Beer Flashcards
When was the Bavarian Purity Law codified? Which 3 ingredients did is authorise for beer production?
1516
Barley, Hops, and Water
Outline the process of malting to make beer
Barley (or the cereal grain of choice) is steeped in water to promote germination - the amylase enzyme is produced - amylase converts the starchy carbohydrates of the grain into fermentable sugars maltose and dextrin.
The “green malt” is then roasted to suppress further growth (the level of roasting will dictate the style of beer)
What is grist in beer making?
Is the cracked or ground malted grain
Grist + hot water = ?
Mash tun
What does the mashing process do in beer making? How long does it generally take?
It converts and extracts sugars from the malt
1-2hrs
In beer making what is the solution called after fermentable sugars have been extracted from the malt and before fermentation begins?
Wort
What is sparging?
Rinsing the grains after mashing and filtration to extract additional sugar and flavour. This can sometimes contribute to bitterness in the finished brew.
When are hops usually added to beer?
Usually they are added to the boiling wart before fermentation and then again in a hopback chamber prior to chilling
At what point in fermentation does a lager differ from an ale?
- After the hopping and during the cooling of the wort. Lager wort is cooled to a lower temperature.
- Yeast fermentation. Ales take a top-fermenting yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae) and Lagers take a bottom fermenting yeast (saccharomyces pastorianus)
Does Ale or Lager yeast ferment more quickly and at a hotter temperature?
Ale yeast. Top-fermenting.
What are bottle-conditioned beers?
Unfiltered beer that undergoes partial fermentation in bottle
What is a lambic beer? Where is it from?
Beer that is spontaneously fermented in open-top containers with native wild yeasts such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus
Belgium
How are lambics generally treated post fermentation
Aged in cask for often up to 3yrs and blended before bottling
What style of beer is often referred to as Brussels Champagne?
Gueuze
How is Gueze made?
One year old lambics (which still have fermentable sugars) are mixed with beers that have aged 2 to 3 years and re-fermented in bottle giving the beer it’s sparkle
What is kriek?
A fruit lambic made with morello cherries
What is the name for a fruit lambic made with raspberries?
Framboise
What style is beer is Cantillon?
Gueuze
Name an American brewery that makes a lambic-style beer
Allagash
What is special about the hops used for a lambic beer?
They are aged, so they don’t impart a strong flavour
What is a coolship?
A big shallow vessel used to cool the wort for lambic beer that helps expose it to wild yeasts for fermentation
What valley around Brussels is known as the home of lambic beer?
Zenne Valley
Name 3 producers of lambic beer in Belgium
3 (Drie) Fonteinen
Cantillon
Gooik
What is a trappist ale?
Beer brewed inside the walls of a Trappist monastery.
The beer cannot be brewed for profit, it can only be sold to sustain the needs of the monastery, monks, and surrounding community.
Give 3 examples of Trappist Ales from Belgium
Orval- from Abbaye Notre-Dame d’Orval. Dry hopped, Triple-style, bottle conditioned
Achel- NOT TRAPPIST SINCE 2021. It is now owned privately. Bottle conditioned. They make a Blond, Bruin, and Trappist Extra.
Chimay- From Abbaye Norte-Dame de Scourmont. Known for its blue, red, and white beers.
Where does the name Trappist come from?
La Trappe, the first Trappist Monastery in NW France (an arm of the Cistercian order)
What is an abbey beer?
Beer made in the style of a Trappist ale but not brewed by an ITA member monastery
Describe a Dubbel beer
6-8.5% abv
Coffee colored, malty, toasty, with a nutty finish. Usually a bit hazy in the glass. Brewed with candi sugar.
Describe a Tripel beer
Around 9% abv
Golden in color, Hoppier than a Dubbel, usually brewed with Pilsner malt
What is SRM?
The Scientific measure of beer density that roughly translates to color. The range is 1-40, 1 being the lightest and 40 being the darkest
Where would North Coast Old Rasputin lie on the SRM scale?
