A Short Introduction to Beer

As the new school year is beginning, I thought a quick primer on beer would be appropriate. First, beer is at the same time “just beer”, and anything but. By this I mean that beer is just a drink, but like most things is more complicated than it appears at first; Webster’s dictionary defines beer as “an alcoholic beverage usually made from malted cereal grain, flavored with hops, and brewed by slow fermentation,” which covers an aweful lot of ground. So to begin with, the basic ingredients of beer are malt, hops, water and yeast. All styles of beer are made from recipes using different types and quantities of these same four ingredients, although occasionally other things are added as well.

The first thing you need to understand about beer is the fermentation process, as this leads to the classifications most people are familiar with. Fermentation is the process by which yeast consume sugars and excrete alcohol, and variables such as the strain of yeast and the temperature play a huge role in the end product. There are three main classifications for beers based upon yeast; ales, lagers and spontaneously fermented beers, which are less common and will be dealt with separately. Modern ale yeast are quite adaptable, but the rule of thumb is that these yeasts ferment at higher temperatures, namely 60-70°F, while lager yeast ferment from 50-60°F or even lower. The differences in temperature and yeast strain yield very different taste profiles which can be overly generalized as follows; lagers are clean, with the yeast contributing little flavor to the beer, and the fermentation is carried out near the bottom of the fermentation tank. In ales, on the other hand, the yeast hangs out near the top of the fermenter and at the temperatures tend to produce chemical compounds such as esters which contribute to the flavor of the beer. Wheat beers form a special subset of ales which are traditionally left unfiltered; the yeast itself is consumed with the beer and contributes the bready character to these beers. Ale yeast can be fermented at lager temperatures and vice versa, which tend to blend these properties and result in hybrid beers such as the Kolsch and California Common styles.

The second ingredient is the grain used to make the beer. Malt is a term used for grain that has been allowed to germinate and then dried out. This process allows the grain to produce enzymes that convert the starches to simple sugars during the mashing process. There are a huge number of different types of malt, as well as specialty grains that are roasted instead of malted, all of which contribute different flavors. One item of special note here is that the roasting of the grains is actually what controls the color of the beer; beers that contain a lot of roasted or kilned malt are darker (think Guiness) because the roasting process chars some of the sugars so that they cannot be fermented. One of the common myths is that all dark beers are thick and “heavy.” In fact, much of the mouthfeel of beers actually contributed by proteins instead of charred sugars, which is why Guinness actually has such a thin mouthfeel while it is still quite dark (the creaminess comes in large part from the use of Nitrogen instead of Carbon Dioxide as the compressed gas). Malt can be made using virtually any grain, although barley is the most common. Wheat bears, obviously, contain a substantial amount of wheat malt (but generally not all wheat. Most homebrew recipes I’ve seen call for 50-60% wheat, with the balance barley), and rye is an increasing popular grain due to the slightly spicy character it imparts. Other starch sources can be used, such as unmalted barley, wheat and rye, corn, refined sugars and, unfortunately, rice. I’m a bit disparaging toward rice because it tends to contribute very little to the taste of the beer while increasing the alcohol content, yielding beers like Budweiser.

The third major ingredient is hops. Hops are actually the female flowers of humulus lupulus, and impart both the bitter taste and much of the aroma to beer. The active ingredients are alpha acids, beta acids and various essential oils, all of which play different rolls in the flavor. Alpha acids provide the bitter flavor, while beta acids provide the bitter smell. At least some hops are added near the beginning of the boiling of the wort (unfermented beer), so that the heat can isomerizes the alpha acids. This increases the bitter taste of the beer, and most of the essential oils are driven off, leaving little or no aroma from this hop addition. Hops added near the end of the boil (or even after it is removed from the heat) add less bitterness and more aroma. Some beers, such as American IPAs, will have hops added at several points throughout the boil to form a very complex hop character in the beer. There are many different types of hops, and just because you don’t like “hoppy beers”, doesn’t mean you won’t like any of them. The aroma can vary from woody and vegetative to piney to a distinctive citrus character, and many microbrewed American Pale Ales will utilize a late addition of a specific hop to make the beer interesting, but without adding much bitterness.

A very unique subset of beer is the sour beer family. These consist of both beers that are spontaneously fermented, meaning that no yeast is intentionally added, and beer that is infected later in the process. These beer styles typically come from Belgium where the fermenters were left uncovered so that the wind blew yeast and bacteria in, but they now produced all over the world utilizing cultures taken from Belgian breweries. The yeast and bacteria both produce lactic acid, which give the sour taste, as well as alcohol and other byproducts which add a very complex character to the beer. These beers are quite strong and distinctive in taste, and are frequently blended with fruit juice for general consumption. A common example of this are Lindemans Brewery’s blended lambics, which generally come off as a much tarter version of the fruit juice used to make them.

