A pale beer arrives in a narrow glass and tastes crisp enough to suggest lager. Another contains wheat but none of the banana-and-clove aroma you
Continue ReadingBock and Rauchbier Explained: Strong and Smoked German Lagers
A pale beer can be stronger than a dark one. A smoky beer can be no stronger than its unsmoked neighbor. Bock and rauchbier make those distinction
Continue ReadingAmber and Dark Lagers Explained: Dunkel, Märzen, Vienna Lager, and More
A brown lager smells of bread crust rather than coffee. An amber lager finishes dry enough to invite another sip. Amber and dark lagers are useful
Continue ReadingPale Lagers Explained: American Lager, International Pale Lager, Light Lager, and Helles
Four glasses arrive, all clear, pale and neatly capped with white foam. If pale lagers were one flavor, choosing between them would be easy. In pr
Continue ReadingBeer Finishing and Special Brewing Methods Explained: Filtration, Pasteurization, and Cask Conditioning
One brewer wants to stop a beer changing. Another wants yeast to keep working in the package. Both may be making a careful decision. Beer finishin
Continue ReadingBeer Fermentation and Maturation Explained: Temperature, Attenuation, and Conditioning
The bubbling slows down, but the beer still tastes unfinished. Beer fermentation has done its most visible work, yet the yeast may have useful bus
Continue ReadingWort Boiling and Hop Additions Explained: Building Bitterness and Aroma
Put a handful of hops into wort early in the boil and you get one emphasis. Use the same material much later and the result can smell dramatically
Continue ReadingMalting, Milling, and Mashing Explained: From Grain to Wort
Grinding barley more finely seems like an obvious way to get more out of it. Then the liquid refuses to drain. Milling and mashing involve that ki
Continue ReadingBeer Yeast and Bacteria Explained: Fermentation Strains and Their Flavors
Split one batch of wort between two fermentation vessels and the finished beers can seem like different recipes. One may stay restrained enough to
Continue ReadingHops Explained: Varieties, Growing Regions, Bitterness, and Aroma
A beer can smell like grapefruit without a grapefruit ever entering the brewery. With hops explained properly, that is less a trick than an invita
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