As a Certified Beer Server, you will often serve beer to be enjoyed with food. Ultimately, pairing beer with food comes down to personal preference. There are some guidelines that will help you select beer to be paired with any food.

Parkers Blue Ash Tavern Craft Beer Dinner Pairing by 5chw4r7z on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The syllabus is pretty slim on this topic. In fact, it says just that we “should understand that beer and food work well together, but do not need to possess knowledge of specific beer and food interactions.”

I haven’t come all this way to the very last section, to learn only that “beer and food work well together.” Let’s look at it just a little bit more in-depth. By the end of this very last section, we’ll be able to offer some thoughts to our customers and maybe even suggest some beer and food pairings.

We’ll also be a little better prepared in case you want to go on to Certified Cicerone®.

Beer and food pairing can give some surprising results

When I was first getting into wine I was really curious to see what all this wine and food pairing hubbub was about. Wine is known for going well with food, and I was skeptical that it would be any different than just drinking wine with a meal.

At Thanksgiving dinner, I sat down with a half glass of white wine and a half glass of red wine. I took a bite of turkey, then I took a little sip of white wine. Then I tried the same thing with red wine.

I was blown away to experience how the flavors of the food and the wine change when taken together!

Some of the foods on my plate were better with the white wine, while others were better with the red wine. Some foods were not as good with wine.

Not only that, but the flavors changed in a different way if I reversed the order. If I took the food before the wine, it was a different experience than if I took the wine before the food.

Although the latter was kind of tricky—don’t dribble all over yourself.

And this is just talking about the two wines before me that evening. I had recently returned from a trip to Burgundy, France, so it was probably a Chardonnay and Pinot noir we were drinking. If it were Sauvignon blanc and Zinfandel, it would have been a totally different experience.

Nonetheless, this experience opened my mind to pairing beer and food for equally interesting results.

Beer and food pairing can be tricky

Beer and food pairing can be equally interesting and equally tricky. It’s not as simple as “beer and pizza!”

We already learned of the numerous beer styles and their varied flavor profiles. With so much variety in flavor you can imagine that certain styles of beer go well with certain kinds of food. Certain styles of beer might go well with some foods, but can be amazing with some other kind of food, or not go well at all with another kind of food.

Lets look at two ways to compose your beer and food pairings:

• Complementing pairings
• Contrasting pairings

It’s curious that with wine I more often hear of pairing wine and food that contrast with each other, whereas with beer I more often hear of pairing beer and food that complement each other.

I’m not talking about contrast in a way that they clash. I’m talking about two opposite flavors or characteristics that are even better when mixed together.

Contrasting beer and food pairings

In wine, I more often hear suggested pairings that contrast. This principle can be carried over to beer.

For example, an acidic wine might go well with a fatty food. The acid in the wine cuts the thick, greasiness of the fats in the food.

This contrasting concept doesn’t go well in every way. For example, a wine with an overall light character wouldn’t go well with a food that has a very powerful flavor because it would be overshadowed.

It comes down to always trying new combinations, paying attention to what flavors and sensations go well together, and trying to figure out why you like it.

Examples of contrasting beer and food pairings:

Complementing beer and food pairings

Another way to pair beer with food is to go for similarities.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the vegetables and polenta dish I ordered at Lost & Found in Oakland, California. So I asked the bartender to pick a beer that would go well with it.

He looked off into the distance and thought about it a while.

“I think the Farmer’s Reserve,” he concluded looking back to me, “because the citrus will go well with the vegetables, they have a little sour taste.”

Honestly, I wasn’t really in the mood for Almanac Beer Co. They have a lot of sour beers that are fun to try, but I don’t usually love their beer. Alas, the bartender had given it his best go, I didn’t want to let him down.

So I went with his professional recommendation, and boy was I glad.

It was so good.

The Farmer’s Reserve Citrus had hints of lemon zest, but not overpowering. It didn’t have really bold sour flavors like many of the beers I’ve tried from Almanac. It went really well with the sautéed vegetables which, if I recall correctly, had something fermented or something else that gave it a citrusy, acidic taste.

The bready flavors of the beer also went well with the creamy, cornmeal polenta that came with the vegetables.

On their own, the beer and the food were each good. Together, they were great!

Examples of complementing beer and food pairings:

For more ideas and concepts, in a concise article, I recommend:

Cury, James Oliver. How To Pair Food And Beer. http://www.epicurious.com. Accessed November 22, 2015.

Experiment with beer and food pairings

So this experience at Lost & Found was really eye opening for me.

I was at the point where I was kinda overwhelmed with complementary pairings.

Stout with steak is just too much. Each of them alone feel really full in the mouth and in the belly. They each have flavors that are really bold and overwhelming. Both of them together is just more than I care to enjoy.

But the bartender picked this pairing because he felt the citrus in the beer would be similar to flavors in the vegetables. And it worked really well!

It was also eye opening because I don’t love sour beers, I am still getting used to them. Most of the sour beers that I’ve tried were so overwhelming it seems like it would overpower any food pairing. But Almanac’s Farmer’s Reserve Citrus is mild and it was a great complement to the dish.

Conclusion

Ultimately, it’s up to your own preference—or your customer’s preference.

You can search online for all kinds of tips from every food blogger on earth. I suggest that you look into some guidelines, then be bold enough try all kinds of new things.

I like what Homebrew Academy says:

There really aren’t any rules when pairing food – you like what you like.

I hope you’re now open to enjoying how beer compliments food, and vice versa.

Also, I hope that you’re going to try all different kinds of beer with different foods to see what you like best, and get some more ideas for suggesting beer and food pairings for your customers.

Why write the flashcards by hand? Buy the full set here: Instant access!

The post 020. Pairing beer with food appeared first on Beer Exam School.

Providing excellent beer service is more than pouring a beer, or even helping a customer select the right beer. You must be able to talk intelligently about the product and how it was made. You must know at least a little about beer ingredients and brewing processes.

Aardwolf Brewing Company by amateur photography by michel on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Having the ability to talk about beer ingredients and brewing process will allow you to explain and answer a customer’s questions about why a beer tastes a certain way. You don’t need to be a master brewer, just know enough to have a basic conversation with most of the customers whom you will serve.

Besides the reading material mentioned in the reading list (part 4), the following reading materials were used for this section.

Parkes, Steve and Chris Colby. Adjuncts Explained. https://byo.com. December 2001. Accessed October 19, 2015.

Wikipedia. Yeast. https://en.wikipedia.org. Accessed October 21, 2015.

Stika, Jon. Controlling Fermentation Temperature: Techniques. https://byo.com. December 2001. Accessed November 13, 2015.

Ingredients

In this section we talk about the main ingredients in beer:

• Grains
• Hops
• Yeast
• Water

Some of this was introduced a couple sections back in Identify normal flavors of beer and their source.

Also in this section, we talk a little about the processes of using these ingredients to make beer.

Grains

Mainly grains are used merely for their malt, the malted sugar that will be fermented into alcohol.

But also some unmalted grains are used for brewing beer.

Malt by James Cridland on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Malt

We already discussed some of the basics about malt. Barley is the most common grain used for beer. Its high starch content is easily converted to fermentable sugar and its shells serve as filters. We also touched on the malting process. Review the previous section, Identify normal flavors of beer and their source and read the section titled, “Malt and grain flavors.”

Now let’s look at the malting process in more detail.

Briess Malt and Ingredients Co. has a good article about the 3-steps of making malt:

1. Steeping
2. Germination
3. Drying

Steeping – During the steeping process, the grains are soaked in water for almost 48 hours. Moisture content of the grain increases from about 12-44 percent. The grains, sensing the moisture, begin to sprout.

Enzymes convert proteins and carbohydrates to sugars and amino acids that the plant would use to grow. Little do they know, however, that they will never have a chance to grow into mature plants.

The experienced maltsters can monitor this process and count the percentage of grains that show a visible “chit” peeking out from the shell. When the grain is sufficiently “chitted,” it is passed on to the next step in the malting process.

Germination – Germination is the 4- to 5-day process during which the chit continues to grow, the grains are monitored under controlled humidity and stirred to keep the rootlets from growing together.

During this step, proteins and carbohydrates continue converting into sugars and amino acids while more starch reserves are opened up.

Drying – Lastly, the grains are dried, to kill the germination process.

Normally the grain would use up the precious starch reserves while continuing to grow into a plant, but we want to use those sugars for the beer.

So the grains are heated to 180-190° F (82-88° C) for 2-4 hours.

Different types of malts are made depending on the temperature, length of drying time, and moisture levels. Review the prior post for more about different malt types.

Unmalted grains

Some grains for beer are not malted. They have not gone through the malting process that germinates the grain and starts converting proteins and carbohydrates to sugars and amino acids.

In the earlier lesson, we sort of touched on “adjunct grains” and how they are used more for texture than for flavor.

Brew Your Own has a detailed article, Adjuncts Explained, that, well, explains unmalted grains in more detail.

Unmalted grains don’t have the enzyme that convert starches. Luckily, malted barley has more enzymes than are needed to convert their own starches.

So unmalted “adjunct grains” can be added in lesser quantity with malted barley. The leftover enzymes for malted barley will help convert the starches from the unmalted grains.

Some adjunct grains include:

• Rice
• Corn
• Unmalted barley
• Sorghum
• Unmalted wheat
• Oats
• Rye

Rice and corn can be used to lighten the flavor and color of beer. American Pilsners commonly use rice or corn.

Unmalted barley is sometimes used to reduce costs because it is less expensive than malted barley. It can also improve foam retention.

Sorghum was used by American breweries in the 1940s when other ingredients were limited due to the war. Today, Sorghum is commonly used in Mexican lagers.

Unmalted wheat provides raw grain flavor and cloudy appearance characteristic of Belgian Wheat beers.

Oats give beer a smoothness and increased mouthfeel. Compare a stout to an Oatmeal Stout to get an idea of what the addition of oats can do.

Rye helps a lot with flavor and less with fermentables. Characteristics of rye beer are orange and spicy flavors.

(Source: Parkes, Steve and Chris Colby. Adjuncts Explained. https://byo.com. December 2001. Accessed October 19, 2015.)

Hops

As discussed previously, hops are in the nettle family and are related to marijuana. Only the cone is used, and it’s often called a “flower.” They were first used in beer about a thousand years ago.

Hop umbel by The mad Penguin on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Hop character in beer

In the basics, we can say that hops are a flower that adds bitter flavors to offset the sweetness from malt. They also add aromas and act as a preservative.

Getting more technical, hops are added to wort to release their alpha acids and beta acids.

Alpha acids have antibiotic properties to act as a preservative. They also add bitter flavors to beer.

Beta acids do not much affect the flavor of beer, but they do add aromas.

There are 2 broad categories for hops:

• Bittering hops
• Aroma hops

Bittering hops have more alpha acids.

Alpha acids are released when hops are boiled in the wort. So bittering hops are added to wort while it is boiling.

Aroma hops, on the other hand, have more beta acids.

Beta acids do not come out during the boil. So aroma hops are added at the end of the boil, in the last 10 minutes or less.

Essential oils from hops can add other flavors besides bitterness. However, the essential oils evaporate during the boil. So if the brewer wants any “hop taste,” she’ll add aroma hops at the end of the boil.

Sometime hops are added to the fermenter. This is called “dry hopping.”

Basic anatomy of hop plant and cone

Hops have separate male and female plants, but only the females produce the cones used in beer.

Hops are a climbing vine that grow quickly. They are trained to grow up strings and can grow up to 20 feet (6 meters) tall.

The leaves look a little like grape leaves. The cones look like mini pine cones, but green and the petals of the cone are paper thin. At the base of the petals grow the essential oils and resins that brewers use.

Major growing regions

Although hops grow throughout much of the world, their optimum area for commercial farming is more specific. “Hop production is concentrated in moist temperate climates, with much of the worlds’ production occurring near the 48th parallel north.” (Wikipedia)

Areas with large commercial hop production are:

• Hallertau, Germany
• Yakima, Washington, USA
• Willamette, Oregon, USA
• Canyon County, Idaho, USA
• Kent, UK
• Herefordshire, UK
• Worcestershire, UK

The syllabus lists other well-known hops growing regions:

• Czech Republic
• Australia
• New Zealand

Yeast

Although beer has been made for thousands of years, it was only in 1860 that Louis Pasteur discovered yeast.

Yeast by bill rix on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Yeast are microscopic, single-cell fungi that “take in simple sugars like glucose and maltose and produce carbon dioxide and alcohol as waste products,” says John Palmer.

Convenient for us, because beer is made with sugary water (wort), and it ends up having alcohol and being carbonated with carbon dioxide. Awesome!

Taxonomy

Yeast is part of the Fungi Kingdom.

There are various sub-species or strains of Brewer’s Yeast for ales and lagers. In fact, as of the time of this writing, Wyeast Laboratories lists 49 different yeast strains for beer. (October 21, 2015)

“Each yeast strain,” writes Wyeast Laboratories, “produces different levels of flavor and aroma compounds as well as alcohol levels even if all conditions are identical.”

Therefore, simply by selecting a specific yeast strain, the brewer has great power to affect the flavor of the beer.

In brewing, we can group yeast into 2 broad categories:

• Ale yeast
• Lager yeast

Ale yeast

Brewer’s Yeast is from the genus Saccharomyces. Its species is cerevisiae.

Brewer’s yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In fact, brewer’s yeast is the same species as common baking yeast. Brewer’s yeast, however, is a different sub-species, or strain, than baking yeast.

These yeast produce esters that create fruity flavors in the beer. Some have a “phenolic off-flavor gene” (POF+) that create clove, nutmeg, and white pepper flavors in beer.

