Top and bottom fermented beer. Beer: varieties and their description

Variety of types of beer

An inexperienced beer lover will answer the question “What types of beer do you know?”, Will answer “Light beer and Dark beer”, or start listing different brands of beer. In fact, there are a huge number of types and varieties of beer in the world. In this article, we will try to list the main ones. So let's get started!

El(Ale) is the collective name for top-fermented beers. Ale is a dark-colored drink with an increased alcohol content.

abbey ale(Abbey Ale) - a strong intoxicating drink, traditionally made by the abbeys of Belgium and used as liquid bread during fasting.

Altbier(Altbier) is a traditional beer. The main place of production is Düsseldorf. Translated from German, the word "alt" means "old". The top-fermented drink is produced from dark malt and is well hopped. Dark beer has a copper tint.

American ale(American ale) - American traditional ale. During production, hops from North America are added. Characteristic features are the same as those of ale.

American malt liqueur(American Malt Liquor) is an alternative name given to beer in the United States. Compared to lager, this drink contains an increased degree of alcohol.

barley wine(Barley Wine) - beer with an extremely high alcohol content, similar to wine. Top-fermented drink with a dark brown or copper color. It has a persistent fruity taste. A separate recipe involves fermentation with champagne or wine yeast.

Beer(Beer) - the collective name for alcoholic beverages that are made from fermented cereals or a mixture thereof, seasoned with hops.

Trappist Beer- beer produced in 6 Trappist breweries in the monasteries of Belgium. The top-fermented drink has a persistent fruity flavor.

Saison- Belgian or French beer, produced using the method of top fermentation. It has a copper and amber color. Once the drink was prepared only in the summer, but today it is available all year round. Container - liter bottles of a special Burgundy configuration. Wild yeast is used during preparation. Spontaneous fermentation occurs.

Guenze- a type of beer that is formed by mixing old Lambic beer with new beer. Re-fermentation is applied.

faro- mixing two types of Lambic beer in equal proportions. The mixture is sweetened with sugar, sometimes colored and diluted with water. Beer is considered partly obsolete.

Kriek- re-fermented beer. The production process is the soaking of cherries in fresh Guenze or Lambic beer.

Berliner Weisse– light beer is made from wheat (top fermentation). The birthplace of the drink is Germany.

Best bitter beer(Best Bitter) - British type of ale. Until the end of 1040, it was made according to the original technology.

Biere de Garde A strong French ale produced as a result of fermentation. Traditional drink.

bitter beer(Bitter) – British model pale ale, which has a golden brown color. It translates as "bitter". Beer is made in the process of top fermentation, it is heavily hopped. Dry, slightly carbonated. 80% of English beer bars serve Bitter.

Black and Tan- a mixture of light and dark beers in equal proportions. Varieties: porter and pilsner or stout and beater.

bock- malt lager drink. According to tradition, it is prepared in winter to celebrate the arrival of spring. A full-bodied beer that is heavily hopped.

brown ale(Brown ale) - beer from Britain, amenable to top-fermentation. Slightly hoppy. The drink is seasoned with malt (roasted or caramel).

Cask ale- a draft drink that is not pasteurized. In the cellars of the bars, casks of ale are displayed for final maturation. An obligatory criterion is low temperature. The filtered drink is stored at room temperature.

Cream ale(Cream ale) - American beer. A mixture of slightly rich lager and light golden ale.

Dark Mild A group of lightly hopped English ales. Made from roasted malt. Mostly rich drinks that have a dark brown tone. The proportion of alcohol is minimal.

dark /PaleDoubleBack- light and dark type of beer, brewed from dried, not roasted; from dark roasted malt.

Dortmunder- beer of golden color, undergoes bottom-fermentation. The birthplace of the drink is Germany, Dortmund. This is the largest brewing city.

double bock or Doppelbock- strong beer, not always double strength. This type of beer was originally discovered in Bavaria by Italian monks (Order of St. Francis of Paola).

dry beer(Dry beer) - weakly saturated beer, the aftertaste is barely noticeable. The drink contains a high percentage of alcohol.

dry stout(Dry stout) - Irish beer. It has a bitterer taste and higher alcohol content than top-fermented English sweet beers.

Dunkelweizen- a dark type of beer made from wheat.

Eisbock- the strongest type of beer among bock varieties. The final fermentation takes place in cold cellars at temperatures close to 0°C. If ice forms, it is immediately removed, this increases the alcohol content in the drink.

