Beer Styles Flashcards
Name three reasons why we have beer styles?
1) Styles communicate what consumers should expect in beer.
2) Styles honor traditions and provide order to a vast selection.
3) Many styles developed spontaneously due to local conditions, others were invented purposely by experimentation or new technology.
Name four natural drivers of traditional beer styles.
1) The grape/grain line in Europe defined where beer could be easily made.
2) Weather and climate limited when brewing could be done and what fermentation temperatures were before refrigeration.
3) Hops only grow in certain areas due to climate and soil.
4) Local water sources contained different compounds.
Name three traditional beer styles that came about at least in part due to limits of weather or climate.
A common practice in many parts of Europe was to brew strong beer near the end of the yearly brewing period to store through the hot season and be consumed in the fall before new beer was ready. The Bière de Mars, Oktoberfest/Märzen, and Bock styles come from this tradition.
Name five technologies that affected brewing.
1) Kilning technology for non-smoky beer and pale malts.
2) Daniel Wheeler’s 1817 patented malt drum roaster allowed for kilning extremely dark malts.
3) The stewing method of kilning allowed for Caramel/Crystal malts.
4) Hydrometers and thermometers allowed brewers more control.
5) Refrigeration allowed year round brewing and shipping.
6) Louis Pasteur’s research on yeast and the development of Pasteurization.
7) Glass bottles.
What was the Reinheitsgebot?
The famed 1487 Bavarian (German) “purity” law was largely about taxing beer making. It instructed brewers as to what material they were allowed to use in their beer - just malt, hops, and water (and later yeast, they didn’t know about yeast when the law was created).
Who catalogues all the beer styles?
Two US based organizations catalog beer styles. The BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) is a nonprofit volunteer-run organization with the mission of training beer judges who serve at homebrew competitions. The Brewer’s Association (BA) creates their own Beer Style Guidelines for judging the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup festivals.
The primary alcohol in beer.
Ethanol is created by brewer’s yeast as it consumes sugar in the wort and processes it into mostly ethanol and CO2. How much ethanol the beer has depends on how much sugar was in the wort to begin with, how attenuative the yeast strain is, what the fermentation temperature was, and so on.
What is IBU?
International Bittering Units, or IBU, is a measurement of bitterness in beer. It describes how much bitter alpha acid is isomerized and dissolved into the beer in parts per million (ppm). Beers typically range in IBU from about 5 to well over 100 (though 100 is approximately the human threshold).
What is SRM?
SRM is the Standard Reference Method, called “degrees SRM.” It is the measurement of beer color.
A beer with an SRM of 15 is described as? A beer with an SRM of 40 is described as?
2 SRM is Pale Straw, 3 is Straw, 4 is Pale Gold, 6 is Deep Gold, 9 Pale Amber, 12 Medium Amber, 15 Deep Amber, 18 Amber-Brown, 20 Brown, 24 Ruby Brown, 30 Deep Brown, 40+ Black.
Carbonation is measured as?
Volumes of CO2
A beer with an SRM of 2 is described as? A beer with an SRM of 6 is described as?
2 SRM is Pale Straw, 3 is Straw, 4 is Pale Gold, 6 is Deep Gold, 9 Pale Amber, 12 Medium Amber, 15 Deep Amber, 18 Amber-Brown, 20 Brown, 24 Ruby Brown, 30 Deep Brown, 40+ Black.
A beer with an SRM of 4 is described as? A beer with an SRM of 24 is described as?
2 SRM is Pale Straw, 3 is Straw, 4 is Pale Gold, 6 is Deep Gold, 9 Pale Amber, 12 Medium Amber, 15 Deep Amber, 18 Amber-Brown, 20 Brown, 24 Ruby Brown, 30 Deep Brown, 40+ Black.
What is the typical range of volumes of CO2 for beer?
Volumes of CO2 in beer range from about 1.0 for low carbonation beers like British cask ales all the way up to 3.0-4.0+ for some highly carbonated Belgian styles.