Ale yeasts ferment at warmer temperatures. (Approximately 68-72° F (20-22° C).)

(Source: Stika, Jon. Controlling Fermentation Temperature: Techniques. Brew Your Own. March/April 2009. https://byo.com. Accessed November 10, 2015.)

Lager yeast

Yeast for lager beers are also from the genus Saccharomyces. It’s species is pastorianus. It is also sometimes still called by an outdated name, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis.

These yeast do not produce esters nor phenols. So lager beers focus more on the malt and the hops character.

Lager yeasts ferment at colder temperatures. (Approximately 45-55° F (7-13° C).)

(Source: Stika, Jon. Controlling Fermentation Temperature: Techniques. Brew Your Own. March/April 2009. https://byo.com. Accessed November 10, 2015.)

Other yeast and bacteria

We previously mentioned a few other yeasts and bacteria that also are used to ferment beer.

Some other yeasts are:

• Brettanomyces
• Pichia
• Candida

Some fermenting bacteria are:

• Lactobacillus
• Pediococcus
• Acetobacteria

Be on guard!

Auto-brewery syndrome is a medical condition wherein a person’s gut is infected by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This intestinal yeast causes fermenting inside the body, resulting in intoxication.

You may think it sounds awesome—until you get charged with drunk driving without even drinking!

Luckily, auto-brewery syndrome is rare and can be treated with oral antifungal medicine.

(Source: Wikipedia. Auto-brewery syndrome. https://en.wikipedia.org. Accessed October 21, 2015.)

Water

Water makes up 90+ percent of the weight of beer

Water makes up about 90 percent of beer by weight and volume.

But it’s not just plain H₂O. In fact, pure water wouldn’t make good beer.

“Many parts of the brewing process require the natural minerals found in water,” according to the Cicerone® Certification Program. “Without these minerals, the biochemistry of brewing and fermentation simply won’t function properly.”

All water contains traces of minerals

Every water source contains minerals.

Minerals in water make it “hard.” Even “soft” water has some minerals. Minerals also give water its flavor.

Some of the minerals in water are:

• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Sulfur
• Chloride

Modern brewers adjust water chemistry to fit the requirements of the beer they brew.

When we first started talking about beer styles, we touched on the notion that the development of regional beer styles was dictated partly by different water that was available in different regions.

Beer Style Flashcards

When we really dug into the different, specific beer styles, we saw some specific beer styles that were affected by local water

For example:

German Pils is made with Noble German hops whose bitterness is accentuated by sulfates in the water where this style originated.

Munich Dunkel developed partly because of carbonate in the water.

Best Bitter was developed only after brewers learned how to “Burtonize” their water to make it really hard like the water that is found naturally in Burton-On-Trent, England.

According to Cicerone® Certification Program, “this indicates that water minerals have an impact beyond mere chemistry—that they also affect flavor.”

In modern times, brewers can adjust the mineral content of their water based on the style of beer they’re making.

Some breweries even have advanced water filtration systems that strip the water down to nearly pure H₂O. Then they add back exact mineral profiles to mimic the water of a certain locale where the beer style originated.

Brewing Processes

To provide excellent beer service, you’ll need to be able to talk about beer with your customers. As we’ve already learned, ingredients are not the only factor that affect beer flavor, how the ingredients are used also affects the final product.

So we need to understand the basic brewing processes and be able to speak intelligently about it.

The steps described below are not instructions for brewing. Rather, this and other information throughout these study notes will give you enough information to talk somewhat intelligently about the brewing process and how it affect the flavor of beer.

I saw this billboard describing “The Pyramid Brewing Process” as seen at the now-gone brewery in Berkeley on July 5, 2014.

There are 3 steps to the brewing process:

1. Mash
2. Boil
3. Ferment

Mash

The fist step in the brewing process is the mash. Essentially we’re making a “grain tea.” By steeping crushed, malted grain in hot water for about an hour, the starches in the grain are converted to fermentable sugar.

Next, the grain is lautered to remove the liquid wort from the spent grain. The grains have fallen to the bottom of the mash tun and serve as a filter. The wort passes through the grains and is now a clear, sweet liquid, rich in sugars for the yeast to eat.

The grains are sparged, to rinse any remaining sugars into the wort. That means they are sprinkled with clean water, which runs through it and into the wort.

Boil

Now the wort is transferred into the boil kettle where it is heated to a boil for about 60-90 minutes.

Boiling the wort sterilizes it to remove any biological contaminants that would spoil the beer. We don’t want any living organisms in the beer besides the ones that we will introduce.

Boiling also concentrates the sugars and breaks down the proteins.

Hops are added in stages during the boil.

Ferment

After the boil, sanitization is crucial. We are working with a sterilized wort, and we don’t want any contaminants introduced. So anything that comes in contact with the wort must be completely sanitized.

The wort is cooled and transferred to the fermentation vessel where yeast is added and will do its things for about 2 weeks.

It is during this time that the microscopic yeast become extremely active. In their ferocious hunger for sugar, they produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.

“After they eat all the sugar,” writes Adam my homebrewing friend via email, “the yeast goes dormant. Much of it clumps together and falls to the bottom, but some of it remains in suspension; these can be used later for natural carbonation!”

The brewer has made wort, the yeast have made beer, the world is a better place. [Tweet This]

Packaging

After the beer is fully fermented and the trub has all settled to the bottom, the beer can be packaged for the consumers.

The yeast have carbonated the beer naturally with their CO₂ farts and burps. This finished product, called “real ale,” is common in England, but it’s not carbonated enough for most modern commercial expectations.

The beer can be force carbonated by pressurizing it with CO₂ in a bright tank, or it can be bottled conditioned by adding a little sugar to the bottles to reactivate the yeast that’s left over in the beer, just enough to carbonate inside the bottle.

Cans, bottles, or kegs? Which do you prefer? Check out this post on the MicroBrewr blog to read what my friends and I decided after 2 blind taste tests, or read what 27 industry experts prefer.

Additional insight

In the free study links section for Certified Beer Server, they advise to “find a friend who homebrews and join them sometime when they are brewing to learn how it is done.”

I can say from experience that homebrewing with friends has greatly helped me understand the brewing process. I have been on a fair amount of brewery tours. I listened as the tour guide explained the processes and purposes behind them, I observed the brewing equipment, and I even watched parts of the process.

After I helped a friend make homebrew on a couple different occasions it all sort of came together more cohesively and I understood the nuances considerably more.

I have described a very brief overview, an abridged version of the brewing process. For a more complete understanding, I highly recommend going on as many brewery tours as possible and even helping a friend make beer at home.

If you don’t know any homebrewer, look online for a homebrew club near you. Most people are eager to share their knowledge.

Conclusion

So this gives a pretty good start on beer ingredients and brewing processes. You now know about the basic ingredients for almost every beer, and a little bit about how they affect flavor. You know how different processes can affect a beer differently.

So feel comfortable to talk with your customers about beer, answer their questions, and provide excellent beer service.

Now we’ll go into the very last part of the syllabus, Part V. Pairing Beer with Food.

Why write the flashcards by hand? Buy the full set here: Instant access!

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

4 main ingredients in beer

1. Grains
2. Hops
3. Yeast
4. Water

What is the primary purpose for using grains in beer?

Malted sugar in grains will be fermented into alcohol.

3 steps for malting grain

1. Steeping (almost 48 hours)
2. Germination (4-5 days)
3. Drying (2-4 hours)

What are some unmalted grains that are used in beer?

Rice

Corn

Unmalted barley

Sorghum

Unmalted wheat

Oats

Rye

What are hops?

Only the cone (flower) from the hops plant is used in beer.

Hops are a climbing vine in the nettle family and are related to marijuana.

They were first used in beer about a thousand years ago.

How do hops affect beer flavor?

Hops add bitter flavors to offset the sweetness from malt.

They also add aromas and act as a preservative.

2 elements of hops and how each affects beer

1. Alpha acids – Antibiotic, preservative properties. Bitter flavors.
2. Beta acids – Mostly add aromas.

What are bittering hops?

Bittering hops have more alpha acids.

They are added to the boiling wort.

What are aroma hops?

Aromas hops have more beta acids.

They are added at the end of the boil.

What are the major growing regions for hops?

Hops grow in moist, temperate climates, mostly near the 48th parallel north.

Germany

Czech Republic

Britain

Yakima Valley, Washington, USA

Willamette, Oregon, USA

Idaho, USA

Australia

New Zealand

What is yeast?

Yeast are microscopic, single-cell fungi.

They eat sugar, and excrete carbon dioxide and alcohol.

2 broad categories of yeast used in beer

1. Ale yeast
2. Lager yeast

What are ale yeast?

Ale yeast: Saccaromyces cerevisiae, also called Brewer’s Yeast.

Ferments at: 68-72°F (20-22° C)

Flavors: Fruity, clove, nutmeg, white pepper

What are lager yeast?

Lager yeast: Saccharomyces pastorianus

Ferments at: 45-55° F (7-13° C)

Flavors: Not much flavors, so the beers focus on malt and hops

3 other yeasts and 3 bacteria for fermenting beer

Other yeasts:

1. Brettanomyces
2. Pichia
3. Candida

Fermenting bacteria:

1. Lactobacillus
2. Pediococcus
3. Acetobacteria

What is the largest component of beer?

Water makes up about 90% of beer by weight and by volume.

4 minerals in water that affect beer

1. Calcium
2. Magnesium
3. Sulfur
4. Chloride

3 steps to making beer and the purpose of each

1. Mash – Convert the starches into sugar.
2. Boil – Sterilize the wort, concentrate the sugars, and break down the proteins.
3. Ferment – Yeast convert the sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol.

Also: Packaging – Put the finished beer into kegs, bottles or cans. It can be force carbonated or bottle conditioned.

Download flashcards

The post 019. Beer ingredients and brewing processes appeared first on Beer Exam School.

Untitled by jvoves on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

So let’s look at the reading list for part 4.

The first step is to get my study materials together

Today I’m going through the materials to find any recommended books, articles, or anything else. Here are the materials that I’ll need to study for the Certified Beer Server, Part IV. Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes.

You can get whatever you’ll need to pass the exam. Or you can simply use my free flashcards and study notes throughout this site.

Looks like lots of the material is coming from John Palmer’s book, How To Brew. I’ve heard good things about the book. For this section of the syllabus, links go to the online version of the book. You can also get your own copy in Amazon.

Other resources are listed below.

Reading list for Certified Beer Server, Part IV. Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes

Resources about malt:

• Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
  “Chapter 3 – Malt Extract and Beer Kits; What is Malt?” http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015.
• Briess, Malt & Ingredients Co. “Malting – A Three-Step Process.” http://www.briess.com. Accessed October 2015.

Resources about hops:

• Wikipedia. “Hops.” https://en.wikipedia.org. Accessed October 2015.
• Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
  “Chapter 5 – Hops; What are they?” http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015.
• Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
  “Chapter 5 – Hops; 5.1 How Are They Used?” http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015.

Resources about yeast:

• Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
  “Chapter 6 – Yeast; What is it?” http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015.
• Wyeast Laboratories, Inc. “What Is Yeast?” http://www.wyeastlab.com. Accessed October 2015.
• Wyeast Laboratories, Inc. “Home Brewing Style Guidelines.” http://www.wyeastlab.com. Accessed October 2015.

Resources about water:

• Cicerone® Certification Program. “The Basics of Water.” http://cicerone.org. Accessed October 2015.

Resources about brewing processes:

• Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
  Peruse Chapter 1 and maybe a little from other chapters to get a basic understanding of the brewing process. http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015.
• American Homebrewers Association. Zymergy: An Introduction To Homebrewing. http://www.homebrewersassociation.org. Accessed October 2015.
  (Enter your email address and download it for free.)
• Papazian, Charlie. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Fourth Edition: Fully Revised and Updated. New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2014. Print.
• Lastly, the Cicerone® Certification Program advises:
  Another option: find a friend who homebrews and join them sometime when they are brewing to learn how it is done.

So, holy wow! that’s a lot of material. I’m really surprised that they smashed all that into one section of the Certified Beer Server syllabus, Part IV: Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes. As I start digging into it, I see whether I can fit all of it into one section of notes and flashcards…

We’re almost done! ! !

Gosh, I can almost feel it.

I’ve been doing this for so long. If I didn’t have a podcast about how to start a brewery, and if I wasn’t trying to make an entire website from these study notes, I certainly could have taken this exam a long time ago.

Oh well; now you get the advantage of using my flashcards and study notes for free!

As soon as I finish studying and publishing my notes for all of the sections, I’ll review my flashcards really well and pass the heck out of this exam!

Let’s do this! Part IV: Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes.

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Beer is a perishable food product. There are many ways that beer can become contaminated before it arrives at your business, or it can just get too old. It is important to be able to identify “off” flavors so you know when to get the customer a replacement.

Dust bottle by Geoffrey Gallaway on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Although rare, it is possible for beer to become contaminated or damaged before it arrives. Loose seal, inconsistent transportation environment, or poor storage are some ways beer can become damaged or spoiled.

This section helps identify some common off flavors in beer.

The reading material for this section was found in:

RealBeer.com. When your beer really stinks. Beer Break Vol. 1, No. 16. http://www.realbeer.com. Accessed October 3, 2015.

MoreBeer!. “Off” Flavors In Beer; Their Causes & How To Avoid Them. http://www.morebeer.com. Accessed October 3, 2015.

Oxidation

Oxidation means that oxygen has gotten into the beer and made a bad reaction. It can happen during the brewing process, or it can happen later due to poorly sealed packaging.