Frambois- Raspberry Labmic.

Hefeweizen– unfiltered wheat beer.

Indian Pale Ale(India Pale Ale) - English ale. In the 18th century, during the period of British rule in India, the drink was prepared for the troops. It was very strong and heavily hopped, made especially for long journeys.

Irish red ale(Irish Red Ale) - red ale. The drink is sweet and rich. Sometimes it has an oily taste.

Lager(Lager) is the collective name for bottom-fermented beers. In the manufacture, the infusion method of mashing is used. Production was introduced in 1840 and to this day remains dominant throughout the world (except Britain). This beer is softer and lighter, drier and contains less alcohol than ales.

lambic(Lambic) is a naturally fermented beer from Belgium.

Malt liqueur(Malt Liquor) - beer with an increased alcohol content. By weight, the drink contains 4.5 - 6.0% ethyl alcohol.

March Beer(Marzenbier) is a type of beer that was brewed in Germany before the invention of refrigerators. The drink was made in winter. He matured for many months before he acquired the necessary exposure. I drank at the end of the summer.

Munich(Munchener) is a malt drink made in the process of bottom fermentation. It was created in the middle of the 10th century in Munich. There is a dark and a light kind.

Oatmeal Stout- a type of dark beer. Boiled with oatmeal, top-fermented. Oatmeal is used because of its nutritional properties and the ability to influence the taste and bouquet of the drink.

old ale(Old ale) - ale from Britain, with a medium strength. Most often used in winter.

Oktoberfest- a bottom-fermented drink similar to Vienna beer.

Marzen A sweet malty copper beer. Originally brewed in Germany for Oktoberfest.

pale ale(Pale ale) - top-fermented beer. Has amber and copper hues. Brewed from light malt. Similar to bitter beer, but weaker, drier and contains more hops.

pale bock- beer made from dried malt, not roasted. This is bock beer.

Pale Mild Ales are medium hopped, brewed from dried, unroasted malt. Therefore, the color of the beer is light, and it does not have a very harmonious flavor bouquet.

Pilsner A heavily hopped, bottom-fermented beer. It has a light golden color. Bohemia, Pilsen - place of creation (1842).

Porter(Porter) is a dark top-fermented beer. Unmalted roasted barley determined the color of the beer. It first appeared in 1730 in London. The drink was brewed by the brewer Harwood as a substitute for ale. It was believed that beer is more nutritious than ale. This drink was intended for workers who performed hard work. They drew new strength to complete the tasks by drinking a mug of dark beer.

Raushbier- dark beer made in the process of bottom fermentation. In Bavaria, it is produced by only a few brewers. A special smoked taste comes from malt dried on fire.

Russian stout(Russian Stout) - British dark beer with extreme strength. Created during the top fermentation process. Russian stout was brewed from 1760 to 1914. Nowadays, beer is not pasteurized. Within 2 months it matures in barrels, after which it is aged in bottles for one year. It has other names - Imperial Stout, Imperial Russian Stout.

Sake is a traditional drink from Japan. Made by fermenting rice.

Scottish ale(Scotch Ale) is a Scottish type of dark beer. It has a fortress, it is very thick. Fermentation is top.

Spruce Beer- beer made in the process of fermenting molasses and some sugars with spruce juice (occasionally from malt). Manufactured in Northern Europe and North America.

Steam beer- beer obtained through mixed fermentation using bottom-fermenting yeast at temperatures of top-fermentation. The process is carried out in tanks with a large surface area, called illuminators, and lasts at relatively high temperatures. Beer originates from America. At the end of the 19th century, the drink was first made in California, at one time there were 27 breweries that produced this particular variety. Anchor Brewing is the brand that makes Steam beer today.

Stock Ale- ale with a high strength and a long shelf life. Comes from America.

stout(Stout) is a dark top-fermented beer. It is brewed with pale malt, unmalted toasted barley, and often caramel malt. The drink was introduced by Guinness as the darkest variety of porter. The new type of beer was much darker, more harmonious in flavor and with more hops than porter. Stout is sweet and dry. They are both not badly hopped, but there is less bitterness in the sweet sample compared to the dry sample.

scotchAle- an ale with a higher alcohol content than a typical Scottish ale. Cooked according to the traditional recipe.

sweet stout- An English variety of dark beer created through top-fermentation. It has a milky taste and contains some alcohol. The exact opposite of the top-fermented dark dry beer from Ireland.

