Beer Style Guide
We present to you our beer style guide for exploring the varied and exciting world of beer.
Despite there being 100s of types of beer they all fall into two categories.
Lagers are brewed at low temperatures with yeast strains which ferment at the bottom of the fermenting vessel.
Unlike in mass produced lagers, like Budweiser and Coors, good lagers are brewed over several weeks and slowly matured. Flavours are created slowly as the beer ferments, a lagers characteristics are therefore subtle and the beer remains crisp.
With this clean body poor quality ingredients are noticeable, as well as off flavours created by the yeast or from infection of bacteria.
Hopping of lagers is light and low Alpha-Acid or “Noble” hops are used, bringing low bitterness and high aroma.
There are as many Lager styles as there are Ale, but due in part to our rich British ale heritage we only see a small number.
Travel to Germany and the Czech republic and find hundreds more.
Lagers gain their variation in much the same way as ale, with more roasted grain creating darker styles like Schwarzbier, different malts creating unique beers like Vienna Lager, and different hops used for subtly changing top notes.
Pilsner is the most commonly recognised style, with German and Czech varieties. Lager styles also include malty Helles, strong Bocks, dark Dunkels, and contemporary IPL’s with similar hopping to an IPA but with a clean finish.
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Ales
Ales are brewed at a high temperature with a top fermenting yeast. Because of the more violent reaction more complex flavours are released by the yeasts. The shorter maturation time leaves the body of an ale fuller and the flavour lingering on the tastebuds longer.
Using different yeasts, grains and hops many different styles are created with arguably more variation in characteristics than lagers.
Here are a few
A catch all for light coloured ales and perhaps the most common. They can range from 3-6% in alcohol percentage, use pale or unroasted malts, with a neutral or fruity yeast and low to generous hopping. They can range from bitter tasting, slightly malty beers with subtle grassy hop aroma, to more contemporary pale ales with a clean malt, strong hop flavour with low to medium bitterness. Lighter versions include Extra Pale Ales, Blonde Ales and Golden Ales. Brown ales and English bitters have a larger malt palate and are therefore slightly darker than most pale ales.
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India Pale Ales are stronger than pale ales at 6-8%. Some maybe maltier than pale ales, while others are similarly light.
In both cases they are more extensively hopped, this can be in the way of more bitterness, aroma, complexity of flavours, or all three.
IPAs can have many sub categories, West Coast IPAs which are fruity, piney with a resonant bitterness and crisp finish. East Coast or New England IPAs have low bitterness, juicy fruit flavours and a smooth mouthfeel. DDH stands for double dry hopped, meaning the dry hopping process, which adds aroma and depth to the beer, has been performed twice. DIPAs are double IPAs and are generally 8-10% with even more extensive hopping, sometimes knows as Imperial IPA. Black IPAs use dark malt and could be compared to extremely hoppy porters.
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Developed in London in the 18th century, modern porters are dark brown to black in colour from the use of heavily roasted malt.
Hopping can be medium to high, with low to high bitterness.
Some porters are brewed to strong, imperial, alcohol strength but can be differentiated from stouts due to a hoppier flavour and a slightly thinner body, but this can depend on the brewer. Porters can often contain adjuncts like chocolate, coffee or marshmallow and are sometimes brewed with smoked malt as in Smoked Porters.
Baltic Porters are popular in eastern Europe, a descendant of English porters but brewed with a lager yeast, leaving the beer with all the roastiness of a porter but finishing cleaner.
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Smoked Porter – https://brewcavern.co.uk/product/campfire-porter/
Higher ABV porters were traditionally called Stout Porters, which over time became simply stout. This style is generally richer than porter, less hoppy with a much larger grain bill. Stouts can often also contain adjuncts and are a great base for spirit barrel ageing, like Bourbon Barrel Aged Stouts.
Milk Stouts use lactose sugar which yeast doesn’t digest, meaning they remain in the beer giving a creamy body and sweet taste. Dry Stouts use more hops with a lower percentage, leaving them slightly dry and bitter. Export Stouts are stronger beer around 6-9% abv with Imperial Stouts over 9%.
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A Barley Wine is a heavy, sticky, malt driven style, differing from stout due to less roasted malt. They are generally some of the strongest ales, with an alcohol content of at least 9% and up to 15% and higher.
Most can be described in two types: English Barley Wines, which are lightly hopped and similar to a very strong English Bitter or Old Ale, or American Barley Wines which are heavily hopped and usually stronger.