In conclusion, beer is a very complex drink that is influenced by each of its ingredients. Few hard and fast rules link different properties of beer together, allowing for a huge number of styles to be brewed by adjusting the types and quantities of the four basic ingredients. Not all light beers are thin, or dark beers thick, or hoppy beers bitter, or wheat beers extremely bready. So, next time you are ordering a beer think about trying something new, especially if you have never heard of the style before; you just might be surprised by a new flavor combination that you really like.

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout

Originally Published September 2010

Have you ever looked at your breakfast and thought, “boy, would it be convenient if I could just drink this!”? Well, you certainly aren’t the first, and many attempts have been made to integrate breakfast ingredients into a beer. Recent attempts include the use of maple syrup in Tommyknocker Brewery’s Maple Nut Brown Ale, and both Brooklyn Brewing Company and San Juan Brewing Company have experimented with bacon flavored beers. Yes, bacon. In beer. But the very first style to incorporate breakfast ingredients is hands down the Oatmeal Stout.

Oatmeal Stouts replace some of the malted barley with another cereal grain, the oat. Oats, apart from their use in oatmeal, impart a creamy texture to this style which differentiates it from other stouts. The beer should smell of roasted grain, and often has a coffee like aroma. The hop aroma should be low, and from one of the United Kingdom varieties if present. When poured, this brown or black beer should form a creamy tan or brown head that should persist for some time. The flavor for this style can vary between medium sweet and medium dry, but should have a complex maltiness from the roasted grains and oats. This should be a smooth, full bodied beer with a silky or creamy texture.

Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery was opened by Samuel Smith after he inherited the brewery from his uncle William Smith in 1886. The brewery itself dates back to 1758, having been the home to several different companies since that time, and is considered to be the oldest brewery in Yorkshire and the only remaining independent brewery in the city of Tadcaster. The brewery still draws its water from its original well, and has continuously used a strain of yeast since prior to 1900. Samuel Smith’s has played a key role in the revival of the oatmeal stout style, reintroducing it in 1980 after virtually all production ceased prior to World War I.

The oatmeal stout poured black with at creamy brown head; when held up to the lamp, light was just barely visible through this beer. The aroma was quite pleasant, mainly consisting of roasted grain and coffee but with some sweeter chocolate notes as well. The mouthfeel for this beer is quite creamy, but quickly slides off the tough leaving a dry, almost astringent feeling. The flavor is a very pleasant dark toasted maltiness, but lacks the burnt taste that I’ve found in many other stouts.

Overall, this is a smooth, dark, toasted beer without the burnt flavors or bitterness of other stouts. I was rather surprised at how quickly the aftertaste from this beer disappeared, which combined with the pleasantly toasty flavor will make it an excellent pairing for a large number dishes. In fact, the Brewer’s website lists everything from a traditional ploughman’s lunch to aged cheese, sea food and pizza. I highly recommend giving this beer a try, especially if the only stout you have tried is Guinness.

Anchor Steam Beer

Origonaly Published August 2010

Many people take pride in drinking American beer, looking down on those un-patriotic “imports.” But, really, how American is the beer they drink? Budweiser, “The Great American Lager”, is produced by a Belgian company now known as Anheuser-Busch InBev. Many of the other iconic American beers such as Miller, Coors and Blue Moon are sold by MillerCoors. This company is a joint venture between SABMiller, based in the United Kingdom, and the Molson Coors Brewing Company, which is half American and half Canadian. Even PBR, the ubiquitous drink of hipsters these days, is contract brewed by Miller Coors. In fact, Boston Beer Company (the brewers of Samuel Adams) is the largest American-owned brewer, closely followed by D.G. Yuengling & Son.

The most depressing part of this, to me at least, is the beer produced by these large conglomerates. The vast majority of the beer they brew is of the American Golden Lager variety, which is a modification of the Pilsner style beers native to Germany. In fact, rice has been used to replace substantial portions of the grain used to brew these beers; this results in decreased development of the flavor profile, but has the advantage of being inexpensive. In fact, the only widely distributed example of a traditional American lager is Yuengling Traditional Lager. This beer is brewed with the use of Corn as an adjunct instead of rice, which is a tradition that pre-dates the American Revolution and contributes a distinctive taste to the beer.

At this point you may ask why I have been bashing the American breweries and the beers they brew. First, I’m not a fan of their beers; I prefer other beer styles to golden lager, and I like taste in my beer. The second reason is I’ve been laying the groundwork for the introduction of this week’s review, Anchor Steam Beer. Anchor Steam Beer is the sole remaining commercial example of the 19^th century beer brewed in San Francisco around which the modern California Common Beer style was modeled.