Vienna Type A malt lager with a sweet taste. It has an amber color with a red tint. First brewed in Vienna.

Weissbier- the general name for a variety of wheat types of beer. It means "white beer". These beers are most often cloudy and light, with white foam.

weizenbock- German wheat beer. It has the same strength as bock beer.

Wheat beer(Wheat Beer) - any beer containing a considerable amount of malted wheat. All varieties of wheat beer are top-fermented, most of them bottled.

Whitbier White- wheat beer, produced for the first time in the cities of Belgium - Louvain and Hoegaarden. Traditional drink.

Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in the world, however, many of us do not think about what kind of beer we drink. Let's try to figure this out.

Beer classification

Classification of beer according to the method of beer fermentation

Speaking about the classification of beer, it is worth paying attention to the process of beer fermentation. Beer is divided into varieties of bottom fermentation (fermentation temperature 5-10 degrees) and top fermentation (fermentation temperature 18-25 degrees).

Bottom fermented beer It is customary to refer to the lager, and the method of production is called lager. Bottom fermentation takes quite a long time due to low temperatures, however, due to long fermentation, the taste of beer becomes the most saturated, which, of course, is an advantage of the technology.

top fermentation occurs much faster than the grassroots, and therefore deserved its popularity. The most popular top-fermented varieties are ale and porter. Most often, all top-fermented beers are classified as ales, although this is not entirely true.

It is worth noting that there are varieties of beer in the world spontaneous fermentation- Lambic. The production of spontaneously fermented beer takes place without the use of yeast and is somewhat similar to the production of wine.

Classification by fermentation method is more suitable for brewers or hop connoisseurs who are well versed in beer production. We are used to a simpler classification.

Classification of beer by color

The color of beer in no way depends on the method of fermentation, so we will consider further classification according to the color of beer.

The color of the beer depends on the composition of the raw materials and, first of all, on the method of preparing the malt. To understand how the color of beer depends on the method of preparation and the composition of the raw materials, you will have to go a little deeper.

For the preparation of beer malt, various grain crops are used, which means that the color of the malt will be different. Most often you can find barley or wheat beer, but there are also corn and even rice and rye beers. For the preparation of malt, the grain is poured with water and allowed to germinate, after which it is roasted in special ovens. The color of the beer and its taste (pleasant bitterness) will strongly depend on the degree of roasting. After roasting, the malt is hopped - hops are added to it, which is also quite important. It is the hops that give the spicy taste and hoppy smell to the beer, and also thanks to the hops, the shelf life of the beer is increased.

By color, beer is usually divided into:

• light;
• dark;
• Red;
• White.

The classification by color of beer is well known to us, it is it that is most often used in the post-Soviet space.

Classification of beer by wort density

But in Europe, it is customary to take the fortress as the basis for classification, or to be more precise, the initial density of the wort.

Depending on the density of the wort, 3 types of beer can be distinguished:

• so-called nonalcoholic beer with a must density of up to 8% (strength 0.5 - 1.5%);
• simple beer, which we are accustomed to with you with a wort density of 11% to 15% (strength 3-5%);
• strong beer with a wort density above 15% (strength up to 8-9%).

In the future, I will give a table of the dependence of the fortress on the density of the wort, and also tell you how you can influence the strength of our favorite drink. You can also calculate the strength of beer using the calculator on the site.

Classification of beer by raw material

As we all well know, beer is made from malt, water and hops. For example, in Russia you can often hear about another classification - according to the raw materials used or malt.

Conditionally (why conditionally? Now very rarely malt of one grain crop is used in the production of beer, very often they are interfered with) it is possible to divide beer by raw materials into:

• Traditional barley beer- brewed purely from barley malt;
• Wheat beer - brewed with the addition of wheat malt 50-70% of the total mass;
• Hybrid beers- beer made from combined malt;

You can find beers made from other cereals:

• Rye beer;
• Rice beer (sake);
• Corn beer (happoshu).

If suddenly you want to offer me another classification of beer, I will be happy to post it here.

Types of beer

Finally, we come to the most interesting - beer varieties. We will consider beer varieties in the context of the fermentation method from the most popular varieties to the lesser known ones.

Bottom fermented beers (lager technology)

Pilsner (from German Pilsner, Pilsner)- the most popular type of beer presented in our bottom-fermented market - lager. It is named after the Czech city of Pilsen, which is traditionally associated with the distribution of this type of beer.

