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Understanding beer

Working for a major alcohol retailer, you quickly develop an appreciation for the complexities of creating beverages of all shapes and sizes. It can often be disorienting for customers to enter large stores filled with what seems to be hundreds of categories ranging from craft beers to fortified wines. For your average tradie coming in to buy his six pack of VB cans, the thought of exploring further than the ‘known’ can be daunting.

This is found nowhere better than the craft beer section, which in any store is teeming with dozens of types, each with its own equally confusing labels, bright colours, and endless flavour profiles. Indeed, when considering the sheer quantity of categories, it is easy to see why that tradie is more inclined to go with the bland and repetitive (but reliable) Aussie lager.

If you count yourself as one of those confused individuals, then this is your first-stop in understanding the fundamentals of beer. In this article, we will discuss some basic need-to-know information on what is beer and how it’s made, before then going through seven major categories of beers.

Let’s start with the basics. Beer is an alcoholic (or non-alcoholic in some cases) beverage which is brewed from malt, hops, yeast, and water. Malt is one of your most important ingredients as it determines the flavour profile and can also impact other factors like gluten and celiac levels. Most beers are brewed from barley or wheat which are dried and roasted. Other malts can also include corn, rice, pulque (agave), and more. Hops serve as an important ingredient in the brewing process for flavour and as a preservative. In some craft beers, such as Pale Ales and IPAs, hops can have a more predominant role.

There are many types of brewing, including what is called “top-fermenting” or “bottom-fermenting”. This is determined by how the yeast rises or falls during fermentation. This doesn’t play too much of a role for the average beer-lover, but it is a main difference between ales (top-fermenting) and lagers (bottom-fermenting).

The yeast is an important ingredient used in the fermenting process where the yeast organism attacks sugars in the beverage which in turn creates alcohol.

A Pale Ale is your most common craft beer, denoted through a generally pale-golden or light-brown colour and will generally taste slightly hoppier than your standard beer.

Pale Ales may also be bitter, mild, or smooth in taste and can range in many flavour profiles and colours depending on the level of roasting, portions of hops, and brewing techniques. As such, Pale Ales are highly customizable.

As the name may suggest, IPAs have a strong historical connection to India — specifically colonial India during the British Empire. Due to the long transportation, beers brewed in Britain intended for far-reaching colonies received a greater portions of hops to help preserve the beer for longer periods. As a result, IPAs are characteristically hoppy in flavour rather than malty.

Generally an IPA will have a mild malty flavour, intended only to help balance the greater degree of hops. Like Pale Ales however, this ratio can be tweaked by the brewer to not only increase or decrease alcoholic strength, but also the flavour profile.

Some craft breweries may specifically market a “west-coast” or “east-coast” IPA, which generally refer to the flavour profiles of the beer. West-coast IPAs may lean to be more citrusy or light, whereas East-coast IPAs may be more tropical or fruity. Though the hops level in both wings may remain relatively similar, these background flavours are used to balance the beer so as to not predominantly promote the hops too heavily.

Malt: Barley or wheat.

Hops level: Medium.

Flavours: Hops, malt, tropical fruits, oak.

Recommended brew: Balter XPA, John Boston XPA, Little Creatures XPA.

XPAs may give off the impression of being higher in hops than an IPA, however they may often be intended as a bridge between the two. Like with Pale Ales and IPAs, this may be subject to the brewer’s choice and could lean heavier towards one or the other. Despite this, XPAs typically feature a heavily hoppy flavour, but with a paler flavour profile and more distinct presence of fruits or malt than IPAs.

To make the comparison easier, envision a line graph with one end labelled “Light” and the other as “heavy”. Pale Ales would rank as your most-light in hops, with your XPAs sitting comfortably in the middle and your IPAs sitting near the end towards heavy.

However, due to the customization of craft beers, this can always differ depending on the beer. One XPA may be hoppier than another, which may be more mild like a Pale Ale.

Indeed, a drinker inexperienced in the three types may struggle to tell the difference, so it is important to keep this in mind as all beers will be different in its hops levels as no set standard truly exists with beer.