Oxidation is identified by these aromas and flavors:

• Stale
• Old, wet cardboard
• Paper
• Pineapple
• Rotten vegetables
• Sherry

Oxidation can also make beer bitter or harsh. And it can create aromas and flavors like wax or lipstick.

Skunky/Light-struck

When light hits the hops in beer, it creates the same chemical in a skunk’s spray.

The reaction happens stronger in light colored beers.

Clear glass and green glass provide almost no protection from light. Amber colored bottles do provide excellent protection, but even amber colored bottles should be stored away from light.

Skunkiness in beer shows up mostly in the aroma.

Skunked beer is identified by these aromas:

• Skunk
• Must
• Burned rubber
• Cat musk

Dirty draft lines

Recall from lesson 6 “Draft systems” that draft lines must be properly maintained. A perishable food product is traveling through those lines. Make sure the draft lines and other parts of the draft system are cleaned at regular intervals.

Two common signs of dirty draft lines are aromas and flavors of:

• Butter
• Vinegar

Buttery

In the last lesson we talked about the buttery flavor of diacetyl, made by yeast. Diacetyl is usually considered a flaw in lagers, while small amounts are often desired in ales.

Diacetyl can also appear as a contaminant in beer, and especially in dirty draft lines.

Diacetyl is identified in beer by these aromas and flavors:

• Butter
• Rancid butter
• Butterscotch

Diacetyl can also cause a slick mouthfeel.

Vinegar

If the beer has an astringent or sour/acidic flavor that tastes tart or like vinegar, it is likely contaminated by bacteria or wild yeast.

Lambic beers are an exception.

“Lambic style beers,” it says in the MoreBeer! article, “are beers that have been purposely exposed to specific types of wild yeast and bacteria to create the unmistakable cidery and sour flavors they are known for.”

Conclusion

So this is a little bit about how to identify off flavors in beer.

By properly storing your beer products and developing a keen ability to identify off flavors, you have the improved ability to always provide the best beer service to your customers.

So that’s it for Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation.

Now we’ll go into Part IV. Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes.

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

What is oxidation in beer?

Oxidation is what happens when oxygen gets into beer and makes a bad reaction.

6 aromas and flavors of oxidation in beer

1. Stale
2. Old, wet cardboard
3. Paper
4. Pineapple
5. Rotten vegetables
6. Sherry

Also: bitter, harsh, wax, lipstick

What is “skunked” or light-struck beer?

Beer becomes “skunked” when light hits the hops and creates the same chemical as in a skunk’s spray.

4 aromas of skunked beer

1. Skunk
2. Must
3. Burned rubber
4. Cat musk

2 flavors from dirty draft lines

1. Butter
2. Vinegar

3 aromas and flavors of diacetyl contamination in beer

1. Butter
2. Rancid butter
3. Butterscotch

Also: slick mouthfeel

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The aromas and flavors in beer come from its ingredients. It’s not only the ingredients, but how they’re prepared and used in the recipe. This section discusses the three (4) main components of beer and what aromas and flavors they produce.

Beer Actor by Alan Levine on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The 4 main components of beer are: water, malt, hops, and yeast.

Even water—or more specifically the minerals in water—impart aromas and flavors to beer.

In this section of the Certified Beer Server syllabus, we’re concentrating only on the last 3 ingredients:

1. Malt
2. Hops
3. Yeast

The reading material for this section was found in Tasting Beer.

Malt and grain flavors

Yeasts need sugar to make alcohol. Brewers get sugar from grains.

Barley is by far the most common grain used in beer. Barley has been used in beer for thousands of years. It has a lot of starch that can be converted to sugar, and its shells serve as filters.

To make the sugars accessible for brewing, the grain must be “malted.”

Malting is the process of wetting the gain enough so that it germinates and starts to sprout, but then heating the grain to kill it before it starts to grow into a plant. When the grain senses the moisture, it knows it’s time to sprout. So it turns those starches into sugar as food for the growing process.

Barley / Gerste I by Christian Schnettelker on flickr (CC BY 2.0) http://www.manoftaste.de was modified from its original state.

Grains can impart a huge variety of flavor and aroma in beer depending on how much moisture and heat is used in the malting process. Some are lightly toasted while other are toasted very dark.

The basic types of malt are:

• Base malts – The majority of the “grain bill” used in most types of beer, even dark beers.
• Kilned or Color malts – Used in smaller amounts, up to 20 percent of the grain bill.
• Crystal or Caramel malts – A special “stewing” process results in a glassy, crunchy texture. It provides fat, raisin, or other dried fruit aromas.
• Roasted malts and grains – Used up to 10 percent of the grain bill. Provides aromas and flavors of coffee, chocolate and other roasted foods.

Within each of the basic types shown above, there are different kinds of malts.

Adjunct grains are alternative grains. “In today’s beers,” writes Mosher, “adjuncts are about texture more than flavor. All tend to be less assertive in aroma than barley malt.”

For example, “wheat, oats, and rye all add creamy texture and great head retention to beers… Corn and rice always thin out a beer.”

Examples of adjunct grains:

• Wheat
• Oats
• Rye
• Corn
• Rice

So that’s a little about how grains and malt affect the aroma, flavor and texture of beer.

Here are some specifics to remember from the Certified Beer Server syllabus. Notice how the aromas and flavors range from doughy on one end of the spectrum all the way to roasted and burnt as the beer style gets darker.

Pale beer: uncooked flour, bread dough

Golden beer: white bread, wheat bread, water cracker

Light amber beer: bread crust, biscuit, graham cracker

Amber beer: toast, caramel, pie crust

Brown beer: nuts, toffee, chocolate, dark/dried fruit

Black beer: roast, burnt, coffee

Hops

Hops are in the nettle family and are related to marijuana. Hops have been used in beer since about a thousand years ago.

The only part of the hop plant that is used in beer is the cone. According to Mosher, brewers often incorrectly call them “flowers.”

Bitterness, flavor and aroma effects

Whereas the malt in beer provides the fermentable sugar and some sweet flavor to the beer, hops balance that sweetness with bitterness. Hops can add other flavors and even aromas to beer.

Recall that smell accounts for as much as 90-95 percent of the sense of taste. So brewers can use the varied aromas from hops to do some pretty interesting things.

Traditional regional hop traits

Mosher says there are more than a hundred varieties of hops. They all have their own attributes. You might not consider yourself much of an apple connoisseur, but probably you could easily notice a difference from Red Delicious to Gala and Pink Lady. It’s similar with hops.

Certain hops grow best, and most will best display their key characteristics, when grown in the region where they originated.

American hops are known for their pine, citrus, resin, tropical fruit, and catty notes.

English hops provide notes of “spicy to fruity, with a healthy dose of fresh green grassiness,” says Mosher. They can also provide earthy, herbal, or woodsy notes.

German and Czech hops provide “herbal, sometimes almost minty” notes, says Mosher. They can also provide spicy, floral, perfumy, or peppery notes.

Fermentation

Ale versus lagers flavors

It is said that

Brewers make wort, yeast makes beer. [Tweet This]

Yeast are little bugs that are found all around, on most surfaces in the world. They make bread rise and they turn sugary liquid into beer—or wine, or cider, or…

As the yeast float around in wort, they burp carbon dioxide (CO²) and piss (or puke) alcohol. (For more on yeast, see Beer ingredients and brewing processes.)

God gave us yeast, and yeast gives us beer. [Tweet This]

There are 2 main types of yeast for fermenting beer:

• Lager yeast
• Ale yeast

Other specialty yeasts and sometimes even bacteria are used to ferment beer. But lager yeast and ale yeast are the two main kinds.

Lager yeast works at very cold temperatures, around 40-45° F (4-7° C). Beers made with lagers yeasts “have a relatively clean, pure flavor without fruity or spicy aromatics,” says Mosher.

Ale yeast works at warmer temperatures, above 55° F (13° C). They “have loads going on, with fruity, spicy esters and higher alcohols and phenolic compounds, among others.”

These 2 yeast strains have been recently proven to be very closely related. However, the ale yeasts have much more variation, and it shows up in the wide variety of ale beers.

One important chemical produced by both types of yeast is called diacetyl. Diacetyl tastes like butter. At warmer temperatures, yeast reabsorb diacetyl and make it flavorless. So brewers raise temperatures of lagers during conditioning to eliminate the diacetyl flavors. This “diacetyl rest” is also sometimes used in ales.

Weissbier yeast flavor

Weissbier uses a very unique yeast. It “produces a clove aroma, along with banana and bubble-gum fruitiness.”

Other yeast and bacteria can contribute to beer flavor

Some different species of yeast and even bacteria are used for certain beer styles. The 4 fermenting buggies below have unique taste and aroma profiles.

Mosher describes them as “dreaded contaminants in most breweries; brewers bold enough to bring them under their roofs need to take extraordinary measures to prevent their escape and the fouling up of the whole place.”

Brettanomyces is a yeast that Mosher says might be endemic to oak wood (found no where else), but Wikipedia says in the wild it’s also found living on fruit skins.

Brett is used in lambics, some saisons, and English old ales. It “has barnyard or horsey aromas”

Pichia and Candida are yeasts that form films in beer. Chris White says pichia “makes beer that tastes something like sweaty socks.”

(Source: White, Chris and Jamil Zainasheff. Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation. Boulder, CO: Brewers Association, 2010. p 3. https://books.google.com. Accessed September 25, 2015.)

These have a role in lambics, but mostly they just cause spoilage. And it’s not only beer that they spoil, candida is the one responsible for yeast infections. Don’t worry, as Madeleine Davies says, just so you know, you can’t make beer with your vagina.

Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are bacteria that each produce lactic acid, which lowers the pH and makes beer sour. Mosher says it “can also create a lot of diacetyl (buttery) and goaty, sweat sock-reminiscent aromas.”

Lacto is used in beer styles like Goses and Berliner Weisses. “It’s a relatively clean taste for drinkers,” writes Kate Bernot in Draft Mag.

(Source: Bernot, Kate. “Yeast and bacteria 101: Brettanomyces, lactobacillus, pediococcus.” DRAFT Magazine, March 16, 2015. http://draftmag.com. Accessed September 25, 2015.)

Pedio is used in beer styles like Lambics and Flanders Red Ales.

Acetobacteria is a bacteria that produces acetic acid. As Billy Broas points out, acetic acid is “the key component in vinegar.”

(Source: Broas, Billy. “The Bugs that Sour Your Beer (And Why They’re Not All Bad).” Homebrew Academy, September 8, 2010. http://homebrewacademy.com. Accessed September 25, 2015.)

So aceto “adds vinegar or pickle aromas, but may also create a fair amount of ethyle acetate… fruity at low quantities, but in larger quantities it comes across as nail polish remover or solvent,” says Mosher.

Conclusion

So this is a little bit about how the major ingredients categories impart a range and variety of aromas and flavors in beer.

As you develop your palate, and concentrate on identifying specific aroma and flavor elements, you will be able to develop a vocabulary that helps you understand the beer more intimately.

A better understanding and more sophisticated vocabulary for beer will help you better communicate with your customer and know which beer she wants to enjoy.

In the next section, we’ll discuss some “off flavors” and how to identify a beer that has gone bad.

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

3 main sources of aroma and flavor in beer

1. Malt and grain
2. Hops
3. Fermentation

(and water)

What is the most common grain used in beer?

Barley is the most common grain used in beer because its high starch content is readily converted to sugar and its shells serve as filters.

How are the starches in grain converted to sugar?

“Malting” converts the starches in grain to sugar.

The grain is wetted enough so that it germinates and starts to sprout. Then the grain is dried and heated to stop the process.

4 basic types of malt

1. Base malts
2. Kilned or colored malts
3. Crystal or caramel malts
4. Roasted malts or grains

What are adjunct grains?

Adjunct grains are grains other than barley.

They are used mainly for texture as opposed to flavor.

5 examples of adjunct grains

1. Wheat
2. Oats
3. Rye
4. Corn
5. Rice

Main flavors of pale beer

Uncooked flour, bread dough

Main flavors of golden beer

White bread, wheat bread, water cracker

Main flavors of light amber beer

Bread crust, biscuit, graham cracker

Main flavors of amber beer

Toast, caramel, pie crust

Main flavors of brown beer

Nuts, toffee, chocolate, dark/dried fruit

Main flavors of black beer

Roast, burnt, coffee

How many varieties of hops are there?

There are over a hundred varieties of hops.

Main flavors of American hops

Pine, citrus, resin, tropical fruit, cat

Main flavors of English hops

Spice, fruit, fresh green grassiness, “earth” (soil), herbs, woods

Main flavors of German and Czech hops

Herbs, mint, spice, flowers, perfume, pepper

2 main types of yeast for fermenting beer

1. Lager yeast
2. Ale yeast

Main flavors of lager yeast

Clean and pure, without fruity or spicey aromatics

Main flavors of ale yeast

Fruity, spicy esters and higher alcohol and phenolic compounds (cloves)

What is diacetyl?

Diacetyl is a chemical that tastes like butter.

Both lager yeasts and ale yeasts produce diacetyl. Brewers often use a “diacetyl rest” to get rid of it.

Main flavors of Weissbier yeast

Clove, banana, bubble-gum fruitiness

Other yeast and bacteria used in beer

Brettanomyces (yeast)

Pichia and Candida (yeasts)

Lactobacillus and Pediococcus (bacteria)

Acetobacteria (bacteria)

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By becoming more aware of your senses and then developing a vocabulary to articulate those senses, you can develop a deeper understanding of beer. When you are better able to tease out different aromas and flavors, and when you are able to articulate those senses into words, you can better understand why different characteristics are present in a beer, you can understand what a customer wants, and you can know when a beer has gone bad.