40
What is the difference between a Stout and a Porter?
Porter- born from English brown ales.
Stout- born from porters as a stronger fuller bodied version known as stout porters.
They are both beers brewed from dark roasted grain. Stouts tend to be fuller bodied, but this is not a rule
What is a Burton Ale?
A strong ale which is dark and sweet and is named for the brewing town of Burton-on-Trent in Britain. Usually these beers were aged and were around 10% abv
Is a Bock a Lager or an Ale?
Lager
What is a bock beer?
Originally brewed in the Northern town on Einbeck, Germany. Bavarians mispronounced Einbeck as Ein Bock (translates to Billy Goat)
There are 3 styles:
Helles Bock- often interchangeable with maibock. It is a relatively pale, strong, malty German lager beer. Hop character is more apparent than in other bocks. Mai means May, these beers are meant to represent the spring.
Bock- Dark German lager. Strong malty, somewhat toasty, and sweet on the finish
Doppelbock- Sweeter, maltier, and richer in style
What is a Mars beer?
A mild lambic produced by re-using the malt from a previous lambic fermentation
What is a Faro beer?
Mixture of lambic and lighter brewed beer. Belgian candy sugar is added for sweetness
What qualifies something as a wheat beer?
Produced with up to 60% wheat instead of barley
Name the 4 styles of wheat beer
Hefe-weizen (German - Bavarian yeast - Banana & Clove)
Dunkel
Kristall Weizen (filtered, crystal clear)
Wit/ white (Belgian- often includes additions of orange peel and/or coriander- Hazy)
What is a Bière de Garde?
“Beer which has been kept”
A Flemish and Northern French bottle conditioned lagered beer
Fairly strong and malt-accentuated
Where is Kölsch from? What style of beer is it?
Cologne, Germany
Ale fermented at cooler than normal temperatures
What is Kvass Beer and where is it from?
Rye-based beer usually fermented with fruit juices
Russia
What is Rauchbier and where is it from?
Smoked beer
Bamberg, Germany (Franken)
What is a saison beer?
A farmhouse ale which originated in Belgium. Spicy, light, and drinkable.
What style is beer is Hoegaarden?
A Belgian Witbier
What style of beer is Weihenstephaner?
German Hefeweizen
What is a Helles beer?
A German lager that is golden in colour with a balanced sweet mouthfeel. Created to follow the success of Pils in Bohemia
What is Altbier?
An ale typical go Düsseldorf in Germany. Amber brown in color, nutty, and smooth
What is a California Common?
Beers from the San Francisco Area that use bottom-fermenting lager yeast that are left to ferment at high temperatures
What is an example of California Common beer?
Anchor Steam
What is the difference between German and Bohemian (Czech) Pils?
German Pilsner is paler, lighter, rounder then Bohemian Pilsners which are more malty and hoppy
What is Schwarzbier? Where is it from?
A German black lager with hints of chocolate and coffee. Usually much lighter then a Porter, which is an ale.
What kind of beer in Guinness?
An Irish dry stout (Ale)
What is the difference between an American IPA and an English IPA?
English IPAs have milder, earthy, herbal hops
American IPAs are hop-forward are more bitter then English IPAs
What is Berliner Weiss? Give an example.
A German wheat beer that is inoculated with lactobacillus bacteria which gives it a tangy acidity. Usually low abv.
Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Bavaria
What is a Flanders Red vs a Flanders Brown (Oud Bruin)? Give examples.
Sour ales that are very similar and often not distinguishable.
Red is usually barrel fermented and has Brett. Brouwerij Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne
Brown in usually steel fermented and does not have Brett. Liefmans Oud Bruin
What is the name for a Finnish farmhouse ale that usually includes juniper?
Sahti
Where is Kölsch from?
Cologne
Is Kölsch a lager or an ale?
Ale (but the process of making it is called lagered)
It is fermented with a top fermenting yeast at a cooler temperature
