer
This is a better understanding, that is, adding juice to beer or directly mixing fruit with malt to ferment. Such beer has the foam of beer and the sweetness of fruit, which is more popular with girls.
Vegetables/Spices/Herb Beer
This kind of beer has a wide variety of raw materials, and vegetables, spices, herbs, etc. can be added to brew. Such as cocoa beer, coriander beer, chili beer, pumpkin beer, bitter gourd beer, cucumber beer and so on.
Smoked beer
Smoke Beer refers to a beer brewed with smoked malt, which has a heavy peat flavor and is a choice for heavy taste lovers.
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