Homebrew tasting by James Brooks on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

“If you take the time to develop an approach and a vocabulary,” says Randy Mosher in Tasting Beer, “even casually tasted beers may reveal themselves in greater depth, meaning, and eventually, pleasure.”

This section explores the sense of taste and flavor. We talk a little bit about how our bodies feel these senses. And we talk about the different ways in which these senses are perceived. That is, the main flavors and smells in beer.

The reading material for this section was found in Tasting Beer, Great Beer Guide, and Beeradvocate “How To Taste Beer.”

  

How we perceive flavor

The senses can be weird things. Physical parts of the body—the taste buds on the tongue, or olfactory sensors in the nose, for example—perceive chemicals in our environment. Then the nervous system translates those senses in the brain.

Everybody is built slightly different, and everybody has had different experiences. So our senses affect us differently. One person might enjoy a particular flavor while another person despises it.

After clean sheets have been stored in the closet a while, they lose the odors of artificial detergents and burnt drier lint. Before making the bed, I press my face into the sheets and inhale deeply. To me it smells glorious, a scent that I call “fresh linen.”

Meanwhile, my girlfriend grimaces and turns away. She thinks it smells “musty.”

musty | ˈməstē | adj. having a stale, moldy, or damp smell. having a stale taste.

It’s not only the physical sensors that affect our senses. Our past experiences also play a part. For example, Mosher says that the sense of smell in particular takes “a detour through… the hypothalamus, seat of appetite, and fear; the hippocampus, regulator of memories; and the brain stem, which controls basic bodily functions like respiration.”

A beer with flavors and scents that bring up happy childhood memories of grandmother’s kitchen, for example, will likely sell well. “Even if your audience is not aware of the connection,” says Mosher.

Additionally, senses often work together. In fact, smell accounts for 90-95 percent of our sense of taste.

Aroma

There are 2 sets of sensors for smell. Although they both sense molecules in the air, they are separate and processed differently by the brain.

The first set of sensors, high in the nose, analyze aromas to categorize and identify them.

The second set is further back, in the channel that connects the nose and mouth, and even in the back of the mouth. This set processes less as aroma and more as flavor. It affects perceptions of preference and familiarity.

Michael Jackson explains in Great Beer Guide, “Tasters often express flavors in terms of ‘aroma metaphors’ that refer to other drinks and food.”

It’s ok to say that a beer has aromas of bananas and butterscotch, or grapefruit and flowers. That doesn’t mean that it was brewed with those ingredients, it’s the closest connection that our brain conjures up. As your senses are honed, characteristics of beer will be an indicator of ingredients or brewing process.

Taste

All that you learned in elementary school about the taste map of your tongue? Yeah, forget about that. That model was derived by some whackos in the 1800s.

It’s about time, because I always thought I was the odd one who’s tongue was broken. Anyway…

Turns out, says Mosher, “there is some slight localization of flavor on the tongue, but most of the tongue is sensitive to all six flavors.”

Although the whole tongue is covered in bumps, those are mostly mechanical. Only some of the bumps have taste buds.

On the front two-thirds of the tongue the taste buds, for the most part can detect all flavor categories.

Along the sides at the back of the tongue, the taste buds detect all flavor categories, but are especially sensitive to fat and sour.

On the back of the tongue, the taste buds detect all flavors, but are especially sensitive to bitter and fat.

Established tastes

Everybody is familiar with the primary flavors:

• Sweet
• Salty
• Sour
• Bitter
• Umami

There are some new flavors since when I learned this in elementary school:

• Fat

Plus some flavors less agreed-upon and still being studied:

• Acidic (related to sour)
• Carbonation
• Metallic

Sweet – Almost all beers have at least some sweetness. Usually it is balanced or even overshadowed by hops, roasted malt, or acidity.

Certain beer styles have more residual sugar and taste more sweet. e.g., Scotch ale, doppelbock, sweet stout.

Salty – Salt makes flavors richer and bigger. It’s not always in beer, but sometimes it plays a part as mineral-rich water or sometimes it’s even intentionally added.

Sour/Acid – Sour and acidity, as measured in pH, are closely related. Mosher says that the sour taste sensors detect hydrogen ions, just like pH meters do.

Normally beer is only moderately acidic. Sour Belgian beers more strongly feature sour/acidic flavors.

Acidity often indicates ripe fruit. So sour/acidic flavors are also important in fruit beers.

Bitter – Bitter is nature’s way of protecting us from eating poison. Mosher says that we have maybe up to 30 different kinds of bitter receptors, yet science believes that there’s only one bitter signal sent to the brain.

Meanwhile, many people claim to detect different flavors of bitterness. So “bitter” flavor is sort of a catchall for a variety of senses.

The bitter signal is more complex and takes longer to process. This can be evident when tasting bitter beer. “The first taste sensation is likely to be a mix of sweetness and acidity,” says Mosher, “but after a beat the bitterness kicks in and builds to a crescendo.”

Not only that, but “the bitterness takes longer to leave the palate as well, sometimes lingering for several minutes in especially assertive beers.”

Peculiarly, humans are the only species that do not automatically reject bitterness. Some people crave it, as evidenced by the indomitable popularity of IPA.

Umami – Umami was scientifically described in 1908 by Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda (Wikipedia). The western world accepted its existence much more recently. Umami means “pleasant savory taste.” It is also described as “deliciousness.” It is a brothy or meaty taste present in fish, cured meats, soy sauce, mushrooms and a variety of vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, and celery.

In beer, Umami plays a role especially in aged beer, where it can be perceived as meatiness or taste like soy sauce.

Emerging tastes

Fat – The taste receptors for fat were discovered only in 2005. Beer is a fat-free product, so it’s not yet clear whether this flavor plays any role in beer other than pairing with food.

Carbonation – Carbonation usually comes from carbon dioxide (CO²) gas. Beer can be naturally carbonated from yeast, or force-carbonated from compressed CO².

Carbon dioxide in beer forms carbonic acid, which can increase sourness.

Also, a “bite” is perceived when bubbles form on the tongue.

(Source: Oliver, Garrett. The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford: The Oxford University Press, 2012. p. 134. https://books.google.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.)

Metallic – A metallic flavor in beer is usually a flaw. It can be caused by metals dissolving into the wort, or from poorly stored malts. Stainless steel does not impart a metallic flavor.

(Source: Palmer, John. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Chapter 21.2. http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.)

Mouthfeel

Mouthfeel is a sensation more than a flavor. It’s how the beer feels in the mouth and can describe a range of sensations such as:

• Carbonation
• Viscosity (thickness/thinness)
• Cooling or burning (like mint or peppers)

Other sensations specifically associated with beer are:

• Crisp/dry
• Full palate
• Rich
• Oily

The Certified Beer Server Syllabus specifically focuses on two:

• Body
• Carbonation

Body – Body refers specifically to the firmness/thickness sensation of the liquid in your mouth. According to Michael Jackson, it can range “from thin to firm or syrupy.”

Beer foam comes from the unique protein structure in the beverage. The protein structure, says Randy is “very similar in structure to a thin sort of Jell-O.” This also makes for a fullness of palate.

Wheat and other grains like oats and rye have a protein structure that makes particularly great beer foam, and those beers also have a special sort of mouthfeel.

Carbonation – We already discussed how carbonation can add a sourness and a bite to beer.

Different kinds of beers have differing amounts of carbonation.

Some highly carbonated beers are:

• Belgian abbey
• Weissbier
• American light lager

Some lightly carbonated beers are:

• British cask ale (“real ale”)
• Barleywine
• Imperial stout

Beer evaluation

Now that we know what aromas and flavors to look for in beer, we can be on the lookout for those characteristics while we imbibe.

Components and evaluation

Appearance – As you approach the beer, take a look. What does it look like? What color is it? What shade of color? Is the liquid clear or hazy?

What does the foam look like? Is it thick or thin on top of the beer? Are the individual bubbles large or small?

Aroma – Next, smell the beer. Does it have much odor, or can you smell hardly anything? Is it sweet or pungent? Do you smell flowers or caramel?

Think of the words we learned above and try to identify whether any are present.

Taste – Finally, we can taste the beer. Is it sweet or bitter? Does it taste like grains or bread? Does it taste fruity or spicy? Does it bring any other flavors to mind?

Does your tongue pucker in certain areas and not in others?

Mouthfeel – With the beer still in your mouth, what does it feel like? Is it thin or thick? Watery or creamy? Cool or warm?

Aftertaste – After you swallow the beer, notice how long the flavors linger. Do the flavors disappear right away or do they last a while? What flavors do you taste?

Key evaluation techniques

As you try to evaluate a beer and get to know it’s attributes and character, there are some techniques that help to tease out the attributes and to build your skills.

Look – Hold your beer up to eye level so you can peer into the glass and see what it looks like. While tasting a variety of beers, hold them each up to a consistent background. A white background is best to see the true colors of the beer.

Do not hold the beer up to direct light, it will dilute its true color.

Swirl the glass lightly to observe head retention.

Smell – Holding the glass 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) away from your nose, swirl the glass, and smell with one or 2 short “distant sniffs.”

Swirl the glass, raise it close to your nose and smell with one or 2 “short sniffs.” First smell with the mouth closed. Then with the mouth open. Even take some breathes through your mouth and exhale through your nose.

Swirl the glass, raise it to your nose and smell with one “long sniff.”

Swirl the glass lightly to agitate the carbonation and release more aromas out of the beer. If you need to, you can use a “covered sniff.” Hold the palm of your hand over the top of the glass while you swirl to keep the aromas in the headspace. Then smell just as you take your hand away.

Try to limit the other odors in the room during this process.

Feel and taste – Sip the beer and let it fill all parts of the inside of your mouth and tongue.

Exhale while the beer in still in your mouth. Remember smell accounts for up to 95 percent of taste. Also, the beer will warm slightly in your mouth, which will change the flavors and aromas.

Flavor senses continue after swallowing, so keep paying attention.

Conclusion

Now we’re on our way to better understanding the beautiful beverage of beer.

Take your time with every beer that you drink. Even better—forego full glasses for tasting flights. Taste as many different beers as you can get your hands on and compare many different beers to each other.

Try 3 brown ales from 3 different breweries. Try 5 different beers styles from the same brewery. Try the same beer chilled and at room temperature.

If you want to learn about beer, drink beer. If you want to learn more about beer, drink more beer.

Cheers!

Next we’ll learn about how to identify the normal flavors of beer and their source, malt, hops, and yeast.

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

Are taste and smell the same for everybody?

No, everybody senses differently.

The physical sensors in our body are not exactly the same for everybody. Additionally, senses are interpreted differently in the brain.

What tastes good to one person might taste horrible to someone else.

Are taste and smell independent from each other?

No. Smell accounts for 90-95% of our sense of taste.

Where in the body are the 2 sets of sensors for smell located?

1. High in the nose
2. In the channel that connects the nose and mouth, and in the back of the mouth

What are the tiny bumps on the tongue?

The tiny bumps on the tongue are not taste buds, they are for mechanical purposes.

Some of those tiny bumps have taste sensors on the sides.

True for false: The front of the tongue tastes only sweet and salty flavors.

False! Some parts of the tongue are slightly more sensitive to certain flavors, but most of the tongue is sensitive to all of the flavors.

What flavors are detected by the taste buds on the front 2/3 of the tongue?

The front 2/3 of the tongue is sensitive to all flavors.

What flavors are detected by the taste buds on the sides at the back of the tongue?

The sides at the back of the tongue are sensitive to all flavors, and are especially sensitive to fat and sour.

What flavors are detected by the taste buds on the back of the tongue?

The back of the tongue is sensitive to all flavors, and is especially sensitive to bitter and fat.

5 established flavors, one emerging flavor, and 2 less agreed-upon flavors

Established flavors:

1. Sweet
2. Salty
3. Sour (emerging flavor Acidic is similar)
4. Bitter
5. Umami

Emerging flavor: Fat

Less agreed-upon flavors:

1. Carbonic
2. Metallic

What is umami flavor?

Umami is pleasant savory taste or deliciousness.

It tastes brothy or meaty.

What is mouthfeel?

Mouthfeel is how the beer feels while it’s in the mouth.

e.g., carbonation, viscosity, cooling or burning

What is body in the mouthfeel?

Body is how firm or thick the liquid feels in your mouth.

It can range from thin to firm or syrupy.

What is the main thing that affects the body of a beer?

A unique protein structure in beer gives it the body.

This is also what causes beer foam.

How does carbonation affect mouthfeel?

Carbonation adds a sourness and a bite to beer.

3 highly carbonated beer styles

1. Belgian abbey
2. Weissbier
3. American light lager

3 lightly carbonated beer styles

1. British cask ale (“real ale”)
2. Barleywine
3. Imperial stout

5 components to beer evaluation

1. Appearance
2. Aroma
3. Taste
4. Mouthfeel
5. Aftertaste

3 techniques for beer evaluation

1. Look
2. Smell
3. Feel & taste

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Light Reading by Martin on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

After that tough section on all those beer styles, I was finally able to distill it down to flashcards for all of the beer styles in the Certified Beer Server Syllabus.

If you want to go back and read all the stats and info for each and every beer style, knock yourself out. But the flashcards make it so much easier.

Now we gotta get back in the saddle and keep studying through the last few sections. I’ll keep publishing my study notes along the way.

I hope you’re finding the notes on this site helpful. Send me an email and let me know. And if you have questions about any of the materials, leave comments below any of the sections. I’ll try to answer any questions I can, or maybe we’ll hear the answer from someone else who’s reading along.

So let’s look at the reading list for part 3.