Light Lager (from English Light Lager)- the second most popular type of beer on our market, the appearance of which we owe to our German neighbors. Pale lager is the most popular German beer.

Black beer (from German Schwarzbier)- the most popular dark beer, deserved its name for the color. For the first time, Schwarzbier was brewed in Germany and is currently the most popular dark beer in the country.

Märzen (from German Märzen, Märzenbier) March beers are popular in Germany and Austria. The variety owes its name to the method of preparation - it is prepared by bottom fermentation in early spring.

Bock-beer (from the German Bockbier)- German strong beer of top or bottom fermentation with an initial wort density of more than 16% and a strength of 6.3-7.2%. The peculiarity is that the Bockbier variety can be both light and dark.

Doppelbock (from German German Doppelbock)- a variety of the "Bok-bir" variety with an initial must density of more than 18% and a strength of 7-15%.

Eisbock (from German Eisbock)- Another variety of the Bok-Bir variety is produced by partial freezing of beer. At the same time, alcohol does not freeze. It is with the help of freezing that it is possible to maintain the strength of the beer.

Top fermented beers

Altbier (from German Altbier)- a dark beer brewed in Germany in the traditional old way of top fermentation.

Kölsch (from German Kölsch)- light top-fermented beer, named after the city of production Cologne. This variety is characterized by a rather strong smell of hops and a bitter taste.

Porter (from English Porter)- dark top-fermented beer, porter is characterized by a wine flavor. The fermentation period is 2 months. Porter strength can range from 4% to 10%. The production of porter is typical for the British.

Stout (from English stout)- one of the varieties of porter. For the first time, the Stout variety was brewed in Ireland, where it is still very popular.

Spontaneously fermented beers

lambic- Belgian beer of spontaneous fermentation.

At present, the classification of beer is very diverse and the types of beer are quite diverse. The opinions of European and American experts differ significantly on these issues, and disputes continue to this day.

All types of beer can be conditionally classified according to the type of fermentation. This is ale (ale) and lager (Lager).

El (ale)

In order for the ale to ferment well, top-fermenting yeast is used for this. The process takes place at high temperature. The ale has a bright fruity flavor, and the alcohol content is higher than in some varieties.

For the production of ale, instead of hops, a special mixture called gruit is used. This is a specially selected composition of herbs and spices. Ale was highly valued in the Middle Ages because, unlike other drinks, such as milk, it did not spoil.

Varieties and types of ale:

Bitter (Bitter) and Light Bitter (Light Bitters)

This group includes bitter beers. Color from light yellow to brown. All of them have a slight bitterness and are usually bottled. For cooking, a large amount of hops and light peeled barley are used, which gives the beer a wonderful hoppy taste and a bright aftertaste. There are also varieties of Light Bitter (Light Bitters). These light bitters contain less than 3% alcohol and are lighter in color.

This is a strong dark beer that has a roasted malt flavor with a hint of fruit. Porter beer gets its name from the word Porter's Ale, literally translated as "porters' ale".

For the first time the idea to make such a beer came to the London brewer Ralph Harwood (Ralph Harwood). He simply mixed three other popular varieties and gave it the name "Entire Butt". Unfortunately, the original beer recipe has not survived to our time.

It is assumed that three types of beer were mixed in the process - dense dark, light and light beers. The first varieties of porter were distinguished by their high density and high alcohol content. They became the drink of choice for dockers and porters in the 18th century. Porter is recommended to be served chilled with seafood.

Stout

Stout is the darkest type of beer. They have a strong hop flavor. In the manufacture of a mixture of regular and roasted malt.

Stout is a purely English drink and is hardly brewed in other countries. It was the experiments with porter and roasted malt that led to the emergence of Stout. The darkest variety of Stout is Extra Stout, which is produced by Guinnes.

Pretty unique beer. Despite its name, it is beer, not wine. It has a high density and has a high alcohol content - from 8 percent.

Some varieties of Barley Wine contain up to 10-12% alcohol. The beer looks dark garnet color, has a pleasant wine taste. The aging period of such beer is from one and a half to two years.

This is a traditional British ale. It has a characteristic brown color. It is made from well-roasted barley or malt. It has a fairly low alcohol content - no more than three and a half percent. But there are also stronger (non-traditional) versions of Mild that are not widely used.

