Understanding Styles

Many times, beer “snobs” describe beer as being very characteristic of a certain style. Some of us here at Wisdom of Beer have been guilty of this bad habit. I call it bad habit because unless you are going out and hunting down lots of beers of the same style, the average beer drinker really don’t know what the benchmark for a style should be or how it should taste. So we are putting together a list of major and some minor styles of beer that are very representative of what a style of beer should be like, so that the average beer drinker can make the judgment for themselves, because we do believe that a knowledgeable beer drinker is a better beer drinker.

Ales:

Pale Ale – Pale ales grew out the innovative spirit of breweries in England that wanted to create a beer that had more consistent flavor and lighter color than tradition ales of the day. One of the major flavor points of this ale comes from the fact that it is brewed with “hard”  water, meaning the minerals have been left in the water to give a slightly harsh taste. Typically these beers have a pale malt which is roasted, a variety of English hops are used this style to give regional flavor characteristics. As this style become more popular it is being mutated into other sub-styles, such as American and Australian styles that have lower hops levels and more aggressive barley and grapefruit tones in them. These combinations of flavors make for a very palatable ale that is enjoyed by a wide variety of people and it makes a really good beer for people who want to move away from traditional lagers and branch out into ales.

Stout - Stout and porter are dark beers made using roasted malt or barley,[1] hops, water, and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest beers, typically 7% or 8%,[2] produced by a brewery.

There are a number of variations including Baltic porter, dry stout, and imperial stout. The name porter was first used in 1721 to describe a dark beer popular with street and river porters of London that had been made with roasted malts. This same beer later also became known as stout,[3] though the word stout had been used as early as 1677.[4] – Wikipedia

Lagers:

Bock - Bock originated in the Northern Europe parts of Germany, specifically in the town of Einsbock, which is where the name comes from. This style of beer originally, was a very dark-malted brew gaining its color and primary flavors for caramelized malt mashes. Bocks are known for the very smooth, full bodied flavor of sweet caramel undertones and pungent malt richness. Depending on the brew master’s mix, they come in Traditional, Hellerbock, Doppelbock or Eisbock.

Stout and porter are dark beers made using roasted malt or barley,^[1] hops, water, and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest beers, typically 7% or 8%,^[2] produced by a brewery.

There are a number of variations including Baltic porter, dry stout, and imperial stout. The name porter was first used in 1721 to describe a dark beer popular with street and river porters of London that had been made with roasted malts. This same beer later also became known as stout,^[3] though the word stout had been used as early as 1677.^[4]