The first step is to get my study materials together

This time I kind of did it backwards. I was too eager and dug into the syllabus forgetting about the “free study links” at the Cicerone website.

Then I got stuck in some parts of my studies and I had to go back and find more study material. So here are the materials that I’ll need to study for the Certified Beer Server, Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation.

Feel free to get anything that you think you’ll need to pass the exam. Or just check out my free study notes throughout this site.

Reading list for Certified Beer Server, Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation

• Mosher, Randy. Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink. North Adams, Massachusetts: Story Publishing, LLC, 2009. Print.
  The parts about “sensory evaluation” are helpful and interesting, and there’s a little bit from “brewing and the vocabulary of beer flavor” that’s pertinent to this section.
• Wikipedia. “Flavor.” http://en.wikipedia.org. Accessed August 28, 2015.
  Check out the first 2 sections, the introduction and about “flavorants or flavorings.”
• Beeradvocate. “How To Taste Beer.” http://www.beeradvocate.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
  A short guide of techniques for beer evaluation.
• Real Beer. “When your beer really stinks.” http://www.realbeer.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
  A short piece about “skunky” beer.
• MoreBeer! “‘Off’ Flavors In Beer; Their Causes & How To Avoid Them.” http://www.morebeer.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
  This is an awesome resource about off flavors in beer. It’s kind of advanced, but it’s especially good if you want to advance your knowledge.

I also used these resources:

• Cicerone® Certification Program. “Certified Beer Server Syllabus.” http://cicerone.org. June 1, 2013. PDF. Accessed October 9, 2014.
  The syllabus was the main guide for my notes about “evaluation techniques.”
• Jackson, Michael. Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2000. Print.
  The short section at the back was helpful: Lexicon of Flavors & Aromas.
• White, Chris and Jamil Zainasheff. Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation. Boulder, CO: Brewers Association, 2010. p 3. https://books.google.com accessed September 25, 2015.
• Oliver, Garrett. The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford: The Oxford University Press, 2012. p. 134. https://books.google.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.
• Palmer, John. How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Chapter 21.2. http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.

So we need only a few resources to study for the Certified Beer Server syllabus, Part III: Beer Flavor and Evaluation.

But those resources are loaded with information. The hard part is discerning and pulling out only what we must know for this section.

Sign up to study with me

We’re almost done now. There are just 3 parts in this section, and one part in each of the next 2 sections.

It has taken me way too long to do this. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken on this whole website thing along with studying to pass this exam.

But hey, you get the benefit of using all of my study notes! I’m buying the books, digging through the materials, writing it all up in easy format, and I’m sharing my flashcards, too. Now it’s all in one place, easy for you to learn from.

So keep studying along with me and we’ll pass this exam together!

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Now we’re going to go deep into the character of a beer to understand its inner being.

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The post 014. Reading list for Certified Beer Server (part 3) appeared first on Beer Exam School.

In the previous lesson we learned how to describe a beer by its qualitative and quantitative measurements. Now we can dig into the different styles of beer.

It’s important to know the defining characteristics for a variety of beer styles. As beer servers, we’ll not only need to speak in an educated manner of the products we’re selling, but sometimes we’ll also need to help customers decide which beer they want.

Beer tasting flight at Golden Road Brewing, Los Angeles, California, September 14, 2013.

Cicerone program uses BJCP Style Guidelines, which has more than a hundred different styles of beer, plus mead and cider! Luckily the Certified Beer Server syllabus requires us to know only 40 different styles.

I’ve heard from other Certified Beer Servers who have told me this is the main part of the exam. I’m familiar with many of the common styles, but there are a lot of nuances here. If I were start again, I would study this section first, and review the beer style flashcards every time that I reviewed flashcards from any of the other sections.

The information that we learned in the previous two lessons about understanding beer styles and the style parameters all comes together in this section. Again, I have presented the characteristics in the order we experience them.

C – Color

Straw, Gold, Amber, Brown, Black

PB – Perceived Bitterness

Low, Moderate, Pronounced, Assertive, Highly assertive

ABV (Alcohol By Volume) – Alcohol content

Lower, Normal, Elevated, High, Very high

Review the parameters for determining beer style

For the Certified Beer Server Exam, they want to simplify it a bit. It’s most important to memorize the qualitative descriptors from the syllabus. I’ve added the quantitative descriptors in case you want to geek out, and because I feel, aside from SRM, people more commonly speak in terms of IBU and ABV.

The exam will reference both qualitative descriptors and quantitative measurements, so you just need to memorize one or the other. Feel free to memorize the quantitative measurements for each style, it will certainly help you if you want to go on to the Certified Cicerone® level.

And we don’t need to memorize all the stats for every style. Get a good feel for each beer style.

Beer Style Flashcards

Descriptions of beer styles

Keep in mind that these styles are a general representation of most beers of the given style. That is, most beers in a style will follow these parameters and ranges that we’ll discuss. However, there will be some outliers, some beers that fall slightly outside of the strict parameters for a given style.

The style descriptions below follow this formula:

Style name: From CBS syllabus.

Category: From CBS syllabus.

Origin: From CBS syllabus.

C: Color from CBS syllabus. SRM from BJCP Style Guidelines.

PB: Perceived Bitterness from CBS syllabus. IBU from BJCP Style Guidelines.

Alcohol: Alcohol content from CBS syllabus. ABV from BJCP Style Guidelines.

Examples: From BJCP Style Guidelines and Beeradvocate beer styles.

Overall impression: From BJCP Style Guidelines “Overall Impression.”

History: From BJCP Style Guidelines “History.”

The style descriptions used below are taken from:

• Certified Beer Server Syllabus
• BJCP 2015 Style Guidelines; Beer, Mead, and Cider Style Guidelines with Special Ingredient Descriptions
• Beeradvocate beer styles

Commercial examples are professionally made beers that you can find and taste yourself to learn more about the specific styles. I tried to show examples that are most available in the largest area. Many of the examples in BJCP seem obscure to me (I haven’t heard of them). Whereas beeradvocate.com shows many more examples and it ranks the beers by number of ratings. I figure if it has a ton of reviews in Beeradvocate, probably it’s widely available enough that you could find a sample in your area. Sometimes I cross-referenced with Untappd to confirm that an example is still in production.

Thus, I used the following methods to pick 3 commercial examples for each beer style.

1. Look for examples on BJCP that are also shown on Beeradvocate.
2. Look for examples that I recognize as being widely available.
3. Try to pick examples that are listed high on Beeradvocate as having lots of ratings.

40 beer styles from Certified Beer Server Syllabus:

World Map by shaireproductions.com on flickr (CC BY 2.0) was modified from its original state.

Belgium and France

Gueuze (Lambic beers)

Fruit Lambic (Lambic beers)

Flanders Red Ale (Flanders ales)

Belgian Dubbel (Trappist and abbey ales)

Belgian Tripel (Trappist and abbey ales)

Belgian Blond Ale (Pale Belgian beers)

Belgian Golden Strong Ale (Pale Belgian beers)

Saison (Unique beers)

Witbier (Unique beers)

Britain and Ireland

Best Bitter (England, Pale ales)

English IPA (England, Pale ales)

British Brown Ale (England, Dark ales)

Sweet Stout (England, Dark ales)

Oatmeal Stout (England, Dark ales)

Wee Heavy (Scotland)

Irish Stout (Ireland)

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

German Pils (Pale lagers)

Munich Helles (Pale lagers)

Czech Premium Pale Lager (Pale lagers)

Märzen (Amber or dark lagers)

Helles Bock (Bock lagers)

Doppelbock (Bock lagers)

Weissbier (Wheat/rye ales)

Berliner Weisse (Wheat/rye ales)

Gose (Wheat/rye ales)

Kölsch (Rhine Valley ales)

United States

American Light Lager (Pale lagers)

American Wheat Beer (Pale ales)

American Blonde Ale (Pale ales)

American Pale Ale (Pale ales)

American Amber Ale (Pale ales)

American IPA (IPAs)

Double IPA (IPAs)

American Brown Ale (Dark ales)

American Porter (Dark ales)

American Stout (Dark ales)

Imperial Stout (Dark ales)

American Barleywine (Strong ales)

California Common (Historic styles)

International

International Pale Lager

Forget the insanity and just use the flashcards

Belgium and France

Lambic beers

Gueuze

Lambic beers

Belgium and France

C: Straw to Gold (SRM: 3-7)

PB: Low (IBU: 0-10)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 5.0-8.0%)

Examples: Cantillon, Classic Gueuze 100% Lambic; Drie Fonteinen, Oude Geuze; The Lost Abbey, Duck Duck Gooze.

Overall impression: A Belgian wheat beer with spontaneous fermentation. Complex, pleasantly sour/acidic, balanced, and pale.

History: Comes from a farmhouse tradition near Brussels that is several centuries old. Numbers are dwindling. Some modern versions have sugar added post-fermentation to make it more palatable to a wider audience.

Fruit Lambic (Kriek, Framboise, etc.)

Lambic beers

Belgium and France

C: Varies with fruit (SRM: 3-7)

PB: Low (IBU: 0-10)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 5.0-7.0%)

Examples: Cantillon, Fou’ Foune (apricots); Lindemans, Framboise Lambic (raspberries); Cantillon, Kriek (cherries).

Overall impression: A Belgian wheat beer with spontaneous fermentation. A lambic with fruit, not just a fruit beer. Complex, pleasantly sour/acidic, balanced, and pale.

History: Originated when blenders or pub owners added fruit to lambic or gueuze, to increase the variety of beers available.

Flanders ales

Flanders Red Ale

Flanders ales

Belgium and France

C: Red-Brown (SRM: 10-16)

PB: Low (IBU: 10-25)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 4.6-6.5%)

Examples: Verhaeghe, Duchesse de Bourgogne; Rodenbach, Grand Cru; Bocker N.V. / Omer Vander Ghinste, Cuvée Des Jacobins Rouge.

Overall impression: A Belgian-style ale that is the most similar of beers to red wine. It is complex with a range of sour flavor. Often aged for 1-2 years in large oak barrels.

History: Indigenous to West Flanders. Used to be common practice to blend mature beers with young beers to balance the flavor, but it’s now done mostly at only the larger breweries.

Trappist and abbey ales

Belgian Dubbel

Trappist and abbey ales

Belgium and France

C: Light amber to dark amber (SRM: 10-17)

PB: Low (IBU: 15-25)

Alcohol: Elevated (ABV: 6.0-7.6%)

Examples: Chimay, Première (Red); Ommegang, Abbey Ale; Westmalle, Trappist Dubbel.

Overall impression: A Belgian ale that is deep reddish, moderately strong, malty, and complex.

History: Developed in monasteries during the Middle Ages. Revived in the mid-1800s after Napoleonic Era difficulties to the beer market ended.

Belgian Tripel

Trappist and abbey ales

Belgium and France

C: Straw to Gold (SRM: 4.5-7)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 20-40)

Alcohol: High (ABV: 7.5-9.5%)

Examples: Unibroue, La Fin Du Monde; Victory, Golden Monkey; Westmalle, Trappist Tripel.

Overall impression: A Trappist ale that is pale, slightly spicy, and dry. Strong, high in alcohol, but doesn’t taste strong.

History: The Trappist monastery at Westmalle first made this popular.

Pale Belgian beers

Belgian Blond Ale

Pale Belgian beers

Belgium and France

C: Light gold to Gold (SRM: 4-7)

PB: Low (IBU: 15-30)

Alcohol: Elevated (ABV: 6.0-7.5%)

Examples: Leffe, Blonde; Affligem, Blonde; Aiken-Maes, Grimbergen Blonde.

Overall impression: A golden ale with subtle Belgian complexity. It is moderate-strength with slight malt flavor and dry finish.

History: Developed relatively recently for the fans of European Pils. It is becoming more popular and is now widely marketed and distributed.

Belgian Golden Strong Ale

Pale Belgian beers

Belgium and France

C: Straw to Gold (SRM: 3-6)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 22-35)

Alcohol: High to Very high (ABV: 7.5-10.5%)

Examples: Duvel, Duvel; Huyghe, Delirium Tremens; Russian River, Damnation.

Overall impression: A strong Belgian-style ale that is golden, complex, and effervescent.

History: The Duvel Moortgat Brewery originally developed this after World War II in response to the growing popularity of Pilsner.

Unique beers

Saison

Unique beers

Belgium and France

C: Light gold to Amber (SRM: 5-22)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 20-35)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 3.5-9.5%)

Examples: Boulevard, Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale; Dupont, Saison Dupont; Fantôme, Saison.

Overall impression: A medium to strong fruity/spicy ale, usually citrus and pepper. Refreshing with high carbonation and a very dry finish. Can range from pale to dark in color, and lower to high in alcohol.

History: Originally from Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. It is a seasonal summer style. Before refrigeration was common, it was brewed at the end of the cool season to last through the summer months. Sturdy enough to last for months, but not too strong, so it’s still refreshing and quenching in the summer. Small artisanal breweries now brew this year-round. Also known as “Farmhouse Ale.”

Witbier

Unique beers

Belgium and France

C: Straw to Light gold, made white by haze (SRM: 2-4)

PB: Low (IBU: 8-20)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.5-5.5%)

Examples: Allagash, White; Hoegaarden, Wit Blanche; Samuel Adams, Cold Snap.

Overall impression: A wheat-based ale that is refreshing, elegant, tasty and moderate in strength.

History: A 400-year-old beer style that lost popularity in the 1950s. Milkman, Pierre Celis later revived this at Hoegaarden. It has steadily grown in popularity since then.

