100m. For Adams?

[The Midnight]

Commercial breweries don't have to adhere to style guidelines and can call their beer whatever they think will get people drink it.

When I get home I can find an old post that gives some of the history of India Pale Ale, notice is not Indian. The first reference to what is now called IPA called it "Pale Ale as prepared for India."

Pale Ale itself started after they started using coke to malt grains, which prevented it from darkening too much. Before that all beer was at least amber because there were charred bits of grain that added color to the beer.

Anyway, fast forward, the East India Trading Company mostly brought good from India back to England. There was one particular brewery that make a pale ale that was more bitter than most others and was on the way for the ships leaving England and provided very favorable terms to ship captain's who were allowed to transport their own goods in their empty ships on thirty easy to India. So, this extra bitter pale ale became a popular choice. Turns out it also suited the tastes of British expats in the hot climate of India, and was one of the first beers served chilled.

Well one day a ship caring this beer crashed off the cost of England and was written off, which allowed local pubs to sell it. It was a hit.

Anyway, the biggest difference between IPA, English pale ale and American pale ale is the amount and variety of hops used.

English hops are earthy and floral, American hops are piney, curtsy and fruity. But it gets a little more complicated because typical English yeast strains produce esters that have a stone fruit quality.

American IPAs can be anything the Brewer wants to call an IPA, but do tend to be the most bitter and have the most focus on late addition hops which don't produce bitterness but do provide flavor and aroma that can be anything from pine to kiwi.

That's more than I like to type on my phone. I'm sure there are tons of autocorrect errors.

Thanks so much man, that is absolutely fascinating. If I don't like beer too bitter but are flavourful and lots of flagrant what are my choices? Sounds like either English/American would suit my taste best?


Also am I right in that malty beers are dark and hoppy beers are light?

 

[Gameface]

Thanks so much man, that is absolutely fascinating. If I don't like beer too bitter but are flavourful and lots of flagrant what are my choices? Sounds like either English/American would suit my taste best?


Also am I right in that malty beers are dark and hoppy beers are light?

No. Color has almost no impact on how heavy or dry, bitter or sweet a beer is.

If course the are certain flavors that only come from dark grains, so you're not going to get a roasted grain flavor in a light colored beer because those flavors come from rotating grains until they are dark. But it's easy to darken a beer without adding roasted flavors.

I can't tell you what to drink. I don't really know what you're looking for as far s flavor out what too bitter means to you. I also have no idea what's available in NZ.

 

[The Midnight]

No. Color has almost no impact on how heavy or dry, bitter or sweet a beer is.

If course the are certain flavors that only come from dark grains, so you're not going to get a roasted grain flavor in a light colored beer because those flavors come from rotating grains until they are dark. But it's easy to darken a beer without adding roasted flavors.

I can't tell you what to drink. I don't really know what you're looking for as far s flavor out what too bitter means to you. I also have no idea what's available in NZ.

OK so when they say it's a dry beer, what does that actually mean? I see Asahi advertises their beer as being 'Super Dry'.

 

[b_line]

The league needs more teams.

 

[Gameface]

OK so when they say it's a dry beer, what does that actually mean? I see Asahi advertises their beer as being 'Super Dry'.

Heavy and dry are about the amount of residual sweetness in a beer.

Beer has three major components. Water, alcohol and sugar. As a Brewer I measure the specific gravity of a beer before fermentation, that tells me how much sugar is in the beer. After fermentation I measure again. The difference between the pre fermentation gravity and post fermentation gravity tells me how much of the sugar was converted to alcohol.

On the specific gravity scale water equals 1. You're average beer will be around 1.050 before fermentation and around 1.010 after. That's just a rough average to give you an idea. Sugar is more dense than water and alcohol is less dense than water. A heavy beer might be around 1.018 after fermentation and a dry beer might be around 1.006.

Sugar provides a thicker mouth feel, or more body. That's what we'd call a "heavy" beer.

Alcohol makes a beer seem thin and it produces a slight dryness on the tongue. So a beer with a low gravity and noticeable alcohol presence is called "dry".

Asahi is just using the term "super dry" as a marketing term. It's a dry beer. To be super dry they'd need to have a gravity around 0.990, which I'm sure they don't.

 

[The Midnight]

Heavy and dry are about the amount of residual sweetness in a beer.

Beer has three major components. Water, alcohol and sugar. As a Brewer I measure the specific gravity of a beer before fermentation, that tells me how much sugar is in the beer. After fermentation I measure again. The difference between the pre fermentation gravity and post fermentation gravity tells me how much of the sugar was converted to alcohol.

On the specific gravity scale water equals 1. You're average beer will be around 1.050 before fermentation and around 1.010 after. That's just a rough average to give you an idea. Sugar is more dense than water and alcohol is less dense than water. A heavy beer might be around 1.018 after fermentation and a dry beer might be around 1.006.

Sugar provides a thicker mouth feel, or more body. That's what we'd call a "heavy" beer.

Alcohol makes a beer seem thin and it produces a slight dryness on the tongue. So a beer with a low gravity and noticeable alcohol presence is called "dry".

Asahi is just using the term "super dry" as a marketing term. It's a dry beer. To be super dry they'd need to have a gravity around 0.990, which I'm sure they don't.

That's very informative actually - you should start a beer thread and have all this information there, where people can come and ask questions, etc. I find this very fascinating.


I guess I'm a 'heavy' beer kinda guy then, I prefer a heavier, sweeter beer, if there is 1, and not too bitter.


When buying beer then how can you tell how 'heavy' or 'dry' a beer is before buying? Is there any info on the label that tells you that? Like Heineken vs Corona vs Hoegarden, which is more sweet than others? Or do you just have to taste it to determine?

 

[Gameface]

Some craft beers list the SG and FG (starting and finishing gravities) as well as the IBUs (international bitterness units) but not many do and none of the major brands that I've seen.

 

[RandyForRubio]

Just drink the damn beer and see if you like it. Try different things, don't typecast what beers you like before you drink them.

 

[The Midnight]

Just drink the damn beer and see if you like it. Try different things, don't typecast what beers you like before you drink them.

Well it's good to know these basic stuff so when you're drinking it though. It's good to get educated about stuff like this IMO. You can enjoy it more knowing what goes into it, etc.

 

[The Midnight]

Some craft beers list the SG and FG (starting and finishing gravities) as well as the IBUs (international bitterness units) but not many do and none of the major brands that I've seen.

Ah ok, thanks.


Another quick question, like you can get a 12 pack of Corona for like $24, so it's like $2 per bottle. But when you go to the craft beer section, it's like $6 PER BOTTLE.


Why is it so much more expensive? Do they use higher quality hops and malts, and do they actually supposed to taste 3 times better (i.e., as the price is x3 more expensive)?

 

[RandyForRubio]

I wanna slap you in the face.

 

[Gameface]

Ah ok, thanks.


Another quick question, like you can get a 12 pack of Corona for like $24, so it's like $2 per bottle. But when you go to the craft beer section, it's like $6 PER BOTTLE.


Why is it so much more expensive? Do they use higher quality hops and malts, and do they actually supposed to taste 3 times better (i.e., as the price is x3 more expensive)?

Let's move this to one of the threads I just bumped