For example, refer to the recommended brews above. Balter XPA could be ranked as favouring hops above any other flavour, whereas John Boston’s XPA line (Coastal XPA) heavily favours the tropical, summer flavours rather than predominantly hops.

Malt: Lightly roasted malt (barley, wheat, etc.).

Hops: Minimal.

Flavours: Light, refreshing, fruity, sun-kissed.

Recommended brews: Mountain Goat Summer, XXXX Summer Mango or Lime, Gage Roads Single Fin.

Unlike your Pale Ale family, tropical or summer ales are simple and straight to the point. Indeed, its name basically says it all. If you’re looking for a light, crisp beer that heavily promotes fruits and cool water, then a summer or tropical ale is the beer for you.

These beers will generally taste few hops and will be lighter in strength and flavour. Primary flavours include fruits and malt. A good summer ale will taste like summer in a can with its refreshingly crisp and sweet flavour.

Some summer or tropical beers can feature additions of lime, blood orange, mango, orange, or other fruits to increase its flavour.

Generally, the crossover between tropical and summer beers can be close, though generally summer beers will be less fruity and more crisp as opposed to tropical beers which (while still light and crisp) favours a stronger fruit or citrus flavour.

Malt: Barley, rice, wheat, etc.

Hops: Light-moderate.

Flavours: S O U R, berries, fruits, crisp, and refreshing.

Recommended brews: Culture House Raspberry, Stone and Wood East Point, Pirate Life Acai & Passionfruit, Colonial Co. Watermelon Raspberry Sour.

A sour beer is a curious brew to be sure. When recommending beers, I often caution new drinkers that they may hate the first few sips, but given a few moments, you may come to enjoy its off-putting sourness. A sour is oddly refreshing while still maintaining a tangy exterior. Its fruitiness and subtle sweetness allows the mouth to enjoy a hit to its system through the initial sour punch, but soak in the fruits that the beer offers.

Sours are great for experienced craft beer drinkers looking to experiment with something that will truly change their perspective on beers. For those new to craft beers, sours are a great way to shake things up and go head-first into the exciting world you are about to embark on.

While the tanginess can be off-putting, this brew has much to offer through a wide variety of flavours, sweetness, fruits, citrus notes, and malt.

Sours are brewed by using wild bacteria's and yeast which attack the malt to create a tangier flavour. The brewing process is relatively the same, largely differing in types of bacteria's used, alongside the time in fermentation. Wooden barrels also help to solidify the bacteria’s work and can enhance not just the woody flavour, but also how sour the beer will become.

Malt: Heavily roasted barley or wheat.

Hops: Moderate.

Flavours: Coffee, chocolate, smooth, creamy, malty, and dark.

Recommended brews: Guinness, Kilkenny, Kozel, Zwiec, and James Squire Ace of Spades Porter.

Stouts and porters make up the majority of what are known as “dark beers”, characteristically featuring a dark brown or black colour, rich malty flavours, and a heavy head of foam.

The line between stouts and porters aren’t always clear, though generally a porter will be lighter than stouts. Despite this, both share the same flavour profiles and colours, though perhaps to varying ratios.

Stouts are your heaviest dark beers and are richer in the malty flavour. Brews like Guinness are your most famous stouts and are characteristically smooth and creamy (particularly on tap at your local Irish pub), whereas your porter — while still smooth and creamy- might be less intense on the chocolates and malt.

Dark beers are created largely through how roasted your malt may be. Visit your local DIY brewer’s club and you’ll notice the difference in grain sacks. Sacks intended for lighter beers like Pale Ales will have a more golden-brown colour, whereas dark beers are significantly browner, with some of the grain being black or a very dark brown.

The heaviness of the malt can be tweaked, like any brew. If the brewer desires a lighter dark ale, the roasting can be tweaked to produce drinks like Kilkenny which while present the notes of chocolate or coffee, are more brown in colour as opposed to black and are generally lighter in its overall flavour profile.

On the other hand, roasting the malt heavier than normal will produce “extra stouts” which produce a flavour not unlike vegemite (the Aussie in me quite likes extra stouts). Additionally, craft breweries are increasingly experimenting with chocolate or coffee stouts, which aim to reduce the maltiness of stouts, but promote those sweeter or more flavoursome aspects of stouts.

