CHAPTER 3.2: English, Scottish, and Irish Ales Flashcards
The classic Beer styles of the British Isles are _______.
Ales
These styles were favored by many of the early craft brewers in the United States and were precursors to many styles that are popular today in the US.
The families of British and Irish ales tend to follow a basic recipe brewed to several different alcoholic strengths–an idea we call the ____________.
The Ladder Concept
The earliest identifiable British ale–and therefore the first British beer style–is most likely the ________.
Porter
There are a range of dark ales from England and Ireland related to Porter.
The modern styles are:
- Porter (with several recognized variations)
- Stout (with several recognized variations)
- Dark Mild
- British Brown Ale
___________ were popularized in Britain after the success of their export to British colonial India.
Pale Ales
Modern British pale beers have descended from India Pale Ale.
The modern styles are:
- English IPA
- Ordinary Bitter
- Best Bitter
- Strong Bitter
Which beer style–according to legend–originated as a “beer cocktail” from the early 1700s?
Porter
The cocktail was a blend of fresh and aged beers, mixed together at the bar to achieve a certain flavor at a reasonable price.
A London brewer supposedly combined old and new beers in one barrel at the brewery and this blend eventually became known as Porter.
Modern historians largely reject this legend of a single inventor, and not much is known about the true origins of the style.
Which beer style was the first to be industrially produced in large breweries for a mass market?
Porter
Originally, the style was embraced by laborers who were migrating to London to help fuel the early industrial revolution. These workers were known as “porters” and their favorite beverage took on the same name.
By 1780, some of the largest businesses in all of England were porter brewers. Some were as valuable as banks, considered in terms of total capitalization.
Marketing strategies now considered commonplace, such as product lines and brands, were first implemented with porters in the 1800s.
In the 1770s, brewers began to make porter using pale malts instead of brown malts, leading to a paler-looking beer. In order to convince consumers that their porter was as strong as it had always been, some producers adulterated it with things like?
- Opium
- Hemp
- Juice of a berry used by fishermen in India to stun fish for easy netting
Of course, none of these ingredients are used in brewing porter or other beers today!
Porter production was revolutionized in 1817, when Daniel Wheeler invented the ________________.
Malt roasting drum
This allowed the production of dark malt without the grain actually catching on fire. This patented system produced “black patent malt”–a phrase you will still see used today.
Black malt solved the porter brewer’s dilemma. They could now use cost-effective pale malt for 90% of the recipe, but retain porter’s original dark color by using a small portion of black patent malt.
Name the beer based on the following:
SRM: 20 - 30 (Light to Dark Brown)
Perceived Bitterness: 18 - 35 IBUs (Moderate)
Alcohol: 4.0 to 5.4% (Lower to Normal)
English Porter
Modern English Porter is the present-day descendant of the origianl, pre-roasting-drum porters.
Made without any black malt, English Porter is toasty and nutty with some caramel notes with little to no hop flavor and a balance ranging from slightly malty to slightly bitter. There are also mild to moderate roasty notes.
Porters brewed with black malt are today known as American Porter, since they are more commonly brewed in the US than in Britain or Ireland.
Commercial examples: Fuller’s London Porter, Samuel Smith Taddy Porter
Name the beer based on the following:
SRM: 12 - 25 (Amber to Brown)
Perceived Bitterness: 10 - 25 (Moderate)
Alcohol: 3.0 - 3.8% ABV (Lower)
Dark Mild
Dark Milds receive minimal hopping, and are consequently malt-balanced with flavors of toast, carmel, chocolate, and even occasionally light roast. Some examples have a tannin-like dryness while others are sweet.