Pale Ale and Indian Pale Ale (Pale Ale or IPA)

The line of standard pale ales (Pale Ale) is dominated by a low percentage of alcohol - about 4% and slightly higher. Taste and aroma gives fruity, floral and spicy tones.

Indian pale ale (India Pale Ale) appeared in the 18th century, when India was a colony of England. The colonial army in those days was in dire need of beer supplies from England.

But the brought beer often spoiled due to long transportation. The recipe for the classic Indian pale ale (India Pale Ale) was invented by brewer George Hodgson.

He simply increased the hop and sugar content of the product. As a result, the percentage of alcohol content of beer has risen.

It was the increased content of alcohol and hops that made it possible to increase the shelf life of beer and deliver it without problems.

Golden Ale

In the late 1980s, English brewers were able to make good money on golden ales. Golden ales were originally aimed at a younger target audience, with the goal of taking some of the market away from lagers. Golden ales are characterized by a light palette of colors - straw, yellow, gold, amber.

Contrary to its name, Old Ale does not contain a large percentage of alcohol (no more than 4%). And he got his name because of the long exposure time. Although, some modern recipes allow you to get ale with a strength of up to six percent. Darker versions of old ales are dominated by malt tones, while lighter varieties are spicy and tart.

Scottish beers have historically been dominated by dark hues. Compared to the British versions, they were sweeter and used fewer hops.

Lagerbier is a very common type of beer in the world, which matures during storage. Bottom-fermenting yeast is used in the production of Lager-type beer.

At zero degrees, it is exposed and saturated with oxygen. It is this temperature that prevents the beer from oxidizing. Under such conditions, the must ferments for a week.

The beer is then fermented and matured at a low temperature. Then the beer remains filtered and bottled. Bottled beer can still undergo a process of pasteurization and fine filtration. This is done to increase the shelf life.

And in Europe there are still independent types of beer, such as lambic. This is a type of Belgian beer, for the production of which they use the method of spontaneous fermentation in barrels where the wine was previously aged.

For its preparation, unsprouted wheat grains and barley malt are used. The hops used to make this type of beer must be aged for at least three years. This contributes to the reduction of bitterness and aroma, which are not acceptable for this type of beer.

The must after boiling is poured into wine barrels. The walls of the barrels contain wild yeast, which, when interacting with the wort and air, start the fermentation process.

The main fermentation process lasts about a week. Further, the beer must be aged for several years. Most of the Lambic beers sold are a mix of different beers. Younger beers are usually mixed with older beers to get the right taste.

Wheat beer

Wheat beer is very popular in Southern Germany and Bavaria. It is usually unfiltered and light.
The most famous sort of such unfiltered beer is Hefeweizen.

According to beer lovers, it has a more “dense” consistency. Pasteurization of beer greatly degrades its quality, but significantly increases its shelf life. Therefore, true lovers of this intoxicating drink prefer unpasteurized beer.

There is also a sort of filtered wheat beer - Kristallweizen and dark beer Dunkelweizen.

This beer is top-fermented and has a pronounced fruity taste. For its preparation, different varieties of light wheat and light barley malt are mixed in a proportion of 75 and 25 percent.

It also uses a mixture of aromatic and bitter hops grown in Hallertau.

I would like to say about the type of beer that is called white beer - it is witbier. This wheat beer is produced in Flanders.

Berlin white beer (Berliner Weisse) has a very interesting taste and aroma.

Many connoisseurs of this drink compare it with some varieties of sparkling wines. The alcohol content of wheat beer ranges from five to five and a half percent.

A characteristic feature of wheat beer is the large amount of foam that forms when pouring beer. Therefore, before pouring beer, glasses have to be washed in cold water, which helps a little to contain the foam.

There are various traditions of pouring such beer. According to some, the beer glass should be tilted and the beer poured into it slowly. According to others, the glass should be put on top of the neck of the bottle and quickly turned over.

Hybrid beers

Hybrid beers are also widely used. Hybrid beers are the fruit of long selection and sampling in various combinations of ingredients and various constituents.

A separate category - special beers, includes beers that include various additives and have almost similar fermentation methods. The colors of such beer can vary from red to dark.

In fact, the color of the beer directly depends on how strongly the malt is roasted and on its quantity. Basically, roasted malt is used in the production of dark beer.

The most famous types of dark malt are Vienna, caramel, Munich, roasted and chocolate.

