Congratulations—you’ve decided to order a beer. Now would you like that in a glass bottle, a can, or draft? The way we drink beer has certainly been changing, but the basic delivery systems are essentially the same. When you buy beer, it comes either bottled (typically 12 ounce bottles, though certain specialty beers also come in larger-format bottles) or
Imagine a wine-strength beer made from barley and you’ll understand the name barleywine. Barleywine actually has some relation to a category called Strong Ales, but the basic concept is the same—beers of high impact, both in flavor and alcohol. Though that flavor itself can vary depending on a few factors: English Barleywines tend to go heavy on malty
Like a Hefeweizen, an American Pale Wheat Ale is made with a significant proportion of wheat in the grain bill and will look a bit opaque (not totally clear, a result of proteins from the wheat). But an American Pale Wheat Ale won’t have any of the banana or spice flavors commonly associated with a Hefeweizen, because those flavors are the result of a very
The world of American sours and wild beers is about as big as the craft beer movement can make them. Since wild fermentation styles really originated in Europe, what you’ll find from many American breweries are local variations and homages to wild styles. But what is a “wild” beer anyway? It’s actually just a beer that’s fermented with more than regular beer
“Cream ale” may sound like something a frat guy made one night with some leftover beer and ice cream—and maybe it is, somewhere—but the style Cream Ale actually refers to an American ale first produced by brewers to compete with the incredible popularity of the lager style brought over from Germany. The idea was to co-opt some aspects of lager brewing style,
Created by the craft beer movement, American Blonde Ale is a gateway beer. Imagine a bunch of really nice brewers trying to lure mass-produced, lager-loving Americans into the more complex and flavorful world of craft beer and you have American Blonde Ale. Because it’s a starter beer, nothing is too pronounced. It’s even more casually approachable than most
Whether you end your day with an ice cold Corona or reach for a bourbon barrel-aged stout, if you’ve cracked a beer anytime in the last several years, you’ve probably noticed a surge in the number of alternatives to macrobrews—those big commercial brewery beers like Corona, Bud, Miller Lite, etc. These alternatives make up a category called “craft beer.”
A “beer gut” is something that happens to our bodies when we drink beer and don’t do enough (ahem, any) crunches. But beer has its own body, ironically gut-free, and understanding its basic structure might just help you get more out of your next bottle. When you pour a beer, you get a visual of its basic bifurcated blueprint, which is some color[link to
Hops may be one of four essential ingredients in beer (alongside barley, yeast, and of course water). But from the current spectrum of craft beer offerings—and the heavy emphasis on hoppy IPAs—it might seem like hops is the marquee ingredient behind all worthy and delicious beer. That isn’t the case. Hops are magical, absolutely, and hoppy styles are