Commercial examples: Banks’s Mild, Cain’s Dark Mild, Highgate Dark Mild, Brain’s Dark, Moorhouse Black Cat, Rudgate Ruby Mild, Theakston Traditional Mild
Name the beer based on the following:
SRM: 12 - 22 (Amber to Brown)
Perceived Bitterness: 20 - 30 (Moderate)
Alcohol: 4.2 - 5.4% (Lower to Normal)
British Brown Ale
British Brown Ale features nutty, toasty, and caramel flavors. Hops are present in a greater degree than in Dark Mild, but are still subdued enough that the style has an overall malt balance.
Commercial examples: Newcastle Brown Ale, Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, Goose Island Nut Brown Ale, Samuel Adams Brown Ale
Which of the following is a brown-colored ale which can have an alcohol content as low as 3%?
A. British Brown Ale
B. English Porter
C. Dark Mild
D. Irish Stout
C. Dark Mild
Low in alcohol content, the Dark Mild style contains a very low amount of hops and has a fairly dry malt character.
Name the beers based on strength, all of which originated with Porter (5-6% ABV):
- ____________ 6-7% ABV
- ____________ 7-8% ABV
- ____________ 8-10% ABV
- ____________ >10% ABV
- Single Stout 6-7% ABV
- Double Stout 7-8% ABV
- Imperial Stout 8-10% ABV
- Russian Export >10%
Shortly after Porter was established, brewers began to make stronger versions, perhaps for celebrations or special occasions.
Until recently, strength was one of the few ways brewers had to vary their recipes. Following the initial success of stout, stronger and stronger versions were brewed.
English stouts are commonly malty and often sweet.
Irish stouts tend to be more bitter in their balance.
Name the beer based on the following:
SRM: 25 - 40 (Brown to Black)
Perceived Bitterness: 25 - 45 (Pronounced)
Alcohol: 4 - 4.5% (Lower)
Irish Stout
Today, the lowest-alcohol version of stout comes from Ireland and is called Irish Stout.
It has an acrid, burnt, coffee-like “roasty” flavor owing to the use of roasted barley, along with medium to high hop bitterness. Despite its flavorful formulation and dark color, it is typically only about 4.0% ABV. There is no hop flavor or aroma, and the style is typically low in carbonation (1.2 volumes of CO2). It is usually served on “nitro” to create the dramatic swirling-bubble pour and a thick foam head.
Commercial examples: Guinness Stout, Murphy’s Irish Stout, Beamish Irish Stout
What would you call a higher-alcohol version of Irish Stout that was originally produced for export to other countries?
Foreign Extra Stout or Russian Imperial Stout
Sometimes simply called “Imperial Stout” this beer was originally brewed for export to Russia, where it was said to be popular with the imperial court of Catherine the Great in the 1700s. Today Imperial Stout is mostly brewed by American brewers.
Both Foreign Extra and Imperial Stout have higher than normal ABV.
- Bitterness remains medium to high
- Sometimes with significant hop aroma and flavor
- Typically full-bodied and somewhat “chewy”
Name the beer based on the following:
SRM: 30 - 40 (Dark Brown to Black)
Perceived Bitterness: 50 - 70 IBUs (Assertive)
Alcohol: 6.3 - 8.0% (Elevated to High)
Foreign Extra Stout
Sometimes referred to commercially as “Export Stout” or “Foreign Stout.” In terms of alcoholic strength, they fall between Irish Stout and Imperial Stout.
The flavor is similar to Irish Stout, though with less sharpness. Flavors of coffee, chocolate, or lightly burnt grain may be present.
Commercial Examples: Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
What are the three main variations of Stout?
Sweet, Milk, and Oatmeal
Sweet Stout is a stout variety with much lower bitterness and much more malt balance than the average stout.
Milk Stout is a form of Sweet Stout that adds milk sugar (called lactose) to boost sweetness and body. Yeast is unable to ferment lactose, so the sugar stays in the beer even after fermentation, making it sweet.
Oatmeal Stout adds oats to the recipe. There is a great deal of variation within this style. In general it may feature grainy flavor, though not always, smooth mouthfeel (again, not always), and a sweetness level in-between Sweet and Irish Stout.