The brewery that became Anchor Brewing Company was founded when Gottlieb Brekle arrived from Germany and began brewing in San Francisco. The brewery suffered repeated fires throughout the years, and by the 1950s was suffering from poor sales owing to the popularity of light lagers and variability of their beer due to poor sanitation in the brewing process. The brewery was purchased in 1965 by Frederick Louis “Fritz” Maytag III, heir to the Maytag appliance and dairy farm fortune, who promptly began to teach himself the brewing process. By focusing on sanitation, Fritz was able to turn the brewery’s often sour offerings into a clean beer with increasing demand. The demand quickly outstripped the capacity of his small brewery, but instead of expanding production at the expense of quality as his competitors had, Fritz helped smaller competitors learn the art of brewing and refine their products. This unusual business model helped to spawn the microbrewery revolution and succeeded in lifting pressure from the Anchor brewery while increasing the availability of good beer.

The California Common Beer style started in and around San Francisco in the 19^th century when German brewers, such as the founder of Anchor Brewing Company, attempted to brew the lagers of their homeland in a different climate. Lager yeasts are adapted to ferment more slowly than ales but at lower temperatures, providing a crisper, cleaner beer. The brewers in San Francisco, on the other hand, were subject to a warmer climate with no cold springs or ice fields nearby with which to cool their beer. To counter this, they allowed the cool ambient air to blow across shallow, open fermentation tanks. As the yeast adapted over time this method resulted in a hybrid beer, similar in concept to the Kölsch, with a mix of lager and ale characteristics. This style should showcase moderate to high amounts of American hops, but with woody or minty characteristics such as the Northern Brewer variety instead of the citrusy or piney hops generally utilized in IPAs. The beer should pour amber or copper in color, including an off-white head with good retention. The beer should have a moderate toasted or caramel maltiness with significant hop bitterness but only moderate hop flavor. A slight fruitiness is not out of place, especially given that the beer is fermented at a high temperature for a lager. Overall this should showcase the Northern Brewer hops but with a toasty or caramel maltiness to back it up, and a slight fruitiness can make the beer more interesting.

The Anchor Steam Beer poured a clear, deep amber color with no yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. The small head dissipated surprising quickly, and the carbonation was higher than expected; this may result from my pouring technique, since I’ve noticed it with a number of beers recently. The beer had a distinctive hop aroma, which seemed had more citrus than I expected, as well as a slight sweetness which I’ve never encountered in another beer. Up front the beer was surprisingly creamy with a moderate body, reminiscent of a Kölsch, but I did not detect much fruitiness. The beer had an immediately noticeable toasty maltiness which complemented the bitterness. One aspect that I did not expect was that when swallowed quickly, I got a vegetative character from the hops.

Overall, this was a very good malty, bitter beer, but with a unique combination of characteristics that I had not experienced before. So, have you ever had a truly American beer? If not, I highly recommend giving this a try.

Victory Helios

Origonaly Published August 2010

This week I was craving a refreshing ale, and settled on Victory Brewing Company’s Helios Ale. This is a saison style beer, which is generally found in the United States as bottle conditioned beer in corked & caged 750 ml Belgian bottles, and Victory originally sold it that way under the name V-Saison. Recently, however, Victory renamed the beer Helios and began selling it in 22 oz bombers and kegs to increase availability and decrease costs.

The saison name means “season” in French, and is used to describe a group of beers served during the harvest season in parts of France and Belgium. These beers were brewed on local farms and given to the workers, which resulted in a huge variation within the style as well as the nickname “Farmhouse Ale”. These ales were typically of low alcohol, often below 3%, since they were used as a potable source of liquid that was safer than water in that time period. This purpose makes the beer similar to that of English Ordinary Bitters and other session beers. The original recipes for this style vary widely in ingredients, but generally don’t contain actual spices, instead deriving their spicy character esters produced by the local yeast. American versions of this style, however, are typically much stronger and use a more standardized yeast, so spices such as coriander, ginger and pepper are sometimes added.

According to the Beer Judging Certificate Program style guide, saison beers should pour amber to pale orange in color and are typically hazy. The head should be dense, white and long lasting, lacing the glass as it finally dissipates. The aroma should be very fruity with a moderate spicy or floral hop aroma. Generally citrusy esters should dominate, often like orange or lemon in character, and any phenolics should be peppery instead of clove-like. This style may also have a moderate sourness, especially in some of the blended versions. The spice, hop and sour aromas should scale with the alcohol content, which should be soft and spicy. The flavor of this beer should be fruity and spicy, with a soft malt character, tart sourness and relatively low alcohol flavor. The flavor from the hops should be moderate, with spicy or earthy notes, and spices are often mixed into this beer to add complexity and balance. The carbonation should be very high, which combines with the medium body to give an effervescent quality with a dry finish. Overall this should be a dry, moderately strong, fruity and spicy ale with high carbonation and a significant amount of hops.

