Bitsize Guide to Beer Vol 3: It's a Family Thing...

Credit: Pop Chart Labs

In Volume 1 we briefly talked about the three beer families, linked by that most modest of all the beer ingredients, yeast! Today we'll delve a little deeper, talk about some styles that have branched out from the three families. Hopefully by the end of this lesson you will be able to distinguish a Pilsner from a Pale Ale, a Stout from a Saison and a Bock from a Brown Ale... 

So, let's recap.

Yeast is the magic ingredient in beer that converts the sugars from the malted barley into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Without it we would all be drinking flat, non-alcoholic hop-porridge run off and nobody wants that.

There are 3 main types of Yeast and this will dictate what kind of beer you end up with:

 Lager Yeast, known as Saccharomyces Pastorianus (its ok, we can't really pronounce it either), ferments at cooler temperatures and drops to the bottom of the fermenting vessel. Fermentation is generally slower than ales and can take between 5 and 12 days to ferment. There are around 150 lager yeast strains, which in beer terms, is relatively few!

Ale Yeast- Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (this won't be on the exam, I promise), ferment at warmer temperatures than lager and collect at the top of the vessel. Ales yeasts generally take less time to do their work, around 3-5 days, so ales are one of the fastest beers to be ready to drink. There are estimated to be around 2000 ale yeast strains, all of which impart different flavours on the beer, which, along with different hops and types of malt, make ales a very diverse and interesting family.

Wild Yeast, a crazy little thing called Brettanomyces is the key ingredient in most "sour" beers such as Lambics, Gueuze and so-called "wild" beers. This little critter is not added to the wort in the same way as Ales or Lagers, the brewer simply leaves the liquid open to the elements and allows nature to run its course. There is wild yeast all around us, which is why your uncle's home-made apple juice turns to cider if left alone for long enough, unless he took great care to sterilised the apples! Wild yeast ferments slowly at a nice ambient temperature, which is why those delicious Lambics come from the perfect conditions of the Belgian countryside.

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Now that we know all about the yeast, we can start to look at the branches of each of these families' trees. Below are some common beers you may come across and a little about them. Where does your favourite style lie?


Ales 

• Kolsch/ Altbier (freshly served beers with provenance from the German cities of Cologne and Dusseldorf respectively) 
• Golden/ Pale/ Red/ Amber/ [insert appearance here] Ale (Mostly hailing from UK, USA, Australia etc, darker colours tend to be more malt- led such as Amber and red ales, while pale ales tend to be driven more by hops) 
• IPA/ Double IPA (hops hops hops hops hops hops hops..... a popular style derived from the British beers sent to India during her occupation. The hops helped to keep the beer fresher for the long journey and became popular among soldiers) 
• English Ales (such as Brown ales, Old Ale, Mild Ale, Bitter etc. Often served on hand-pumped cask instead of draught)
• Porters/ Stouts (the classic "black" beer made with darkly roasted malted barley. Tend to be heavy on rich notes such as coffee and burnt caramel) 
• Wheat beers (AKA "White" beers- Wit, Weiss etc. Wheat added to mash along with the malted barley. Tend to be quite viscous and sweet with banana or clove-like notes) 
• Belgian beers (tend to be rich and sweet with caramel and toffee notes. Can be quite strong with many abvs around 10%. Trappist beers included here but would need a section of their own!) 
• Saison (farmhouse style ales. Rich, sweet and slightly funky) 

Wild Beers 

• Belgian Lambics (the classic wild beers with a long history- many with fruit added. Lovely dessert beers) 
• Flanders Red or Brown ales (mixed fermentation with some wild yeast) 
• Gueuze (a blend of old and young lambic beers that will be re-fermented. Dry and complex) 
• Gose (a salty beer often brewed with Brettanomyces)  

Lager 

• Pilsner (Czech- crisp, clean and bright) 
• Pilsener (German golden or amber-hued lager) 
• Helles (another German golden lager) 
• Bock/ Dopplebock (a strong, German Lager) 
• American Light Lager (crap- whoops I mean.... nope. Crap. Sorrynotsorry) 

Now you have a good base knowledge of the different styles of beer why not join me for one of my Walking Tours to try out some of these styles and taste them for yourself? Follow She Drinks Beer on Facebook or Instagram for upcoming dates!