What is CO2 highly soluble in?
CO2 is highly soluble in cold water-based liquids. You can dissolve quite a bit of CO2 in cold beer. CO2 is not very soluble in water-based solutions at room temperature, which is why a glass of warm beer goes flat easily.
What are the two ways to get the CO2 into solution to carbonate a beer?
1) The CO2 can be naturally produced by yeast and sugar in the bottle, this is called bottle conditioning (also sometimes referred to as “re-fermented in the bottle”).
2) The brewer can force carbonate the beer by adding the CO2 from an outside source. There is no evidence that there is a discernible flavor difference.
How can a brewer enhance a beer’s head using basic brewing ingredients?
Brewers can use wheat and other grains such as rye or oats to enhance the beer’s head if they so chose. These grains contain lots of protein, adding a small amount of those grains to the mash will boost the final beer’s head
Why does beer have foam?
The creation of foam occurs thanks to the proteins in the beer forming a colloid, or loose protein net, throughout the beer. When a beer feels full on your palate, these proteins are part of what is providing that dense mouthfeel. The malt provide most of the proteins, but hops and yeast play a role, foam is a very chemically complex process.
What is OG and FG?
Original gravity, or OG, is a measurement of how much sugar and other solids are in your wort prior to fermentation. OG is a measurement of density, it is taken using a simple hydrometer. Nearly all the density in wort, beyond the typical density of water, is from malt sugars.
FG, or Final Gravity, is the same measurement of density taken at the end of the fermentation process.
What is apparent attenuation?
Apparent attenuation is the drop in density between the OG and the FG of the wort during fermentation. Attenuation tells you the percentage of sugar the yeast has consumed. The measurement is referred to as “apparent” attenuation because it’s not as exact as the expensive and time-consuming task of distilling the alcohol out of the solution to get an exact measurement.
Why smell a beer immediately upon receiving it?
When tasting a beer, smell it immediately upon receiving it. The most volatile aromatics (like sulfur) are only present directly after the beer is poured. Get in there right away for some sniffs, but don’t forget to check in on the aroma again later as the beer is warming up more, it will develop and new aromas come to the fore.
What’s the best method for smelling a beer?
Long breaths dry out your membranes and floods your receptors. The best approach is to close your eyes and take a few short quick sniffs. Try to match the aromas you smell to foods or other beers. Making aroma connections and linking them with memories is key to becoming an expert taster.
How can you reset your aroma detectors?
Your own aroma is neutral to you and resets your nose.
What is mouthfeel?
Mouthfeel is the body and other physical sensations from the beer.
Name four aspects of mouthfeel.
Body, carbonation, warmth, creaminess, astringency, and other palate sensations.
What creates a beer’s body?
The body of a beer is largely the result of dissolved solids such as proteins and sugars (that weren’t attenuated by the yeast) and other compounds that remain in the beer.
Name at least five factors that affect a consumer’s perception of a beer’s body.
1) The grain bill of the recipe can include high protein adjunct grains.
2) Lower mash temps create more fermentable wort and therefore less body).
3) How attenuative was the yeast that fermented the beer?
4) Colder beer is perceived as crisper and having less body.
5) Astringency, bitterness, warming from alcohol, or high carbonation lowers the perception of creaminess.
What is perceived bitterness and why is it different than IBU?
Perceived bitterness is dependent not only on the IBU of the beer, but on how sweet the beer is, which is determined by how much residual sugar remains in the beer after fermentation has completed. IBU is a quantitative measurement for bitterness, but it doesn’t tell you about the beer’s balance without more information.
What does the word “lager” mean?
It translates into English as “storage,” but it has several meanings in the beer world.
1) Lagers are one of the two major genres of beer, the other being ale.
2) It’s a family of cool temp “bottom fermenting” yeast.
3) Lagering is the process of the cold storage of beer.
What’s the purpose of cold lagering a beer?
