What is a stout?  Come on in and see.  Stout is a stout version of porter.  Essentially, porters had more roasted barley or black patent malts (and other dark grains) added to them and began to be called stout porters.  Eventually, "porter" dropped off the name, and a style was born.  Like porter, stout is an ale. Just to let the reader know, there is some argument among us real nerds about whether this or that robust porter is, in fact, a stout.  I only mention this to say that there is some room for interpretation when it comes to whether or not something is a stout.  For me, it has always been a simplistic bifurcation that has helped make the distinction between porter and stout; namely, stouts have black patent malts or roasted barley, which make them darker, more robust, and more coffee-like/chocolate-like than porters.  As you might have guessed, color has something to do with whether or not a beer could be considered a stout.  Can't we all see past this color thing?  On a serious note, stouts tend to be dark, dark brown to darker than midnight black. I mentioned above that stout is an ale, not a lager. ...

Cerveza has gotten a lot of attention in the past 10-15 years.  Before the ubiquitous Corona, it seems like few people were drinking the style called Cerveza.  Technically, Cerveza is a style only in so far as German lagers are a style.  What do I mean by that? Well, beer, as we know it, did not actually actually exist in Mexico and many other countries until barley became available as a crop, so many of these countries have another ferment-able that is actually traditional alcohol for their country.  Corn, Agave, or whatever else serves to replace barley.  At any rate, once "the new world" was "discovered," there was an influx of people, barley, and beer, which eventually made its way south of the border. German immigrants from Bohemia are likely the people who first really got beer going in Mexico. Consequently, Mexican beers are actually German beers.  Of course, the corn, rice, or other adjunct can make its way into these Mexican beers.  Often, Cervezas have mild skunky qualities, which are normally associated with higher levels of particular chemicals that create the smell and taste (notably DMS).  Light-struck hops can also be a source.  At any rate, Cervezas are analogous to being ...

We've been writing our style series for quite some time, and I want to finish it over the next little bit. Hopefully, it's a resource to the beer drink and burgeoning beer drinker.  We only have a few left, so here we go with one of them: Brown Ale. What is a Brown Ale? As is true with Ales in general, the Brown Ale uses top fermenting ale yeast.  Simple enough.  English versions tend to be sweeter and less hopped than the US varieties.  Beyond this, it seems like the beer would have to be brown to qualify.  Additionally, soft water is utilized in the production process, and the final color is somewhere between a Pale Ale and Porter. Like Porter, this is one of those varieties of beer that is hard to very define.  However, some of the malts used in making a Brown Ale include mild, amber, brown and two row pale malt.  Additions of crystal, chocolate, caramel or biscuit malts can add character and color to the beer.  The "Nut Brown Ales" are often nutty because of the addition of a grain that gives a nutty perception, not an addition of actual nuts.  Sometimes treacle (English molasses), brown sugar, or ...

We're getting near the end of actually completing our Style of Beers series. A lot of terrain has been covered, but a few styles had to wait on being written. It's getting to be the time of year that many people prefer a lighter bodied beer that doesn't fill them up. Even avid beer drinkers will sometimes switch gears during the warm weather. For me, I can drink a heavy stout no matter the time of the year. However, since Kolsch is lighter, I've decided to wait on the warmer weather to post about it. By the way, the rest of our styles series articles are here. Kolsch, as a style, was initially made in Cologne, Germany. The official name wasn't given until the early half of the 20th century, and much attempt has been made to protect it, such as only calling a Kolsch from Cologne by that name. Some non-Cologne breweries skirt the issue by simply calling their versions Kolsch-style beers. Whatever works! As far as what a Kolsch actually is, it is technically considered an ale because it uses top fermenting yeast and is kept warmer during primary fermentation temperatures. ...

Talking about Belgian Ale is a somewhat daunting task. Beer in Belgium is creative and variegated. I've already mentioned a couple of the types of Belgian Ales, which included Lambics and Trappist Ales. These are only two among many other styles. In many cases, different regions developed very different approaches. As a result, there will be some mention of regions along with a style. Following is a list of the various other types of Belgian Ales. Belgian Red Ale, a.k.a., Flanders Red, a.k.a., Old Red We are not talking about a Killian's type beer here; rather, we are talking about a beer that tends to come from the West Flanders region of Belgium. This style has been called (by Michael Jackson) the world's most refreshing beer. Vienna malt is the primary grist for this beer, which aids in giving the beer a red color. Once the beer is made, it is put in oak for about a year. This gives the beer a tartness and acidity that is unparalleled in the world of beers. Strangely, this beer is simultaneously loved and hated. I joke that it's the Creed (the band) ...