Dark can be not only Lager but also ale.

Non-alcoholic beer still contains alcohol and it is approximately from 0.2 to 1.0% alcohol. Non-alcoholic beer is produced according to several technologies. Due to the complexity of the preparation technology, its cost is much higher than the usual alcoholic one.

Some beer connoisseurs prefer altbier, pilsner, kölsch, green beer, half beer and kanun.

Eve beer was brewed on Michaelmas Day, or any other holiday (the eve of some date).

- translated from German means old beer. This is a sort of dark beer, for the preparation of which the technologies of top or traditional bottom fermentation are used, depending on the recipe. The alcohol content of Altbier is around 4.8%. In Germany, the most famous Altbier is brewed at the Diebels factory.

- literal translation "Pilsen". The beer is named after the Czech town of Pilsen. Belongs to the type of lager, carried out by the method of bottom fermentation.

- German light filtered beer from Cologne, density 11-14%. Beer has a characteristic yellow color palette. The beer stands out with a lighter and less intense hop flavor than Altbier.

green beer is a traditional Irish drink. This beer was drunk on St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. The green color of the beer comes from natural food coloring - lime.

Most green beers have an alcohol content of three to six percent.

Half beer - a light beer drink, from which it was almost impossible to get drunk, since during the manufacturing process it was diluted with 2 times more water than in the main recipe.

It was popular in Russia until the 19th century. Half beer was any liquid light beer. Saltykov-Shchedrin once wrote about half a beer. Rumor has it that Catherine the Second was a half-beer lover.

Every bartender should know what exists top and bottom fermented beer, ales and lagers, which, in turn, are divided into types

Ale and Lager
Top and bottom fermented beer

Top fermented beer (ale)

Allocate four main types of ale: beater, or bitter, porter, stout and lambic.
To the group bitters There are several varieties with color from light yellow to light brown, fawn. All of them are dry, with a noticeable bitterness that is felt in the aftertaste, and are popular as bottled varieties. For preparation, the lightest and most refined barley is used, giving light malt, and a relatively large amount of hops, which gives the drink a specific hoppy taste.
Porter appeared at the beginning of the 18th century. It was a mixture of three types: ale, beer and tupenny, a strong brand of beer that cost twopence a quart. Within a few years, the beer acquired the name "porter" as it was popular with London porters. Porter is a dark strong beer with a strong hop flavor.
Variety stout- the darkest grade of ale, prepared from a mixture of regular and roasted malt and has a strong hop flavor. Stout is predominantly an English drink.
The fourth kind of ale, lambic , prepared in some areas of Belgium. The malt solution is exposed to the open air, and the fermentation process takes place with the help of "wild" yeast in the air. To improve the taste, this variety of ales is usually flavored with fruit.

At top fermentation special yeast is used, which during the fermentation process rises with bubbles of carbon dioxide to the surface of the wort. The optimum fermentation temperature is 15-25°C. Often, horse beer is produced with the addition of malt substitutes, which are used as sugar, as well as rice, wheat and other grains. Horse beers are usually heavily hopped, and strong beers are sometimes hopped with additional hops during the maturation process. Top beer matures in cellars at 11-14°C. At the same temperature, this beer is served so that its merits are best manifested.
The most famous ales manufactured in England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium and the USA. They should not be confused with German riding beers.
In England, ale has been brewed since the beginning of the 7th century. It is made only from barley malt, hops, water and yeast. However, some brands of British and Irish ales now have added sugar, as well as barley, rice or corn starch. British ale is fermented for three to five days at a temperature of 16-21°C. After that, young ale is poured into containers, which are placed in a cool cellar (about 10-12 ° C) for after-fermentation and clarification, and then poured into barrels and corked with wooden corks.
In the UK, ale is not filtered or pasteurized. It is usually called real ale - “real ale” (in Russia, such a drink is now called “live” beer to emphasize its difference from pasteurized beer).

