Guide to Beer Classifications

It's time you learned how to impress your date and your dorm-room buddies with a little knowledge on the different types of beer! It may not be as impressive as, say, knowing which years the grapes were best in the Somoma Valley, but chances are, you don't hang out with that crowd anyway. The most important thing to know is the difference between top-fermenting yeast and bottom-fermenting yeast, as the difference between the two form the basic classifications of beer.

Top-fermenting yeasts are those added to the wort (rhymes with "dirt", means the liquid created in the process of mashing malted barley) at room temperature or warmer. This causes the yeast to ferment quickly, and the flavor of the beer is more complex. Most of the British beers are top-fermented. Essentially, any beer that is made with top-fermenting yeast is considered an ale. Ales still vary widely in color and taste, depending on the type and where it's brewed. Hops are added in varying amounts (again, depending on the brewer's discretion), and add bitterness, but "bitterness" in this sense is not a bad thing, it adds to the flavor of the beer.

Ales can be very pale in color, or a dark brown. The strength of the ale is determined by the proportion of malt to hops, so color alone is not an indication of alcohol content. Ales classified as "light" or "mild" may be only 3% to 5% alcohol by volume, whereas the original pale ales may contain up to 10% alcohol.

The incidence of the dark ales includes the stouts and the porters. Good examples of each are Guinness, and Sierra Nevada, respectively. These beers are made with roasted barley malts, and are very full-bodied. Stouts especially, I refer to them as "liquid bread", and sometimes they're just what a growing girl or boy needs. Porters are lighter than stouts, with less richness of taste, but both have the same general flavor. Stouts are further classified as being either "sweet" or "dry", with the latter most often preferred. Guinness is a fine example of a dry stout; Jamaica produces a flavorful sweet stout, called Dragon Stout. Stouts and porters have a higher alcohol content than the mild ales, usually ranging from 7% to 10% alcohol by volume.

Now, onto the bottom-fermented beers. True to their name, bottom-fermenting yeasts are those that sink straight to the bottom, being added at colder temperatures. In the same way that all top-fermented beers are considered ales, the bottom-fermented beers are considered lagers. They have a smoother taste than most of the ales, due to less hops being added to the wort during the fermentation process. German lagers are usually aged from six weeks to six months, depending on the brewer, to allow for sedimentation.

Lagers will also range in color, from pale blonde pilsners, to your chocolate-brown Bocks. Bocks are Germany's gift, what you'll find most often at those wild Oktoberfest celebrations ~ hold on to your leiderhosen! They are very rich and full-bodied, with a nice malty taste, and are named for the Germanic city they originated in, Einbeck. Bocks are almost always at least 6% alcohol by volume. The original pilsner was Pilsner Urquill, brewed in the Czech Republic. Most beer aficionados agree that the original has never been either matched or improved upon, with most modern-day pilsners being a weak imitation of this beauty; it has a hoppy aroma but lacks the hoppy bitterness.

Now that you know the basic classifications of beer, go out and share your knowledge with friends (and a designated driver), tip a few cold ones, and enjoy responsibly!

Thanks to my dear friend Scott, two-time brew-master, for allowing me to pick his brain!