Do you know all beers? Today it is difficult to list all brands of beer produced by large factories and small private breweries. In the world there is no clear qualification of the popular hop drink, because in some countries there is a classification. Americans, for example, distinguish 23 styles based on the geographical origin of hops. In our short review, we will talk about the traditional classification, which will divide beer into three main types.
Classification criteria
- The main criterion for the global classification of beer is the type of fermentation. Ale is obtained using the upper fermentation method.
- The second group consists of drinks using bottom-fermented yeast. The result is Lager.
- The third group is mixed beer, the basis of which is spontaneous fermentation.
The main types of beer:
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Ale
The technology for producing ale uses a low temperature of up to 25 ° C using top-fermenting yeast. The fermentation process itself lasts from 5 to 6 days, sometimes 12 days. Irish and British drink that has won worldwide acclaim.
The word Ale has Irish roots, which means "intoxication." Traditional Ale is brewed from different varieties of barley, the drink has a characteristic fruity taste.
Now there are many types of light and dark ale, some of which we will tell in more detail.
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Light ale
A classic drink that is associated with good old England. To prepare the traditional Pale ale, the brewers use a lot of hops and only light malt. The most famous is brewed in the heart of England, in the town of Burton upon Trent. Outside the British Isles, it is produced in factories in the United States and Canada. In Belgium, such low-alcohol drinks are labeled Blonde Ale.
Soft ale
Light beer style with low hop content and low alcohol content (less than 4%). This taste is distinguished by a sweet taste with a malt aftertaste. The color is light golden. Sometimes there are fruity notes. In Birmingham, this is the most popular low-alcohol drink. There are connoisseurs outside of Britain.
Brown ale
Dark English beer, for which brewers use dark malt with a caramel flavor. It is deeply fried, which gives the drink a traditional dark color. They began to cook Brown Ale in the XVIII century, but then, due to the rise in price of dark malt, cooking was suspended. Jam revived only in the middle of the XIX century. On the shelves of beer shops you can find two varieties: South English and North English brown ale.
Bitter ale
The traditional English hop drink has a pleasant bitter taste, which is why it got its name Bitter Ale. The manufacturing technology uses dry hops and no sugar. Brewers try to keep the alcohol content at 4% vol. But there are stronger ones. For example, in Premium Bitter, the alcohol content reaches 7%, and now stronger brands are appearing.
Seasonal Ale
From the British Isles we will be transported to the French-speaking part of Belgium, where traditional Belgian summer beer is brewed. This kind of ale brown ale perfectly quenches thirst in the hot summer months. It is brewed in small home breweries with an alcohol content of 5 to 6.5%. from Belgium, production technology has spread to parts of neighboring France.
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Blond ale
A new word in the market of low alcohol drinks is quickly gaining popularity among lovers of light beers. Ale is brewed in Belgian breweries using national varieties of malt, and hops are only the noble varieties Styrian Goldings and East Kent Goldings. It captivates with a pleasant spicy aroma of hops and a sweetish taste of malt.
Barley wine
Photo by: © Bernt Rostad.
We are not surprised by the name, because it is also a type of beer, which is prepared on the basis of traditional varieties of barley. In the pubs of Belgium it can be bought under the name Gerstewijn, and in the vastness of England it is called barley wine. This group of drinks includes strong ales, the alcohol content of which reaches 8-12% vol. Such strong ale is stored in barrels, and production technology allows you to store from 12 to 20 years.
Porter
Another type of beer that was first brewed by Ralph Harwood at the beginning of the 18th century. The name is literally translated from English as “porter”, and they began to use it as a substitute for classic ales for people engaged in hard work. Porter is very nutritious, and therefore quickly restores strength. In the manufacture of horse-drawn fermentation is used, which classifies it as ale.
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Lager
The main part of beer that is bottled in factories and brewed in home breweries is lagers. Lager is prepared using bottom fermentation technologies at temperatures from 7 to 12ºС.
The brewed beer wort is cooled, and then after adding the yeast, it is poured into the tanks. In tanks, the mixture wanders for up to 7 days, and then goes on a camp endurance, which sometimes reaches several months. Most-beauty will consider different styles of lagers, they can be light and dark.
Strong lager
Strong lager gives a double portion of malt when the alcohol content is from 5 to 8%. The production technology and components give the camp a licorice taste and rich hop aroma. In the United States, this style, in excess of 5% alcohol, is called Malt Liquor.
Light lager
The alcohol content in such drinks reaches 3.3–6%, and the taste has a characteristic malt aftertaste and a rich hop aroma. Light golden beer is brewed in German breweries, and the brightest Munich lager is the most famous brand. A refreshing drink with a small hop bitterness and a pleasant malt flavor. When spilled, forms a rich creamy foam.
Pilsner
Transparent, light golden beer got its name in honor of the Czech town of Pilsen. It brews the traditional Pilsner variety, which is then used all over the world to make premium and superpremium styles. Now it is the most common type among all the lagers in the world, and the traditional recipes of Czech and Bavarian brewers are used in cooking technology.