Bottom fermented beer (lager)

Lager began to be made in Bavaria in the 16th century. Before the advent of refrigeration units, such beer was brewed only in the winter months and took a break in the spring until the onset of autumn cold. Brewed in the spring, no later than March (by the way, it should be noted that this is why some lagers were called March beer), beer in Bavaria was stored in summer in Alpine ice-filled caves or in cold monastery cellars. Hence the name: in German lager - warehouse, storage.
Currently at least 90% of all beer consumed in the world is lagers. The lager is generally light golden in color, although dark varieties are also found. This category of beer is brewed with a small amount of hops and therefore has a mild, light taste.
Exists five main types of lager : light, pilsner, European amber, dark and bock. The most common and popular is the pilsner. In any fermentation of beer, two stages are distinguished: the main fermentation and the secondary. The latter is also called after-fermentation or post-fermentation. The main fermentation of bottom beer takes place at a temperature of 5-10°C and usually lasts 8-10 days, and at a lower temperature - up to 14 days. Most of the sugar in the must, mainly maltose, is converted to alcohol during the main fermentation. But the wort becomes beer and acquires all the richness of organoleptic properties only after a long fermentation, during which the residual sugar (isomaltose) breaks down, and the yeast settles to the bottom, as a result of which the beer becomes transparent. Quiet fermentation takes place in large barrels in the cellars and lasts from three weeks to four months or more. At the same time, even a lower temperature is maintained than during the main fermentation - 2.5-5 ° C, and sometimes up to 0 ° C.
In the past, grassroots beer in Bavaria was produced in two versions: for winter consumption (German: Schenkbier - "tavern beer"), which was drunk immediately after a short fermentation, and for summer (German: Lagerbier - "beer from stocks"), which was brewed in winter and subjected to longer fermentation in cold cellars. Since the production of grassroots beer was suspended in the summer, drinking establishments served Lagerbier stocked in winter, aged for three to four months.
Real lager is aged from one to four months (or even longer) in the cold of cellars connected to glaciers or equipped with refrigeration units.

It is replete with its diversity, but all of them can be divided into two main classes: top-fermented and bottom-fermented beer. This division is primarily due to the type of yeast involved in the birth of this foamy drink.

top fermentation

In the manufacture of beer through top fermentation, the so-called ale yeast is used. In the process of fermentation of the drink, a kind of cap of yeast and carbon dioxide bubbles forms on its surface, from where the name came from. The fermentation temperature of such beer ranges from 15 to 25 degrees.

Malt substitutes such as sugar, wheat, rice and other cereals are often added to such beers. As a rule, it is more alcohol-containing, and hops are added to the strongest varieties during the fermentation.

The temperature of the maturation of the drink, as well as its serving on the table, does not exceed 14 degrees.

There are several types of horse beer (Ale):

The lightest - beater can have shades from yellow to light brown. Beers in this group tend to be dry with a bitter aftertaste due to the large amount of hops used.

Dark beer with a higher alcohol content is called porter. According to its taste characteristics, it resembles a beater.

The darkest top-fermented beer, stout, is made using light and roasted malt. With a strong hop flavor, the stout is most popular in England.

Purely Belgian ale - lambic, fermented in the open air due to the so-called wild yeast. In its flavor range there are various fruit tones due to aromatization with fresh fruits.

The most famous ale producers are in the UK, Belgium, Ireland and the USA. German and Czech wheat ales are also popular.

The classic English ale recipe, dating back to the 7th century, includes barley malt, hops, yeast and water. But today, starch from various cereals and sugar are often added to it. In this case, English ale does not undergo the procedure of filtration and pasteurization. In Russia, such beer is usually called "live".

bottom fermentation

Bottom-fermented beers (lagers) are obtained due to the fact that the yeast used for this settles at the bottom of the vat, while the whole process takes place at a temperature of no more than 14 degrees C.

Bavaria is considered to be the birthplace of lager. Back in the 16th century, it was cooked exclusively in the cold season, up to March. And all summer it was kept in the Alpine cold caves. Which gave the name to the drink - lager in German means storage.

Today, the lager is usually divided into five varieties: European amber, light, bock, dark and pilsner. The latter is the most widely used.

In the manufacture of lager, the last stage - fermentation is carried out at a lower temperature (in some cases 0 degrees) and a longer period. This allows the drink to completely lighten and saturate with flavors.

Currently, lagers are the most popular and widespread type of beer and account for about 90 percent of all beer consumed in the world. Due to the small amount of added hops (unlike ales), lagers have a milder and lighter taste. They are also characterized by greater stability, which ensures a longer shelf life.

It is also impossible not to mention such a type of beer as non-alcoholic. Despite the ambiguous opinion among lovers of an intoxicating drink about its advantages and disadvantages, this type of beer also belongs to lagers and has already managed to gain popularity among true gourmets.