Britain and Ireland

England

Pale ales

Best Bitter

England pale ales

Britain and Ireland

C: Gold to Amber (SRM: 8-16)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 25-40)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 3.8-4.6%)

Examples: Goose Island, Honker’s Ale; Rogue, Younger’s Special Bitter; Fuller’s, London Pride.

Overall impression: A session beer that is flavorful, yet refreshing. Some have more prominent maltiness, but not overriding the overall bitterness. Very drinkable. Emphasis is still on the bittering hop aromas, as opposed to the aggressive middle and late hopping in American Ales.

History: A “real ale,” originally served at cellar temperature, under no pressure (only gravity or hand-pump). Created around the end of the 1800s as a draught alternative to country-brewed pale ale. Became widespread after brewers could “Burtonize” their water to brew pale beers and use crystal malts to add a full and round palate.

English IPA

England pale ales

Britain and Ireland

C: Gold to Amber (SRM: 6-14)

PB: Assertive (IBU: 40-60)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 5.0-7.5%)

Examples: Brooklyn, East India Pale Ale; Meantime, India Pale Ale; Thornbridge, Jaipur IPA.

Overall impression: A pale ale that is hoppy and moderately strong. Features characteristics from English malt, hops and yeast. Less hop character and more malt flavor than American counterparts.

History: Brewed to survive the sea voyage from England to India in the 1700s and 1800s. Temperature extremes and rolling of the seas mellowed the beer during voyage. English pale ales came from the India Pale Ale style.

Dark ales

British Brown Ale

England dark ales

Britain and Ireland

C: Amber to Brown (SRM: 12-22)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 20-30)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 4.2-5.4%)

Examples: Newcastle, Brown Ale; Samuel Smith, Nut Brown Ale; Abita, Turbodog.

Overall impression: A malty, brown ale with light to heavy caramel character. Color varies from light to darker. No roasted flavors.

History: Different from historical brown ales. Modern brown ales originated in the 1900s as bottled beer.

Sweet Stout

England dark ales

Britain and Ireland

C: Dark brown to Black (SRM: 30-40)

PB: Low to Moderate (IBU: 20-40)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 4.0-6.0%)

Examples: Left Hand, Milk Stout; Young’s, Double Chocolate Stout; Samuel Adams, Cream Stout.

Overall impression: A very dark ale that is sweet, full-bodied, and slightly roasty. Often has strong coffee notes.

History: This English style of Stout was historically called “milk” or “cream” stout. Now it’s illegal to use those designations in England, but it’s acceptable elsewhere. The “milk” name is from using lactose (milk sugar) as a sweetener.

Oatmeal Stout

England dark ales

Britain and Ireland

C: Brown to Black (SRM: 22-40)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 25-40)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 4.2-5.9%)

Examples: Samuel Smith, Oatmeal Stout; Anderson Valley, Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout; Firestone Walker, Velvet Merlin.

Overall impression: A dark, full-bodied oatmeal ale, with roasty and malty flavors. Varies from sweet to dry. American versions will have more hoppy flavors and less fruity flavors.

History: A seasonal variation of the English sweet stout, with more nourishing oatmeal added. It emphasizes oatmeal for body and complexity, rather than using lactose for body and sweetness.

Scotland

Wee Heavy

Scotland

Britain and Ireland

C: Amber to Brown (SRM: 14-25)

PB: Low (IBU: 17-35)

Alcohol: Elevated to High (ABV: 6.5-10.0%)

Examples: Orkney, Skull Splitter; Belhaven, Wee Heavy; Traquair House, Traquair House Ale.

Overall impression: This beer is rich, malty and usually sweet, so it’s nice as a dessert. Varies in strength and maltiness. Usually has complex secondary malt flavors.

History: Originates from strong Scottish ales of the 1700s and 1800s. Sometimes called “Strong Scotch Ale.” This is a premium product usually made for export.

Ireland

Irish Stout

Ireland

Britain and Ireland

C: Brown to Black (SRM: 25-40)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 25-45)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 4.0-4.5%)

Examples: Guinness, Guinness Draught (also in cans); Murphy, Murphy’s Irish Stout; Carlow, O’Hara’s Irish Stout.

Overall impression: An ale that is very dark, roasty, bitter, and creamy.

History: Originally called a “Stout Porter,” it evolved as attempts to capitalize on the popularity of London porters. Had a fuller, creamier, more “stout” body and strength, and was always stronger than a porter.

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

Lagers

Pale Lagers

German Pils

Pale lagers

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Straw to Light gold (SRM: 2-5)

 andPB: Pronounced (IBU: 22-40)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.4-5.2%)

Examples: Tröegs, Sunshine Pils; Left Hand, Polestar Pilsner; Trumer, Pils.

Overall impression: A crisp, clean and refreshing beer. German malt and hops provide excellent head retention and floral aroma.

History: Copied the Czech Premium Pale Lager style, but adapted to brewing conditions in Germany.

Munich Helles

Pale lagers

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Straw to Light gold (SRM: 3-5)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 16-22)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.7-5.4%)

Examples: Weihenstephan, Weinhenstephaner Original; Surly, Hell; Löwenbräu, Original.

Overall impression: A German lager that is clean and malty with a soft, dry finish. Subtle hops add spicy, floral, or herbal flavors. More body and malt than Pils. Less malty-sweet and more pale than a Munich Dunkel.

History: Spaten brewery in Munich created this in 1894 to compete with Pale beers like Pilsner. Even today it is the most popular style in Southern Germany.

Czech Premium Pale Lager

Pale lagers

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Straw to Gold (SRM: 3.5-6)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 30-45)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 4.2-5.8%)

Examples: Plzensky Prazdroj, Pilsner Urquell; Sierra Nevada, Summerfest Lager; Budweiser, Budvar (Czechvar in the U.S.).

Overall impression: Crisp and complex. Well-balanced and refreshing.

History: Pilsner Urquell was first brewed in 1842, and still today in the Czech Republic it’s the only beer called a Pilsner.

Amber or dark

Märzen

Amber or dark lagers

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Gold to Dark amber (SRM: 8-17)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 18-24)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 5.8-6.3%)

Examples: Samuel Adams, Oktoberfest; Paulaner, Oktoberfestbier-Märzen; Gordon Biersch, Märzen.

Overall impression: Clean and rich with a toasty and bready malt character. The maltiness is usually described as soft, elegant and complex, but never too strong.

History: Commonly brewed in the spring, at the end of the traditional brewing season, then served in autumnal celebrations. Historic versions were darker and toasty. Modern versions in the U.S. are golden, often labeled Oktoberfest (Festbier).

Bocks

Helles Bock

Bock lagers

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Gold to Light amber (SRM: 6-11)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 23-35)

Alcohol: Elevated (ABV: 6.3-7.4%)

Examples: Rogue, Dead Guy Ale; Einbecker, Mai-Ur-Bock; Capital, Maibock.

Overall impression: A lager that is relatively pale, strong and malty, with a more prominent hop character than other bocks.

History: Sometimes called a Maibock. Developed relatively recently compared to the other bocks. Traditionally served in springtime and especially the month of May.

Doppelbock

Bock lagers

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Gold to Brown (SRM: 6-25)

PB: Low (IBU: 16-26)

Alcohol: Elevated to High (ABV: 7.0-10.0%)

Examples: Ayinger, Celebrator Doppelbock; Tröegs, Troegenator Double Bock; Paulaner, Salvator Doppel Bock.

Overall impression: A lager that is very strong and rich. Stronger, richer, and more full-bodied than a traditional bock or a Helles Bock. Dark ones have a more malty flavor. Paler ones are a little drier and have a little more hop flavor.

History: First brewed by monks in Munich. Historically, it was lower in alcohol, and they called it “liquid bread” because of the high sweetness and low alcohol levels. Consumers called it “doppel (double) bock.”

Ales

Wheat/rye ales

Weissbier

Wheat/rye ales

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Straw to Gold (SRM: 2-6)

PB: Low (IBU: 8-15)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.3-5.6%)

Examples: Weihenstephaner, Hefeweissbier; Sierra Nevada, Kellerweis Hefeweizen; Paulaner, Hefe-Weizen Natural Wheat.

Overall impression: A wheat-based ale that is pale, spicy, fruity, and refreshing. Commonly features banana and clove flavors and aromas.

History: Originated in Bavaria (Southern Germany) as a traditional wheat-based ale. Served especially during summer, but widely produced year-round.

Berliner Weisse

Wheat/rye ales

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Straw (SRM: 2-3)

PB: Low (IBU: 3-8)

Alcohol: Lower (ABV: 2.8-3.8%)

Examples: Dogfish Head, Festina Pêche; Bell’s, Oarsman; The Bruery, Hottenroth.

Overall impression: A pale, refreshing, highly-carbonated wheat beer that is sour. Sour aromas and sour flavor provide balance in place of hops.

History: Originally a regional specialty of Berlin, which Napoleon’s troops called “the Champagne of the North.” Becoming more rare in Germany, but American craft breweries are producing it more.

Gose

Wheat/rye ales

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Straw to Light gold (SRM: 3-4)

PB: Low (IBU: 5-12)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 4.2-4.8%)

Examples: Anderson Valley, The Kimmie, The Yink, & The Holy Gose; Sierra Nevada, Otra Vez; Samuel Adams, Verloren.

Overall impression: A wheat ale that is tart, fruity, and highly carbonated. Bright flavors, including coriander and salt.

History: Originated in the Middle Ages in the town of Goslar, Germany on the Gose River. Popularity declined after World War II so much that it wasn’t made from 1966 until the 1980s.

Rhine Valley ales

Kölsch

Rhine Valley ales

Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria

C: Straw to Light gold (SRM: 3.5-5)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 18-30)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.4-5.2%)

Examples: Goose Island, Summertime; Ballast Point, California Kölsch; Reissdorf, Reissdorf Kölsch.

Overall impression: Clean, crisp and delicately balanced. Usually has subtle fruit flavors and aromas. There is a subdued maltiness with pleasant, refreshing crisp finish.

History: The Kölsch Konvention limits the use of the name to the 20 or so breweries in and around Cologne (Kiln), Germany. Defined as a “light, highly attenuated, hop-accentuated, clear top-fermenting Vollbier.”

United States of America

Pale lagers

American Light Lager

Pale lagers

United States (USA)

C: Straw (SRM: 2-3)

PB: Low (IBU: 8-12)

Alcohol: Lower (ABV: 2.8-4.2%)

Examples: Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light; Coors, Coors Light; Miller, Miller Lite.

Overall impression: Very refreshing and thirst quenching with very light body and very high carbonation. May seem watery.

History: In the 1940s, Coors briefly made a light lager. In the 1960s, Rheingold tried to appeal to diet-conscious consumers. In the 1970s Miller used the same recipe and made it popular among sports fans. Since the 1990s, this style has been the largest seller in the U.S.

Pale ales

American Wheat Beer

Pale ales

United States (USA)

C: Straw to Gold (SRM: 3-6)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 15-30)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 4.0-5.5%)

Examples: Bell’s, Oberon Ale; Samuel Adams, Summer Ale; Boulevard, Unfiltered Wheat Beer.

Overall impression: A refreshing wheat beer, sometimes with a “fluffy” mouthfeel. Some versions have more hop and less yeast character than German versions.

History: First popularized in the U.S. in the 1980s by Widmer. It is modeled after the German weissbier, but with cleaner yeast and more hops.

American Blonde Ale

Pale ales

United States (USA)

C: Straw to Gold (SRM: 3-6)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 15-28)

Alcohol: Lower to Normal (ABV: 3.8-5.5%)

Examples: Victory, Summer Love; Kona, Big Wave Golden Ale; Deschutes, Twighlight Summer Ale.

Overall impression: A malt-oriented style that is easy-drinking and approachable.

History: Currently produced by many American microbreweries and pubs. Varies by region. For example, more assertive on the West Coast. Usually designed as an “entry-level” craft beer.

American Pale Ale

Pale ales

United States (USA)

C: Light gold to Light amber (SRM: 5-10)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 30-50)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.5-6.2%)

Examples: Sierra Nevada, Pale Ale; Oskar Blues, Dale’s Pale Ale; Firestone Walker, Pale 31.

Overall impression: Refreshing. Hoppy with supporting malt.

History: The modern American version of the English pale ale. Reflects indigenous ingredients and is usually lighter in color, cleaner in fermentation byproducts, and has less caramel flavors.

American Amber Ale

Pale ales

United States (USA)

C: Light amber to Dark amber (SRM: 10-17)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 25-40)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.5-6.2%)

Examples: Tröegs, Hopback Amber Ale; North Coast, Ruedrich’s Red Seal Ale; Anderson Valley, Boont Amber Ale.

Overall impression: Similar to American Pale Ale, but is usally darker in color and has more body, more caramel flavor. The balance is usually more towards malt than hops, but sometimes the hop rates are significant.

History: Sometimes called Red Ale. Originated from the American Pale Ale in the hop-loving Northern California and Pacific Northwest, then spread nationwide.

India Pale Ales (IPAs)

American IPA

IPAs

United States (USA)

C: Gold to Amber (SRM: 6-14)

PB: Assertive (IBU: 40-70)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 5.5-7.5%)

Examples: Bell’s, Two Hearted Ale; Dogfish Head, 60 Minute IPA; Anchor, Liberty Ale.

Overall impression: An American pale ale that is noticeably hoppy and bitter, and moderately strong.

History: In 1975, Anchor made the first modern American IPA with their Liberty Ale. American ingredients and attitude go into brewing this American version of the historical English style.