Dark lager
A type of lager with bewitching dark amber or dark brown color with a pronounced caramel flavor. In some brands there is a bitter taste of highly roasted malt. Dark Lager is made in several variations. Traditional brew in Munich breweries, but the Americans add corn or rice to the traditional ingredients. There is a black beer belonging to the dark camp.
Black beer
By the name it is clear that this style of intoxicated low-alcohol drink is characterized by a dark, almost black color. This drink comes from Germany, and is very popular among lovers of dark beer in this European country. The first mention of brewing a drink from dark varieties of malt dates back to 1543, and the modern popularity of this type of lager began in the early 90s of the twentieth century.
European Amber Lager
The manufacture uses traditional European malt and hops of noble continental varieties. European varieties contain less alcohol than American varieties. The most famous in this series is the Vienna lager, which is boiled from a traditional Viennese variety of malt. Anton Dreer first brewed such a beer in 1840. Technology at the beginning of the XX century was lost, and again revived at the beginning of the XXI century.
Side
Here, beer market specialists can argue, because traditional brands of strong German Bockbier are produced using bottom and top fermentation. But traditionally it turns out light beer with a high alcohol content, which is attributed to the lagers. German beer Bock. Translated from German “Goat”, but in no way connected with the famous Czech beer Kozel.
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Mixed
Drinks received during spontaneous fermentation, experts allocate in a separate category. Such beer is fermented under the influence of the environment. In the process of fermentation, natural, or, as they also call "wild" yeast, infect beer.
For preparation, the generally accepted stamp of Brettanomyces Lambicus is taken, and the beer turns sour and unfiltered. This style also has fans, and they brew such a drink mainly in Flanders.
Cream ale
Produced in America using traditional American dual-core malt with the addition of corn. Boil only in soft water, in which glucose is added. It turns out a soft, sweet beer with a characteristic bright golden color. American brewers try to withstand wort, reaching 4-5% alcohol content.
Lambic
The product of Belgian brewers is obtained by spontaneous fermentation and only in those barrels where wine used to ferment. In the preparation technology, barley malt is used, as well as non-germinated grains of different varieties of wheat. Hops are dried for three years to reduce bitterness and intoxicating heady aroma. The prepared wort is poured into wine barrels, where wild fermentation takes place for a week. The Belgians offer on the market more than 7 varieties of lambic.
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Merzen
FakirNL [CC BY-SA]
This species is also called March beer, as it is brewed in early spring until April 23 using spontaneous fermentation technology. Mostly light varieties are obtained, but some French brewers have learned to make dark mertsen. The production technology allows you to store it for six months, so that at the Oktoberfest was presented maytsen, it is stored in deep stone cellars.
Bier de garde
In northern France, classic breweries in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais brew beer, which is closed with corks with locks, like champagne. Technologies are used that make it possible to obtain a high-alcoholic hop drink. French brewers offer beer lovers a wide range of different brands made using bottom and top fermentation. Different technologies allow you to get a drink in three colors, amber, light and brown.
Altbier
This brand of beer owes its birth to brewers in North Rhine-Westphalia. This variety was the only one brewed in the north of Germany, and in 1800 the beer got its current name Altbier, which means "old beer". The drink has a pronounced bitter taste of hops, and the proportion in German bars of this variety does not exceed 2-3%. Traditionally, they drink it from small glasses. It competes with beer brewed in Cologne.
Rauhbir
The “smoked beer” from the breweries of southwestern Germany goes well with smoked meat. Manufacturers get a special flavor by smoking during roasting malt. A legend is associated with this species that they received it as a result of a fire. After the brewery burned down, the stored malt was saturated with smoke. He was not thrown away, but brewed beer, having received a special pleasant aftertaste. Germans especially love this variety, which goes well with smoked sausages.
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Non-alcoholic and zero beer
We conclude our story on most-beauty with two more types of beer that have been in great demand over the past decades.
The inscription on the bottle or can “non-alcoholic” may not always correspond to reality. Such beer may contain a small amount of alcohol, but still most of it is produced with a complete absence of alcohol.
Such beer qualifies differently in different countries. For example, in France or Spain, non-alcoholic beer is considered to be beer with an alcohol content of up to 0.9%, and in the Netherlands it is stricter - the alcohol content should not exceed 0.1%. The popularity of this type has led to the fact that any brewing concern considers it their duty to issue at least one brand of such a drink. In the windows, you can even find non-alcoholic porters.
If the word “zero” is written on a bottle or can, be sure that there is no alcohol in this beer. Supervisory authorities in any country strictly monitor compliance with this rule.
Beer Tables:
This interesting illustration shows the main types of beer. By clicking on the picture, a large image will open.
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Conclusion
The variety of types and brands allows you to choose a hoppy low alcohol drink to taste. We hope that in the comments our dear reader will share which beer he prefers, and maybe does not consume this drink at all. Beer is gaining popularity, but it must be remembered that everything should have a sense of proportion. Alcohol, as the Ministry of Health warns, can be harmful to health.
The editors of the site most-beauty.ru asks you to write in the comments which types of beer you like the most.