What is a Trappist Ale? What is an Abbey Ale? Are they different things? Trappist Ale: Trappist is made by one of 6 breweries in Belgium or 1 in the Netherlands. No one else makes a Trappist Ale that can be termed as such. This style of beer must be made in one of 7 Trappist monasteries to be called a Trappist. The six Trappist producers are Chimay, Rochefort, Orval, Westmalle, Westvleteren (good luck getting a hold of one of these), La Trappe (also called Koningshoeven) and Achelse Kruis. All of these are made by monks in the monastery. So, unless your Trappist is one of these, then it's not a Trappist. There doesn't seem to be a set way or style to which a Trappist must conform, being that the important part is where and by whom it is made. Just by way of clarification, Westvleteren only takes orders by phone and only reluctantly. They are also the only one among the 7 that only employs monks who are a part of the Abbey. I was reading a book by Sam Calagione and Tim Hampson, in which they talk about this monastery and ...

Although we jumped from the area around England for the last beer, we are going to head down to London town for this next style.  I've spoken about Porter and Stouts once before on this site, but I'm going to go ahead and post this one as part of the style series.  I am going to talk about Porter first and post about stouts at a later date.  Here goes! Defining porter as a beer is somewhat illusive, so I'm going to offer what seem to be some agreed on principles about what a porter is.  First of all, a porter is an ale.  What I mean by calling it an ale is that it is brewed using ale yeast at ale temperatures.  I've provided some links for those who wish to read up on what these terms are referring to.  A porter is dark but not as dark as a stout.  Porter as a style tends to use darker grains but avoids roasted barley, which often gives a stout its coffee, roasted, and burnt grain qualities.  So, this is one other aspect that a porter might have.  Porters can be either robust or brown by name with varying degrees of sweetness ...

Seeing as how we are about to drink a Pomme lambic, I thought that this would be as good a time as any to write about lambic as a style.  This style of beer is truly an achievement.  In this post, I'm going to tell you what a lambic is all about, and this will help you to understand why it costs what it does.  For a little more about the factors that make beers more expensive click this link (it's an article on our site). Let's get one thing straight to begin with, lambic is the type of beer, and Framboise, Pomme, Cassis and the like are appellations added to tell you what fruit was added to the lambic.  There is a good amount of area to cover, so let's get going. Lambic, as is the case with many beers, was given its moniker because its origin was the town of Lembeek in Belgium.  There is essentially a 15-square-mile area (near Brussels) where wild yeasts and bacteria are optimal (and unique) for this style to exist.  The yeast and bacteria fall into traditional wooden fermentation vessels (open for the yeast to infiltrate) and sour this beer.  It usually contains 30 to 40% raw wheat, which probably accounts for the cloudiness of the beer.  ...

Since we have covered some other English Styles Ales, Scottish Ales, and various other topics, let's stick with another Ale of England.  As the name might indicate, Barley Wine is a very strong type of beer.  In fact, it often rivals wines in ABV.  These Ales have a tendency to be pretty sweet (because of all the grain content and remaining un-fermented sugars) but also have a high hop content.  However, the hops often don't seem that high because of all the malt involved in the brew.  Of course, the mixture of high alcohol, high grain content, and high hop content lends itself particularly well for aging.  It is not implausible to cellar some of these beers for 25 years.  Thomas Hardy Ale is a great example of this type of beer and can age like the finest of wines. Characteristics of a Barley Wine Ale include ale yeast used in the fermentation process and a color that is very red to very bronze.  Other traits were mentioned above. Now why did this style of beer actually come about?  Weren't there enough styles of beer?  Did the English have a particular purpose behind brewing Barley Wine (practical or otherwise)?  I would like to suggest that they ...

It's been a while since the last style series post, but I am going to keep it up.  The last types of styles that I drew one were various English Ales and Pale/India Pale Ales, so I'm going to keep it close to area.  Scottish Ales are the next to be tackled. In some ways, Scottish Ales are sort of like English Mild Ales in that they lack hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma.  Yet they are often stronger than their English counter-parts, both in alcohol and malts.  You can often see Scottish Ales under the following designations: light, heavy, export and wee heavy.  These will also be seen as 60, 70, 80 and 90 shilling ales. Unlike America, many beer brewing nations pay the amount of tax on beer based on how much alcohol is in the beer (in the U.S. it is a flat rate per volume, per barrel).  This last fact goes on to explain why the nomenclature of 60, 70, 80 and 90 shillings factors into the price and strength of these beers, 60 being the weakest and 90 being very strong.  Extra tax means extra cost.  But what makes Scottish Ales stick out? In my observation, they are a lot like many ...