Double IPA

IPAs

United States (USA)

C: Gold to Dark amber (SRM: 6-14)

PB: Highly assertive (IBU: 60-120)

Alcohol: High (ABV: 7.5-10.0%)

Examples: Dogfish Head, 90 Minute IPA; Russian River, Pliny the Elder; Firestone Walker, Double Jack.

Overall impression: A pale ale that is intensely hoppy and very strong, but without a lot of maltiness or the deeper malt flavors of American barleywine. It is strongly hopped, but clean, lacking harshness. Drinkable, not so heavy that it’s just for sipping.

History: A recent American innovation from the 1990s, “pushing the envelope” on bitterness to satisfy the desire of hop heads. Sometimes called “imperial,” it simply implies a stronger IPA; “double,” “extra,” “extreme,” or other similar adjectives would work.

Dark ales

American Brown Ale

Dark ales

United States (USA)

C: Dark amber to Black (SRM: 18-35)

PB: Moderate (IBU: 20-30)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.3-6.2%)

Examples: Big Sky, Moose Drool Brown Ale; Smuttynose, Old Brown Dog Ale; Brooklyn, Brown Ale.

Overall impression: A brown beer that is hoppy and strongly flavored. Like the English brown ale, but hoppier. Sometimes has the citrus-accented hop presence, characteristic of American hops.

History: Originated by American homebrewers. It is similar to American pale ales and American amber ales, although the hop bitterness and finish is balanced with more caramel and chocolate flavors. Most commercial versions are not as aggressive as the original homebrewed versions or some modern craft brewed examples.

American Porter

Dark ales

United States (USA)

C: Brown to Black (SRM: 22-40)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 25-50)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 4.8-6.5%)

Examples: Founders, Founders Porter; Great Lakes, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter; Deschutes, Black Butte Porter.

Overall impression: A substantial beer that is dark and malty, complex and flavorful.

History: A modern craft beer originating from weaker, pre-prohibition porters or English Porters.

American Stout

Dark ales

United States (USA)

C: Dark brown to Black (SRM: 30-40)

PB: Assertive (IBU: 35-75)

Alcohol: Normal to Elevated (ABV: 5.0-7.0%)

Examples: Deschutes, Obsidian Stout; Sierra Nevada, Stout; Avery, Out of Bounds Stout.

Overall impression: A dark ale that is strong, roasted, bitter, and hoppy. Varies from medium- to full-body. Hops are more pronounced than in English export stouts.

History: A modern craft beer originated from the English or Irish stout, but with American hops and more of them.

Imperial Stout

Dark ales

United States (USA)

C: Dark brown to Black (SRM: 30-40)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 50-90)

Alcohol: High to Very high (ABV: 8.0-12.0%)

Examples: North Coast, Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout; Bell’s, Expedition Stout; Great Divide, Yeti Imperial Stout.

Overall impression: A big dark ale with intense flavors. Roasty, fruity, and sweet with a bitter aftertaste and prominent presence of alcohol. Typically has dark fruit flavors combining with roasty, burnt, or almost tar-like flavors.

History: Historically brewed in England with high ABV and heavily hopped for export to Russia. The name comes from the alleged popularity with the “Russian Imperial Court.” Today it is even more popular in the U.S., where the style has wide variation.

Strong ales

American Barleywine

Strong ales

United States (USA)

C: Light amber to Light brown (SRM: 10-19)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 50-100)

Alcohol: High to Very high (ABV: 8.0-12.0%)

Examples: Sierra Nevada, Bigfoot; Great Divide, Old Ruffian; Avery, Hog Heaven.

Overall impression: An American version of the richest and strongest of the English ales. It is well-hopped, but not so much that it’s unbalanced. Has a very long finish from the high alcohol strength and hop bitterness.

History: This is usually a brewery’s strongest ale. In recent years, many examples often show a vintage (production year). Usually aged a bit before being released. Often released in winter or especially during the winter holiday season.

Historic ales

California Common

Historic ales

United States (USA)

C: Light amber to Amber (SRM: 10-14)

PB: Pronounced (IBU: 30-45)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.5-5.5%)

Examples: Anchor, Anchor Steam Beer; Widmer Brothers, Columbia Common; Steamworks, Steam Engine Lager.

Overall impression: A slightly fruity beer with strong, grainy maltiness, and toasty and caramel flavors. Typically showcases the signature character of Northern Brewer hops, definitely not modern American (citrusy) hops.

History: This style is an American West Coast original, narrowly defined around the standard: Anchor Steam. It is fermented with a lager yeast that thrives at the cooler end of temperatures where ales ferment. Because there was no refrigeration, they traditionally used large, shallow, open fermenters to utilize the cool ambient temperatures in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Other regions

International

International Pale Lager

International

Other regions

C: Straw to gold (SRM: 2-6)

 PB: Moderate (IBU: 18-25)

Alcohol: Normal (ABV: 4.6-6.0%)

Examples: Grupo Modelo, Corona Extra (Mexico); Heineken Nederland, Heineken (Netherlands); Desnoes & Geddes Limited, Red Stripe (Jamaica).

Overall impression: Very refreshing and thirst quenching with very light body and very high carbonation.

History: Outside USA, large industrial breweries created imitations of the highly popular American lager.

Conclusion

Wow. I sure was working on this section a long time. It is definitely the most intensive so far, there’s so much information. I’m glad I took so long with it, I was able to better wrap my head around it and I think the information and the notes are better organized this way.

If I had to do it again, I would start with this section on beer styles. There is a lot of information to memorize, so it would be good to practice these flashcards the whole time. Plus, a couple people who already took the exam told me to sort of focus on the beer styles.

Flashcards for this section

This whole lesson is put into flashcards. That’s going to be the best way to learn this material. Beer is not so much about reading. It’s a sensory experience. Holding the cards and seeing the imagery on the cards will help reinforce the information.

The flashcards for each of the beer styles above have been pre-formatted into a PDF so you can print them onto perforated sheets of business cards compatible with Avery 8371.

Or just print them onto regular printer paper and cut them out with scissors.

Either way, this is going to be daunting. Some of the data is minute, it has a lot of subtleties, so I better start reviewing these flashcards every day while I continue studying the other sections!

Get your flashcards now: Beer Style Flashcards

The post 013. History, characteristics, and flavor attributes of styles by region appeared first on Beer Exam School.

Beer styles can be measured qualitatively and quantitatively. Today’s lesson describes the different ways to measure the characteristics of a beer, and understand its style.

Best in Show by capnvynl on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

This isn’t psychology. I mean, who’s to say why people put things into categories.

Cars, trucks, SUVs. Apartments, condos, single-detached homes. Men and women. Dogs and cats. Ales and lagers.

Categories help us understand things and appreciate things. Beer styles are a way to understand the beer in hand.

Reading material for this section was found in the Certified Beer Server syllabus and the following sources.

Discussion of quantitative assessments come mostly from the BJCP 2015 Style Guidelines; Beer, Mead, and Cider Guidelines with Special Ingredient Descriptions.

Discussion of qualitative assessments, especially pertaining to beer character, come mostly from:

• Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide by Michael Jackson
• Tasting Beer; An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink by Randy Mosher

  

Knowledge requirements: qualitative measurements versus quantitative measurements

I first learned the terms qualitative and quantitative in university science classes. It’s a way to differentiate between a measurement that is subjective from a measurement that is objective.

Qualitative measurement is subjective to the observer. It’s usually described with adjectives. What one person calls brown, another might call beige. Therefore, a quality is descriptive and can be perceived slightly differently from person to person.

On the other hand, quantitative measurement is objective. It helps me to think of the word “quantity,” like a weight or a measurement. It’s quantifiable. Quantitative descriptors usually come in the form of numbers. Therefore, a quantitative measurement is the same for everyone.

We can say qualitatively that a person is tall. We can say quantitatively that she is 5’11”.

So it is in beer styles, they can be measured qualitatively and quantitatively.

NOTE: For all of the beer styles that we’ll be following, please keep in mind that these styles are a general representation of most beers of the given style. That is, most beers in a style will follow these parameters and ranges that we’ll discuss, but there will be some outliers, some beers that fall slightly outside of the strict parameters for a given style.

It’s a spectrum, it’s fluid, it’s artistic, and it’s open to some interpretation by the individual brewers.

The four parameters that define beer style: Color, perceived bitterness, alcohol content, and character

As described earlier, the Certified Beer Server syllabus goes by the BJCP Style Guidelines for beer styles. Allegedly, the BJCP Guidelines don’t change as often as other guidelines.

BJCP Style Guidelines have lots of prose describing each style, sometimes half a page or more. In the next lesson, we’ll get into the descriptions for each specific style. For now, we’re just outlining how the descriptions are measured.

I’m changing the order of these parameters from that shown in the syllabus. I present them in the order we perceive them when approaching a beer.

In fact, I’m going out a little further on that limb; I’m grouping this study not by measurement type, but by the different parameters. It makes more sense to me to look at one parameter at a time, and understand both qualitative and quantitative measurements for that parameter.

Parameters of beer styles fall into these categories:

1. Color
2. Perceived bitterness
3. Alcohol content

Often these parameters will be abbreviated as follows:

• C – color
• PB – perceived bitterness
• ABV – alcohol content (alcohol by volume)

These 3 parameters each can be measured qualitatively or quantitatively.

A fourth parameter, however—character— can be measured only qualitatively. That is, character has no quantitative measurements.

Color

The first thing we will notice when approaching a beer is its visual color.

BJCP uses 12 qualitative color categories and corresponds them to the quantitative “Standard Reference Method” (SRM) scale. For this exam, we need to know just the following 5 color descriptors:

1. Straw
2. Gold
3. Amber
4. Brown
5. Black

Each of the qualitative color descriptors above correlates to a quantitative range on the SRM scale. We don’t need to know SRM values for the Certified Beer Server exam, but I’m including the information in case you want to get nerdy about. I like to get nerdy about it.

SRM is often used as a quantitative measurement of beer color. It’s measured on a scale of 1-40+.

BJCP Style Guidelines describes SRM as “a measure of beer color or density more than hue/tint.”

A friend from the Beer Color Laboratories sent me a Beer Color Reference guide. The transparent card has a gradient of colors that you can compare to any beer and gauge the SRM number. It’s a handy way to hone your visual skills and beer knowledge.

Anyway, he says, “SRM is actually a measure of ‘darkness’ at one wavelength and not a good representation of ‘color’ by any means. You need to gather color data for many beers… to get a representative color for beers at those [SRM] values.”

Beer Color Reference by Beer Color Laboratories is a handy tool for measuring the SRM of beer.

How we perceive the color and the hue/tint of a beer can be affected by a number of factors such as lighting and backdrop. Therefore, it’s very difficult to correlate qualitative measurements of color directly to quantitative measurements.

Just know that beer can be classified by color, and by darkness.

Five color descriptors and an example of each:

Check out the Wikipedia article on Standard Reference Method for a wider range of color representations on the screen.

The SRM ranges shown above are from the BJCP Style Guidelines 2008, but generalized for the 5 descriptors in the Certified Beer Server syllabus.

Perceived bitterness

After observing a beer’s color, let’s see how it tastes.

Actually, I like to describe aroma second, because, after looking at a beer, we’ll smell it before we taste it. But aroma has only a qualitative measurement, so the Certified Beer Server syllabus describes it in the “character” descriptor. Therefore, we’ll describe aroma below when we talk about beer character.

Flavor is also so varied and nuanced that is has mostly qualitative descriptors. We discuss a variety of flavors in the character section.

In the meantime, let’s cut straight to one aspect of flavor that is very popular in beer: bitterness.

Certified Beer Server syllabus qualitatively generalizes perceived bitterness with the following 5 categories of bitterness:

1. Low
2. Moderate
3. Pronounced
4. Assertive
5. Highly assertive

Each of the qualitative descriptors above correlates to a quantitative range on the International Bitterness Units (IBU) scale. The scale for IBU ranges from 0-100+. We don’t need to know IBU values for the Certified Beer Server exam, but I’m including the information in case you want to further advance your knowledge.

Popular Science has a pretty informative explanation of IBUs. It demystifies and debunks a lot of misinformation that I’ve heard going around. Basically, IBUs measures the concentration of bittering compounds in beer.

Not all tongues are the same. Bitterness can be perceived differently from person to person.

Additionally, perceived bitterness doesn’t correlate directly to IBUs. The way we perceive bitterness is affected by the amount of malt in the beer, so if you have 2 beers with the same IBU, the more malty beer won’t seem as bitter.

Just know that beer can be classified by perceived bitterness and by actual bitterness.

Five descriptors of bitterness and their corresponding IBU:

The IBU ranges shown above are from BJCP 2015 Style Guidelines, but generalized for the 5 descriptors in the Certified Beer Server syllabus.

Alcohol content

While still tasting the beer, we can perceive a general feeling for the amount of alcohol in beer. The amount of alcohol can vary from beer to beer.

Qualitatively, we can use the following 5 descriptors of alcohol content:

1. Lower
2. Normal
3. Elevated
4. High
5. Very high

Alcohol content can also be quantitatively measured. There are two measurements, both are expressed in percent:

• Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
• Alcohol By Weight (ABW)

Alcohol By Volume is the more common measurement.

Five descriptors for alcohol content and their corresponding ABV:

The ABV ranges shown above are from the BJCP 2015 Style Guidelines, but generalized for the 5 descriptors in the Certified Beer Server Syllabus.

Beer character

Another assessment of beer is the beer character. This one is qualitative, but has no quantitative measurements. It’s sort of the overall description of a beer.

For this exam, we’ll cover 6 parameters of beer character.

