Five Beers for You

ALE 

   

There are several sub categories of ales but two main ones; Brown Ale and Pale Ale: Brown ales tend to contain less hops than others, mild in flavor and often a nutty taste. This style of brewing became popular with home-brewers in the early 1860s. They range from deep amber to brown in color; with caramel and chocolate in color on the spectrum. The most common in America is Sam Adams Brown Ale.

     Pale ale has about 12 different kinds. Pale ale is made by a warm fermentation using predominantly pale malt. It is one of the world's most popular beer styles. Pale ales tend to be more bitter than other ales. The five most common pale ales are as follows: Amber Ale, American Pale Ale, Blonde, English Bitter, India Pale Ale (IPA). Amber ales have a copper color. American Pale Ale or APA is brewed with a significant quantity of American hops.

     Blonde ales get their name from the color of the beer which is a light brown and almost a yellow; it also has a lighter body from higher carbonation. English Bitter has a (you guessed it) more bitter taste than the rest of the pale ales. India Pale Ale (IPA) is brewed in England and exported to India. IPA's tend to also have a very bitter taste due to the hops used to brew the ale.

DRAUGHT 

   

 Draught beers also spelled as draft; are most commonly served from a keg or a cask rather than in a can or bottle. Smooth flow or just flow was used to illustrate the beers. Keg beer is a term used for beer that comes from a pressurized keg. Cask beer and Keg beer is different from each other. Canned or bottled draught (draft) is a very common beer in the U.S. Most commonly known as Miller Genuine Draft which is actually a pale lager using a filtration system.

     The other well known canned draught is Guinness with their stout in patented "Draught-flow." Both beers are not technically draughts but have the taste that they were brewed in a keg or a cask.

 LAGER 

      A lager beer is a beer that is brewed and stored cold and was a common process in the medieval times. Lager comes from German word which means 'to store'. Most lagers' flavors are more mild and lighter than ales and draughts.

     Lagers represent some of the most alcoholic beers in the world. There are two types of lager; pale lager and dark lager. Pale lager is a very pale all the way up to a golden colored beer and has a noble hop bitterness.

     The main process includes a slow acting yeast that ferments at a low temperature while being stored. Pale lagers were not coming until the late 19th century. The next type of lager is dark lager. Dark lagers typically range from amber to dark reddish brown in color.

MALT LIQUOR 

     Malt beer is sweet and very low in alcohol content. It usually contains anywhere from zero-one percent. It is brewed like regular beer, but not fermented. Malt beer is sometimes called "malta" or "wheat-beer". It is most popular in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Brazil. Nesher Malt is a non-alcoholic beer made in Israel. Some Malt beers are often used as energy drinks.

     Malt liquor on the other hand has a high alcohol by volume (usually 6%-7%). Malt liquor is usually a straw to pale looking color. It is a strong lager or ale in which sugar, corn or other expensive ingredients are added to malted barley.

It is not a bitter "beer" by any one's measure. Malt liquor is fairly common in the U.S.; mostly bottled in 40's. Some to mention are Mickey's, Olde English 800, Magnum 40, Steel Reserve 211, King Cobra and of course Colt 45.

STOUT 

      Stout beer is a dark beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were generally termed as the strongest or stoutest porters (usually 7%-8%). There are nine different types of Stout beer; but mainly four in the U.S.: Dry (Irish) Stout, Imperial, Porter and Oatmeal Stout.

     Dry Stout or an Irish Stout is also referred to as black beer, because of its extremely dark color. It also has a coffee-like and dry taste; the most common is Guinness. Although, the color of the beer is almost black. It is considered a light beer.

    The next one on the stout list is the Imperial Stout. The Imperial Stout is a Russian stout. It's alcohol by volume is rarely under 9% (it'll get ya drunk!) This is a strong and dark beer; but not as dark as a dry or Irish Stout. A well known Imperial Stout is Barclay Perkins Imperial Brown Stout (long name for a good beer). 

     The third main Stout in the U.S. is a Porter or an English Porter. Although, there is a lot of talk about it; an English Porter was once considered an alternative to the name stout. The English Porter descended from a brown beer and is made from brown malt. The main porter known in the United States is Fuller's London Porter.

     Finally we have the Oatmeal Stout. An Oatmeal Stout is made with proportional amount of oats; made with a maximum of 30%, which is added during the brewing process. A larger amount of oats will contribute to a more bitter taste. The name is more of a marketing scheme; seeing that most Oatmeal breweries use less than 5% of oats in their process.