The long fermentation times and lagering period these beers go through allows the yeast to reabsorb many fermentation derived compounds, which they convert into cleaner smelling and tasting compounds. Lagering also allows sulfur and other compounds to settle out, resulting in a beer that’s “clean” and smooth.
Small amounts of what two off flavors are considered acceptable in lagers because lager yeast make so much of them?
A slight amount of sulfur and DMS is acceptable as byproducts of lager yeasts. You will often get a whiff of sulfur just after opening a lager, but sulfur is highly volatile and disappears quickly. A very mild vegetal/cooked corn DMS flavor is an acceptable characteristic in some lagers, though it is considered an off-flavor in most beer.
Discuss the Munich Helles style.
This is Munich’s take on the Bohemian Pilsner. Munich’s Spaten Brewery created and first brewed this style in 1894. It is less bitter than the Pilsners, it’s a showcase for pilsner malt. Grainy, slightly sweet, pilsner malt flavor and medium-low bitterness from noble hops.
What kinds of hops are typically used in German and Czech lagers? Describe them.
German and Czech noble hops are typically used. They are low alpha acid (not very bitter) but are highly aromatic. There are only four noble hop varieties. German Hallertauer is known for its herbal and minty aroma, while German Spalt and Tettnanger are noted for their similar but spicier aromas. Czech Saaz is described as “grassy,” one of the primary differences between a Czech and German Pils.
What’s the difference between a German and a Czech Pilsner?
The German Pils is similar to the original Bohemian Pilsner but is drier, crisper, and hoppier due to the harder water found in Germany (contains sulfates), the use of a higher attenuation German strain of lager yeast, and slightly higher carbonation. Also, the Czech version uses the “grassier” Saaz hop.
Discuss the Vienna Lager style.
This malty amber lager was invented in Vienna around 1840. It’s a malt-balanced lager with a caramel and light toast malt character. It is typically made solely using Vienna or Munich base malt.
Rank the dark German lagers from lightest to darkest.
Darker German lagers range in color from gold-amber Vienna Lagers and Maibocks, to deep amber Dunkels, to copper-brown Bocks and Doppelbocks and Eisbocks, all the way to the very dark Schwarzbier (which is usually not quite black!).
Discuss the Märzen/Oktoberfest style.
Associated with the city of Munich, in its modern form this is a slightly stronger take on the Vienna Lager style. these beers were originally brewed at the end of the brewing season in Springtime with the remaining hops and malt, left to lager in cool cellars during the Summer, and then were consumed in the Fall. They’re malt balanced, caramelly and toasty.
Discuss the Munich Dunkel style.
Descended from ancient dark beers made in southern Germany, this was the first lager style and was first produced in the 1500s. Typically made with up to 100% Munich malt. It has a copper color and rich caramel flavor. Sometimes darker grains are used to darken the color and add minor roasty, nutty, or brown bread crust melanoidin character.
Discuss the Schwarzbier style.
These are Germany’s darkest lagers. Generally they are dark brown with ruby highlights. They feature a low level of dry, bittersweet, roasty coffee-like flavor. They should never taste burnt and do not have the strong levels of roast that a porter or stout does. They are quite smooth and have moderate hop bitterness.
Discuss the Bock style.
Originated in Einbeck in southern Germany by the 1600s. They are associated with spring. Often, you’ll see a goat on the label. This is a strong and rich copper lager made with copious amounts of Munich and Vienna malts. Heavily balanced toward the malt, features rich caramel and toast. Decoction mash and long boil traditional for developing melanoidins.
Discuss the Maibock style.
This is a gold to amber lager at bock strength. Very full and rich from lots of pilsner malt, plus some melanoidin and toast from small amounts of Munich or Vienna malt. It has very little caramel character. This is essentially a Munich Helles brewed to bock size.
Discuss the Doppelbock style.
Created in 1629 by the Paulaner monks in Munich to sustain them during lent. They named it “Salvator.” It is nicknamed “liquid bread.” It is essentially an even stronger bock. It tends to be rich and have lots of caramel and melanoidin character (traditionally from a decoction mash).