Here they are in the order that you will experience them:

1. Appearance
2. Aroma
3. Flavor
4. Perceived bitterness
5. Mouthfeel
6. Aftertaste

We’ll discuss how these are perceived and how to evaluate these later on in section III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation. For now, we’ll just try and give basic definitions.

Appearance – For appearance, we’re just trying to get an overall visual assessment of the beer before you really get into the smell and taste of it. Color is kind of part of it, but that’s covered more in the qualitative measurements above.

Get an overall impression of the beer from any visual cues you can pick up such as color, hue, clarity, or viscosity.

Aroma – “Whether the drinker sniffs or not,” says Michael Jackson, “much of what we think we taste is actually experienced through our potent and evocative sense of smell.”

We can’t list all of the aromas. Randy Mosher says humans can perceive 10,000 different aromas.

Flavor – Different kinds of flavor include sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami (“deliciousness” can also be perceived as meatiness), and fat.

According to Mosher, fat is “the most recently discovered member of the taste family, having been added only with the discovery of its receptor in 2005.” He also admits that “it’s not clear if this receptor plays any role at all in beer tasting, as beer is a fat-free product.”

Beyond that, the variety of flavors that can be perceived in beer is limited only by experience and imagination. Michal Jackson’s Great Beer Guide has a “Lexicon of flavors & aromas” that gives a good variety with explanations of why we perceive these flavors in beer.

For example, the perception of cloves in beer, he explains, “arises from phenols created in fermentation.”

Perceived bitterness – Bitter flavors are nature’s way of protecting us from food poisoning. For most people, bitterness is an acquired taste. In beer, we consider bitterness as a good thing.

Hops provide beer’s bitterness as well as flowery aromas and flavors.

On the other hand, astringent bitterness can signal a bad beer.

Mouthfeel – Mouthfeel can encompass a variety of sensations including temperature, carbonation, viscosity, and cooling or burning sensations.

Common mouthfeel sensations from beer are described as crispness or dryness, palate fullness, richness, oiliness, and more.

Aftertaste – Aftertaste refers to perceptions after you have swallowed the beer.

If you swallow a beer and it’s just gone, it doesn’t have any aftertaste.

On the other hand, flavors, aromas, and mouthfeel can linger or even change long after the beer is swallowed.

I love what Jackson says about tasting beer:

“Enjoyment of beer does not demand some special tasting talent. All it requires is an open mind, an interest in beer, and an eagerness to find aromas and flavors without fear of mockery.”

Summary

This lesson is really important. The information presented in this lesson is the building blocks for the next few lessons. It’s really important to memorize this information. It will make the next few lessons a lot easier to understand and absorb.

In the next section we’re really going to hit beer styles hard. We’ll pull together everything we learned from the last two chapters and get cozy with history, characteristics, and flavor attributes of styles by region.

It’s a big section. Let’s do this!

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

There are a lot of flashcards for this section. Some of it seems redundant, because it’s a lot of intricate details presented in different ways. I did it this way to help us better learn these little details that will be so important for our future ability to understand beer styles.

What’s the difference between qualitative measurements and quantitative measurements?

What 4 parameters define beer style?

1. Color (C)
2. Perceived bitterness (PB)
3. Alcohol content (ABV)
4. Character

What does SRM stand for?

Standard Reference Method is a quantitative measurement for color.

What does IBU stand for?

International Bitterness Units is a quantitative measurement for bitterness.

What does ABV stand for?

Alcohol By Volume is a quantitative measurement for alcohol content. It is expressed in percent.

Which of the 4 parameters that define beer style can be measured only qualitatively, not quantitatively?

Beer character has only qualitative measurements, not quantitative measurements.

5 descriptors of color

1. Straw
2. Gold
3. Amber
4. Brown
5. Black

SRM range for straw color

SRM: 2-4

SRM range for gold color

SRM: 6-7

SRM range for amber color

SRM: 10-18

SRM range for brown color

SRM: 19-30

SRM range for black color

SRM: 35-40

5 color descriptors with corresponding SRM number and a style example for each

5 descriptors of perceived bitterness

1. Low
2. Moderate
3. Pronounced
4. Assertive
5. Highly assertive

IBU range for low perceived bitterness

IBUs: 0-30

IBU range for moderate perceived bitterness

IBUs: 20-40

IBU range for pronounced perceived bitterness

IBUs: 35-75

IBU range for assertive perceived bitterness

IBUs: 50-100

IBU range for highly assertive perceived bitterness

IBUs: 80-120

5 bitterness descriptors with corresponding IBUs and a style example for each.

5 descriptors of alcohol content

1. Lower
2. Normal
3. Elevated
4. High
5. Very high

ABV range for lower alcohol content

ABV: <4.5%

ABV range for normal alcohol content

ABV: 4.5-6.0%

ABV range for elevated alcohol content

ABV: 6.1-7.5%

ABV range for high alcohol content

ABV: 7.6-10.0%

ABV range for very high alcohol content

ABV: >10.0%

5 alcohol content descriptors with corresponding ABV and a style example for each

5 qualitative descriptors for color, perceived bitterness, and alcohol content

6 parameters of beer character

1. Appearance
2. Aroma
3. Flavor
4. Perceived bitterness
5. Mouthfeel
6. Aftertaste

The post 012. Style parameters appeared first on Beer Exam School.

Beer is perhaps more varied than wine. BJCP Style Guidelines lists more than a hundred different styles of beer, many of which have been around for centuries—or longer! And each of those styles have stories as varied as the cultures from which they originated.

I had a really difficult time knowing what to study for this section. The syllabus isn’t very descriptive about what we should know.

Primary reading material for this section was found in Tasting Beer; an insider’s guide to the world’s greatest drink by Randy Mosher. Much of the materials in this lesson is a book report on Tasting Beer, chapter 1, “The Story of Beer.”

Don’t really focus on memorizing key details in this section, but rather think of it as an overall understanding of how beer styles evolved differently in different areas.

Anyway, this section seems mostly about the historical origins of styles. In the next section we’ll learn the different parameters to evaluate style. After that, we’ll get to know approximately half of the beer styles defined by BJCP.

Gosh, I’m really starting to doubt my knowledge of this section. We’ll see how I do when exam time comes.

The historical development of beer styles

The development of beer styles was first driven by available ingredients, equipment and water.

Initial drivers of beer style

Beer “has ten thousand years of history, with gods, goddesses, heroes, and songs to celebrate its glories,” writes Mosher.

The first known documentation of beer was around 3000 BC, from the Sumerians who had “an expansive vocabulary of ingredients, brewing vessels, and beer types.”

From then on, cultures throughout the eastern hemisphere had a wide variety of beers made from their predominant local ingredients.

Scrapings from a Bronze Age burial, for example, show ingredients of barley, honey, cranberries, meadowsweet and bog myrtle.

The Dyonesians had poppy pods, and the Scythians had hemp. The Finns and Hungarians had juniper, while heather was common in the British Isles.

Hops weren’t introduced until around the year 1000 in Bremen, Germany.

Elsewhere around the region, brewers were using “gruit.” The contents of this herbal mixture are mostly unknown. The main ingredient, however, was bog myrtle, an herb with flavor characteristics not unlike hops.

While the church required brewers to buy and use “gruit” in their beer, Bremen was further away, beyond the reach of the church.

Hops have a great flavor that offsets the malty-sweetness of beer. (We’ll learn more about that in part III.) Hops also act as a preservative in beer, keeping beer good for months rather than weeks. So this new hopped beer was able to be exported to other areas. By 1600, all English beer and ale had hops and eventually hoppy beer was the norm in all of northern Europe.

It’s interesting that, according to Mosher: There is a line south of which grapes grow well and becomes the dominant drink. North of this, ancient Romans encountered enthusiastic beer drinkers at the fringes of their empire.

Even after beer gained popularity across northern Europe, “parts south, such as Italy and Spain, had little or no beer culture.”

Brewing dominated in German states, Flanders, the Netherlands and England. Beer styles developed and evolved in these areas, and gave way to all the classic styles that we know today.

Several factors that changed beer styles

While geographic characteristics played a role in the development of beer, styles were later refined and differentiated by technology, regulation, culture, and consumer appeal.

Technology

Public works projects in England in the 1600s opened access to distant markets and ingredients for beer.

Industrial developments of the 1700s and 1800s made great advancements in brewing.

Steam engines were developed for mines around 1700, and many decades later they were adapted to make large-scale brewing possible.

Also in the late 1700s, the thermometer was adopted for brewing, followed not much later by the hydrometer.

In the mid-1800s brewers were starting to use single-cell yeast cultures. By the mid-1900s it was the norm.

Artificial refrigeration was first used in a commercial brewery in Germany in 1873.

Various equipment introduced throughout the 1800s greatly improved roasting of malts.

Louis Pasteur’s “Études sur la Bière” (Studies on Beer), published in 1876, demonstrated the causes of—and prescribed methods for preventing—beer spoilage. The work had widespread affects across the beer world.

Regulation and taxation

Different types of regulation affected beer development in different ways. Perhaps the two most well-know beer regulations are the German beer purity law of 1516 called Reinheitsgebot, and Prohibition in the U.S.

Depending on the source, the Reinheitsgebot was either a food safety law or a famine preventative measure. Perhaps either was an inside racket.

Modern-day northern Germany was rich with varied beer styles. When Bavaria became part of Germany, beer styles were restricted by the Reinheitsgebot. Many local beer styles were lost. A few, like Kölsch, Berliner Weisse, and Düsseldorfer Alt, survived and are still popular today. Others, like Grätzer, Lichtenhainer, and Broyhan, barely survived the passage of time.

Lucky for us all, Belgium never had a beer purity law. Probably Affligem Nöel is the first beer that I really fell in love with. Even to this day, I have an infatuation for that beer, but I digress.

Beer styles in Belgium have never lost the use of ancient spices, herbs, and sugars.

“Coriander, orange peel, cumin, grains of paradise (a pungent, peppery spice), and many kinds of sugars find their way into Belgian beers, often in quite subtle ways,” writes Mosher. “For a beer lover seeking new experiences, Belgium is a wonderland of the highest order.”

As for Prohibition, the U.S. is not the only country to have outlawed beer. There’s not enough space here to talk about it comprehensively.

Prohibition in the U.S. started in 1920 and ended in 1933. Before Prohibition, there were thousands of breweries in the U.S. There was a resurgence of breweries after Prohibition, but consolidation reduced the number to a low of 44 breweries in 1979.

Now we’re back to more than seven thousand breweries—and quite a diversity of beer! But if we had the number of breweries per capita that there was before Prohibition, we would have more than 30,000 breweries in the U.S. today.

Culture and consumer appeal

Pilsner was invented in Plzen, Bavaria and made that little town famous. Limited competition brought about by the Reinheitsgebot helped solidify Pilsner’s widespread popularity.

Various accounts describe the rise in popularity of Porter and Pale Ale. Whatever the case, England’s influence was broad. Many of the practices and preferences in England spread across the world via the British Empire and beyond.

British colonists brought their love of beer to North America. But, according to Mosher, malt didn’t grow well in much of the colonies. Alternatives such as molasses, dried pumpkin, and walnut tree chips were used, but not with much success. By 1800, spirits were consumed 10 times as much as beer in volume. In terms of alcohol, it was about 200 times as much!

The frontier was scarce of infrastructure. It was difficult to transport ingredients or the finished product across long distances over land. So whiskey, rum, and other spirits continued to be much more popular than beer in America.

However, America wasn’t completely devoid of beer. Wherever German or Dutch immigrants were, there was beer, too. American Dreams of beer grandeur come from names that are recognizable to this day: Pabst, Busch, Schlitz.

Summary

Regional beer styles were initially established as a result of local ingredients, equipment, and water.

Beer styles evolved differently by region based on technology, regulation, culture, and consumer appeal.

As commerce became more globalized, beer styles spread across the world.

Some styles have remained pretty much the same for decades.

Other beer styles evolve with advancements in technology and science.

In the next section we’ll get into the parameters that define the different beer styles, to see what sets them apart from each other.

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

3 primary drivers in the development of beer styles

1. Available ingredients
2. Equipment
3. Technology

When was the first known documentation of beer?

The first known documentation of beer was around 3000 B.C. with the Sumerians.

When and where were hops introduced into beer?

Hops were introduced into beer around the year 1000 in Bremen, Germany.

In what part(s) of the world did beer dominate and become the styles we know today?

Beer gained popularity across Northern Europe in Germany, Flanders, Netherlands, and England.

What were 4 primary factors in the refining of beer styles?

1. Technology
2. Regulation
3. Culture
4. Consumer appeal

2 scientific instruments that were adopted in brewing in the 1700s

1. Thermometer
2. Hydrometer

What major advancement in brewing happened in the 1800s?

Single-yeast cultures were first used in beer in the mid-1800s.

By the mid-1900s it was the norm.

When and where was refrigeration first used in commercial brewing?

Refrigeration was first used in commercial brewing in 1873 in Germany.

What was published in 1876?

Louis Pasteur’s “Études sur la Bière” (Studies in Beer) was published in 1876.

It had widespread affects across the beer world because it demonstrated the causes of beer spoilage and how to prevent it.

What is the Reinheitsgebot?

Reinheitsgebot is the German beer purity law of 1516.

It limited the ingredients allowed in beer.

Many beer styles from Northern Germany were lost from the Reinheitsgebot.

What did Prohibition do to the number of breweries in the U.S.?

Before Prohibition, there were thousands of breweries in the U.S.

After Prohibition, there was a low of 44 breweries in 1979.

Where was Pilsner invented?

Pilsner beer style was invented in Plzen, Bavaria (Germany).

Where were Porter and Pale Ale invented?

Porter and Pale Ale beer styles were invented in England.

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