A stout or porter is an excellent way to discover darker beers, particularly if the drinker is most familiar with standard lagers and lighter beers as it provides an opening into heavier beers and richer flavours.

Malt: Light or moderate (barley, wheat, etc.).

Hops: Light.

Flavours: Light top-fermented malt, minimal hoppiness, earthy tones.

Recommended brews: Pilsner Urquell, Oettinger.

Pilsners are an excellent way to explore international brews without venturing too aggressively into uncharted territory. Pilsners relate closely to pale ales due to the light golden flavours they share. Pilsners are smooth, easy-to-drink, and balanced in hops and malt profiles.

Pilsners originate from Czechia in central Europe, with its inaugural brew, Pilsner Urquell still produced to this day in Plzen.

While pilsners are predominantly recognised as Czech, other pilsners such as German pilsners are popular including Bitburger and Oettinger, which is popular due to its large cans, cheap price, and easy-to-drink flavours.

From here your beers will vary, though some honourable mentions are necessary when venturing into the international section of your local alcohol store.

Recommended brews: Quadruppel, Chimay.

Trappists are a fun way to explore international brews, known for its typically unique bottle sizes and high alcohol strength. Most trappists are brewed in Belgium or nearby regions and can contain as much as two or three standard drinks in each bottle.

Trappists are heavy in malt flavour, most similar in extra stouts and promote a rich, creamy, but fermented profile.

Recommended brews: Kirin Ichiban, Kirin Megumi, Sapporo, Asahi Dry/Black, Kloud, Tsingtao, Tiger, and Yebisu.

Asian beers are a terrific international category, featuring many excellent beers from countries including Japan, Korea, China, and Singapore. Asian beers will vary from country to country, each with its own flavour profiles, malt, and brewing techniques. However, they generally share similar common characteristics including a smooth easy-to-drink flavour, minimal hops, and light or moderate malty flavours.

Asian beers can differ greatly, such as between Kirin Megumi and Asahi Black, with the Megumi line often being a sweeter, lighter beer, whereas Asahi Black is more akin to a light porter or dark beer.

Chinese beers such as Tsingtao and Lucky Beer are often more akin to your generic lagers, but are often not as bitter. Meanwhile, Singaporean beers can be moderately malty, but lack much in the way of hops to create a similar easy-to-drink profile, but more pronounced flavours.

Recommended brews: Wiehenstephaner, Oettinger, Schlossgold, Schofferhoeffer, and Hoeffler.

Beers from Germany are often considered to be the pinnacle of beer and while this may be true for some brands, there is actually quite a degree of difference depending on what you look at.

As mentioned earlier with Pilsners, German beers can come in many shapes in sizes from wheat beers to pale lagers.

German beers are more commonly brewed from wheat rather than barley, though such malts are also used. These beers can also be high in alcohol strength and produce a heavy malt flavour. Generally German beers aren’t overly hoppy, preferring the flavour the wheat malt brings instead. Some beers will mix malts, such as “Hefeweiss” beers which may use a mix of wheat and barley to produce a unique malty flavour.

Brews can differ depending on the region as well. Brews such as Hoeffler, which are a Reinlager from the west as opposed to beers from Bavaria. These regions may have different characteristics or brewing practices which will change what beers they produce. Be sure to try them all to truly experience the Deutschland experience!

Recommended brews: Isbjorn, Trost, and Carlsberg

Nordic beers are an underdog in the international beer section, characteristically mild maltiness, moderate hops, and a subtle citrussy bite. The cold climates of Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and so on help produce a more mellowed beer (particularly when served cold). You may find nordic beers to surprise you in taste as they are easy-to-drink and generally not overly heavy in its profile.

Some beers, such as Carlsberg from Denmark, may even have a higher alcohol content than normal.

No matter the beer you choose, always remember to experiment with the unknown and learn more about the exciting world of beer. The beauty of this industry means that no matter how experienced you may think you are…there is always a new beer to try.

Next time you enter your local alcohol store, don’t shy away from the craft beer or international section…give it a go! You may like what you find.

How to decrease the handling costs?

Understanding beer

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