The Helios Ale poured a surprising clear golden color, but left virtually no head. What little head formed was composed of very large bubbles and dissipated quickly, leaving little or no lacing. The aroma was moderate in intensity and quite sour, but had a lot of citrusy notes and no immediately identifiable hop character (although the hops used certainly could have contributed to the citrus character). The taste had a hit of bitter hops up front, which quickly gave way to a sourness with some spicy, peppery flavors as well. The carbonation was quite low, but seemed spritsy, like it all came out at once around the edges of my tongue.

This beer was quite drinkable, and could serve as a good introduction to sour beers. Helios doesn’t track with the BJCP style guidelines, but I think its suitable given the historic broad range. My biggest disappointment with this beer is the carbonation, but I think that could be solved by cellaring the beer a little bit. Given enough time, the fine particulates in the beer will hopefully drop out, resulting in a less spritsy carbonation and a better head. Overall I enjoyed the beer, and will drink it again, but I also will try to find some saisons that are closer to the style’s roots

Victory St. Boisterous

Origonally Published July 2010

This week I chose a beer called St. Boisterous Hellerbock from a local brewery named Victory Brewing Company. I was looking for an alternative to the crisp pale ales and golden lagers common for this time of year, so I chose this beer hoping it would have more of a malt focus, while still providing refreshing relief from the heat.

The Maibock or Helles Bock style represents a bit of a break from the other bock styles. These styles originated in Germany, and generally are very malt focused. Overall, bocks tend to have a fairly sweet malt character that is thick and filling without the harsh or burnt taste frequent encountered in stouts. Bocks have little to no detectible hops, with the various styles representing different levels of alcohol content ranging from Traditional Bocks around 6% ABV to the freeze distilled Eisbocks at up to 14% ABV. Bocks were traditionally consumed during the winter months, especially by monks during fasts, since the high level of retained sugars and alcohol content provided a large number of calories. The Maibock/Helles Bock, however, is a lighter, drier style with a slightly higher level of hopping. This style is traditionally served in the month of May, source of the Maibock name, but is also similar to stronger version of the Munich Helles style, which is the source of the second name.

This style should have a moderately strong, slightly toasty malt aroma with a little to no aroma from noble hops. The beer should pour golden in color with a large, persistent, creamy white head, and should remain quite clear from the lagering process. The beer should have a rich, slightly malt flavor from European Pilsner malts, with very little caramelization. The hop character is moderately bitter, but without very much flavor; overall, this style is more balanced than the other bock styles, since they have very little bitterness at all. This should come off as a moderately pale, strong and malty lager beer. The glassware suggested for serving this style is actually quite flexible, with some preferring pilsner or flute glasses, but a pint glass is quite suitable due to the already low level of very simple aromas.

Victory Brewing Company was started by Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski in 1996. The brewery itself is located in an old Pepperidge Farm factory, and the brew house has recently been upgraded to an automated fifty barrel system made by Rolec. The brewery has grown immensely in popularity since it opened, and now distributes three of its flagships (Hop Devil, Prima Pils and Storm King) in 23 states. Victory has been recognized for brewing their beers true to style, while still providing their own touches. I highly recommend a trip to their brewpub where they have up to 24 beers on tap (all produced on site), many of which are not available in bottles.

St. Boisterous pours a yellow gold color, without the reddish tint I expected from other bock styles. The head was white in color, but did not have the expected creamy texture and dissipated very quickly after pouring. There was very little aroma with this beer, but some amount of hops were detectable. The first thing that I notice when I tasted this beer is the full body; the beer just tastes thick, reminding me a little bit of honey, but not nearly that extreme. The carbonation is pretty moderate, but was enough to sparkle a little bit along my tongue. There was little or no hop flavor, although there was a very noticeable bitterness present, as with many german beers. The overall impression of this beer is that of a malty, full bodied lager that is edging towards blandness, but is saved by a hit of hops to provide some balance.

Overall, this beer provided a pleasant experience. It’s a bit more filling than I expected, but retains the clean taste of a lager while providing a sweeter alternative to the ubiquitous pale ales and golden lagers. I also highly recommend Victory Brewing Company because of their wide selection of excellent beers, especially those available at their brewpub.