No matter where one is in the world, a quenching pale lager is seldom far away. Nearly every country that has a brewery has one, which in many cases is considered the national beer. The far-reaching consequences of these German- and Bohemian-inspired brews is significant not only as a satiating provision, but often as a... View Article
Belgian brewers fairly sneer at convention, as they produce hundreds of idiosyncratic or otherwise inimitable brews. The eccentricity is the norm to the point that lovers of Belgian beers consider the quirks quintessential. The obscure Belgian specialties may be known by few, but ask even a modestly devoted beer lover to name a Belgian brew,... View Article
Any beer aficionado would identify the most significant events in brewing in the past three hundred years as the development of IPA by the British, and the introduction of Pilsner in Bohemia. The invention of Porter in the early 18th century was as noteworthy. It signaled a shift in brewing practice, drove the industrial revolution... View Article
The modern beer renaissance has led to the rediscovery and appreciation of many traditional beer styles, followed by a wave of experimentation among the more adventurous nouveau brewers. One of the more obscure historical ingredients useful for experimentation is smoked malt. It comes in several forms, but the most common type is the smoked malt... View Article
Near the end of the 18th century, British brewers began exporting pale ales to India to nourish its troops, and dark ales like stouts and porters to Baltic regions for more entrepreneurial reasons. Stronger, and with a more aggressive hop prescription, these beers could survive the long, arduous sojourn without spoilage. Naturally, these beers were... View Article
Rye is not a commonly used grain in brewing, but beers that do use it are distinctive and noteworthy. Rye is employed for a variety of reasons. Remnant farmhouse brews, like Finnish sahti or Russian kvass, include small amounts of rye as a matter of tradition, stemming from necessity. Bavarian rye beer, known as roggenbier,... View Article
In British rock icon Pete Townsend’s song entitled “Misunderstood,” one line is “I wanna be misunderstood, I wanna be feared in my neighborhood.” The term “bitter,” as applied to beer, carries such a misunderstanding. Bitterness may be desirable with certain styles, but bitter as a noun may invite skepticism among the uninitiated.
The notion of brewing a “one-off” is not uncommon. But there is a whole family of styles, the lambics, that fit said bill with respect to convention. So individual are they, that virtually every aspect of their production is anarchistic. Brewing, fermentation, aging, maturation, and even ingredients are distinctive. The result is a beer that... View Article
No beer style is more identified with a single country than are dry stouts with Ireland. So synonymous are they that the style name often includes the word “Irish.” Though not originally from Ireland, dry stouts were nurtured and defined there, and the style owes much to Ireland’s independent and devout disposition. The deepest colored... View Article
