A Primer on Beer (from a Beer Analyst)

How beer is made and the different types of beers

This summer I’m interning at a beer and beverage company. I’m primarily focused on helping with the development of an annual (operating/budget) plan and an analysis of the competitive landscape. I even had the opportunity to analyze the numbers of individual brands and beers and found the broad amount of data really interesting. 

The industry, including the company I’m interning for, have noticed that there are increasingly less people–particularly, teens and young adults–who want to drink beer. So, unpopular opinion: I like beer. It’s probably one of my favorite alcoholic beverages. 

So, how exactly is beer made? 

Beer is made using a combination of the following key ingredients: Malt, Hops, Water, and Yeast. Malt is a femernted grain (typically, malted barley) that provides the sugars that the yeast later converts into alcohol. Hops is an ingredient I had never heard of before, but it is a flower from the Humulus Lupulus plant. Its primary role is to help the beer cleanly and also adds different types of flavors (eg. bitterness, floral, and fruity notes) depending on how it is brewed. Water is water and yeast is yeast. 

Quick note, among these, I stupidly never realized how much water would be needed. But when I did a tour of the brewery, one of the employees mentioned how beer requires A TON of water. 

The Process

Firstly, barley is malted (a process of stepping it in water). Afterwards the malted barley is crushed or milled and then it is soaked in warm water in order to create a sugar solution known as wort. The wort is separated from the solid grains at the end. The wort is boiled which both leaves the solution with a higher concentration of sugars and sterilizes the mixture in preparation for fermentation. During this process, the hops are added (note: depending on exactly when and how much hops are added, the flavour of the beer can be changed). Then, the solid hops and grains are removed and the mixture is left to cool. Afterwards, the yeast is added and fermentation begins (this is what makes beer ALCOHOLIC).

Something notable about this process that I learned at the brewery is that some places try to eliminate as much waste as possible and give back to their community in the process. For example, what is left over after picking out the barley to be malted, is sent to local farmers who use it for things such as pig feed

Since I’ll have to learn more about beer this summer anyways and to share more about how much I like beer, this post is an early guide to the different types of beers out there.

Lager

These you will see on every restaurant menu with alcoholic beverages and is one of the two main categories of beer. These are made with bottom-fermented yeast which takes place in cooler temperatures and takes longer. Lagers taste lighter and a little malty. Notable brands in this category are Miller High Life, Coors, Budweiser, and Yuengling. 

Ale

The second main category of beer. Theses are created with top-fermenting yeast (has higher tolerance for alcohol than yeast used in lagers) and is done in warmer temperatures. Compared to lagers, these drinks are generally richer and fruiter. 

IPA

IPA stands for Indian Pale Ales (there are a lot of acronyms in this industry). These beers are known for having herbal, citrus, or fruity flavors that largely come from the different use of hops. I don’t think I have tried too many IPAs but according to a Times article, prominent IPA styles include “West Coast IPA, British IPA and New England Style IPA”. New England IPAs are less bitter and carry a fruity flavor and the British style is maltier and bitter. West Coast drinks tend to have a more equal balance between the fruitiness and bitterness. 

Pale Ale

These drinks are also made by variations of the use of hops, however, they carry a lower alcohol content than IPAs. LCBOs in Canada characterize them as “dry, medium-boiled, moderately carbonated, crisp, and slightly creamy”. 

Stout

These are dark beers. I remember watching a television ad for Guinness in elementary school and wondering why the drink looked so funny? Different? But those are exactly what stout beers are. The darker color is achieved by roasting the barley after the malting process. The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), which ranks all styles of beer, describe stouts as “sweet, full-bodied, slightly roasty ale that can suggest a sweetened espresso”. Maybe a cold foam cold brew? No, definitely not. 

Sweeter stouts originate from Ireland and England and they are famous for their low bitterness. For example, think of Ireland's Guinness brand. 

Stouts produced in the U.S. are known to be more bitter and tend to incorporate more variation in flavor from the use of hops. According to the BJCP, they also tend to have a greater malt flavor which gives them the taste of coffee or dark chocolate. 

These next two terms, I previously thought were categories of beer but I was WRONG. I’m sure others may run into similar confusion so I added them here just in case. 

Craft Beer

I’ve always wondered what the difference is between craft beer and just regular (?) beer and apparently, it depends on who you ask. However, typically these beers are ones made by craft breweries, smaller and more specialized breweries devoted to creating these types of drinks. Craft breweries will produce lagers, ales, stouts and more. So rather than a category of a beer, the term craft beer describes the way/location of where it was made. 

Draft Beer

Draft beer is simply beer from the tap. They tend to be fresher and better tasting than bottled or canned products. For example, you could get Heineken as a draft beer or a bottled one. It’s the same type of beer but just different in how they are served. 

Hopefully, you know a little more about beer now and next time, maybe I’ll introduce you to some different drinks/brands I try.