Pages

Saturday, December 28, 2019

European Beer Buying Tips: Lager, Ale, Lambic by Ruth Paget

European Beer Buying Tips: Lagers, Ales, and Lambics by Ruth Paget

Sampling lambic beers when I was a young woman in Brussels, Belgium; vacationing in London, England; and shopping for German beers during Oktoberfest when I lived in Stuttgart, Germany were fun lessons in European culture.

When I became more serious about buying beer I read Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion and The Beer Bible by Jeff Alworth for detailed information on brands to look for in the store.

I condensed Michael Jackson’s six categories down to three using tips from Alworth’s book to obtain a quick mental map for making quick beer buying decisions in the store or brew pub that follows:

3 Basic Beer Ingredients

Common to all beer types are hops, grain, and water.

-Hops

Hops are a cone-like flower, which imparts aroma and flavor.  Their flavor is bitter, but can be modulated.  Hops are very bitter in the popular in the India Pale Ales on the market.

-Grain

Barley or wheat are the most commonly used grains in beer making.

The Reinheitsgebot (Beer Purity Law) of 1516 from Bavaria, Germany specified that only barley could be used as a grain in beer production and sought to curtail the use of flavor additives besides hops

Additional flavoring and coloring could be obtained in the final beer by roasting the grain before hot water was poured on it to start the production process.

Creating Malt and Wort

Adding the third basic ingredient of hot water to the grain and making it sprout makes what is called malt.

Hops may be added at different phases of production depending on whether they are being used for aroma or flavor.

When the grains have sprouted, the liquid in them is drained away, leaving what is called wort.

Wort and Beer Types

What happens to the wort determines if you will obtain a lager, ale, or lambic.

Different Beer Types

-lager

A commercial, bottom-fermenting yeast is added to the wort and works in cold temperatures.

-ale

A commercial, top-fermenting yeast is added to the wort that works at warm temperatures.

-lambic

A spontaneous, top fermentation occurs from exposing the wort to “wild yeasts” that come in through open windows in a cold brew house.  These beers are produced in the Zenne (Senne in French) Valley outside Brussels, Belgium.

Lambics are famous for their Kriek (cherry) and Framboise (raspberry) beers, but plain Geuze is considered a champagne of beers.

Notable Beer Types

I used Jeff Alworth’s The Beer Bible to set up the following list for shopping or ordering in a California Brew Pub:

Lagers:

-Dark Lagers: Dunkel, Schwarzbier, Czech Tmavé
-Czech: Lagers
-Pale Lagers: Pilsners, Helles, and Dortmund Export
-Amber Lagers: Märzen (Oktoberfest Beers) and Vienna Lager
-Bocks

Ales

-Bitters
-Pale Ales
-Indian Pale Ales
-Mild Ales
-Brown Ales
-Porters and Stouts
-Ales of the Rhine: Kölsch and Altbier
-Abbey and Trappist Beers
-Saisons and Rustic Belgian Ales
-Wheat Beers

Lambics

Geuze, Kriek (cherry), and Framboise (raspberry) are the most famous types.

Cheers and remember color does not divide beer types like color in wine does.


Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Click for Laurent Paget's Book





Ruth Paget Selfie