Some of these American styled beers start out like a very malty Imperial IPA, and are then rested for years in the bottle.
Barley Wines work very well as the base beer for spirit or wine barrel ageing.
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American Barley Wine – https://brewcavern.co.uk/product/binkie-claws-almond-barrel-aged/
The majority of well known Belgian beers are described as Abbey, Abbey-style or Trappist
Trappist beers differ to Abbey as they are officially accredited and must abide by strict rules to be recognised. Production must be carried out under the supervision of the monks within the grounds of the monastery and all profits must go to the church.
Abbey Beers are simply brewers connected to an Abbey.
Most examples of Belgian beers are Abbey-style beers brewed in the style of monastic beers but are produced by breweries independently of a church.
Belgian beer styles are known for their prevalent yeast character, with many brewers having their own house yeast strain dating back many years.
Here are some of those styles.
Belgian Strong Ale is a collective description that covers many styles and also catches those that don’t fit into an explicit category.
These ales can vary from pale to dark brown in colour, darker ales may be coloured with dark Candi sugar.
Hop flavour can range from low to high, while hop aroma is low. The beers are medium to full-bodied and have a high alcoholic character.
This style includes Belgian Blonde and Patersbier which was traditionally the beer drunk by the Abbey “fathers”.
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Dubbels range between 6.5-8% abv, and have a dark brown, cloudy colour, and a palate mixing malt, a lush fruitiness, and yeast.
Tripels are of a similar ABV and a pale golden colour with a notable hop profile. Hop bitterness may be higher than a typical Belgian Strong Ale.
Tripels finish dry and have an effervescent carbonation, and the assertive yeast note typical of all abbey ales will be more apparent in Tripels.
Abt, or Quadruple, is the name given to the strongest of the Abbey style ales. Over 10% ABV and malt driven with dark fruit and sherry flavours on a rich, thick and boozy backbone.
Abts are the darker of the two, with more rich, deep fruity notes. Quads are paler, with corresponding peachy notes. In both hopping is low with a pronounced yeastiness.
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Aside from Abbey beers there are other common Belgian Styles like
Historically brewed in winter by farmers for drinking in summer, brewed at this time to limit spoiling from increased bacteria in the atmosphere.
Saisons have a very pronounced yeast characteristic with some of the most energetic strains. Hopping was historically only used for preservation, it was common for locally foraged ingredients to be used as well as herbs and spices. This is still the case with many modern Saisons but there are examples with increased hopping.
Fruity esters dominate the aroma with a large foamy head on top. Light to medium bodied with very high carbonation. Alcohol level has increased, from the 3% abv drunk on the farms to averaging between five and eight percent.
The taste is earthy, dry and sparkling with citrus bursts.
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Lambic is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself at the Cantillon Brewery.
Lambic differs from most other beers, it is fermented through exposure to wild yeasts and bacteria native to the Zenne Valley, as opposed to carefully cultivated strains of brewer’s yeast. This process gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous, and cidery, usually with a sour aftertaste.
Lambic beers include Gueuze, which is aged Lambic blended together, and fruit lambics. The most popular fruits used are cherries as in Kriek and raspberries as in Framboise, through other fruits are commonly used.
Lambic is a protected product and beers produced in the same way but outside of the Pajottenland region are often labelled as being “Lambic style” and increasingly known in America as Méthode Traditionelle
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Fruit Lambic – https://brewcavern.co.uk/product/hommage-2018/
Other Styles
A catch-all for beers which have been made sour apposed to naturally sour beers like Lambic. Those that fit less strictly to traditional styles as those mentioned above are referred to as Kettle Sours. The souring addition occurs after the boil and in the kettle before fermentation. Most kettle sours are between 3-5%, have a very low malt bill and low bitter hopping. They are often dry hopped or have fruit or other flavourings added.
Gose and Berliner Weisse
Originating in Germany, Gose is a sour beer traditionally seasoned with Coriander. Hopping is usually minimal because it can react with the bacteria. They are tart, lemony and have a clean finish for an ale.
The souring agent is Lactobacillus, which lives on the outside of wheat and other grains and would be introduced into the brew through it. The region of Germany where this style originated have a high concentration of salt in the water and this was added.
Berliner Weisse is another sour beer of German origin. They have a similar lactic acid taste from Lactobacillus but with generally a softer sourness, and without the added coriander or salt. Traditionally fruit syrups would be added but contemporary versions of the style tend to add fruit in the brewing process.
Other traditional sour beers include, Flanders Red and Oud Brun which develop their souring through barrel ageing.
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