- Water
- Malted cereal grains – Usually Malted Barley
- Yeast – Before microorganism identification, this was supplied using bread or by the open air
Although not essential, nowadays almost all beers also use Hops as a preservative, to flavour beers, and to bring bitterness from its Alpha acids and essential oils.
The biggest distinction within beer is the type of yeast used. This creates the categories, Ale and Lager. Ale is where a beer is brewed with top-fermenting yeast, usually at room temperature; Lager is where a beer is brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast, usually at a cooler temperature.
Of these categories, Ale has the most sub-categories within it due to a variation of hops, malts, yeast and other additions. These subcategories include:
- Pale Ale – These are defined by the use light malts and low levels of hops. Pale Ales of note include:
- English Bitter – an easy drinking beer that has a high bittering flavour from the hops but with low hop flavour. Although classed as a pale ale, many often have a darker colour of - up to that of brown ales.
- Saison – These use predominantly pilsner malt; they sometimes use herbs and spices to add flavour, along with hops (sometimes dry hopped). A famous continental European pale ale also is known as a Farmhouse ale; traditionally it is brewed in the winter for consumption in the summer by the farmers.
- Cream Ale – This is an unusual ale that fermented with an ale yeast but at the colder temperature usually associated with lagers.
- Kölsch – Region specific so it can only be produced by certain breweries in Cologne ("Köln" in German). It is warm-fermented and then lagered.
- Bière de Garde – A strong, cellar-aged pale ale that is traditionally brewed in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
- Grissette – Similar to the saison, but with hops to give a refreshing characteristic. Brewed for miners instead of farmers.
- Amber/Red Ale – These are similar to Pale Ales but use more caramel malts to create a darker, redder colour.
- Brown Ale – These are similar to Amber Ales but use more caramel malts and some roasted malts to give a deep brown colour.
- Mild Ale – these are predominantly malty brown ales with low alcohol and hop levels.
- Altbier is similar to the Cream Ales as the are dark copper colour ales brewed at lager temperatures, this beer is a speciality of the Westphalia region of Germany - in particular, Düsseldorf. It should be noted however that some breweries brew their "Altbier" with lager yeast, this is inaccurate as “alt” refers to the old style of brewing - which is with ale yeast.
- Scotch Ale – These are similar to Amber Ales but have a much richer and sweeter flavour.
- 60/70/80/90 Shilling Ales are types of Scotch ale that are important to note - the higher the number usually indicates higher alcohol content.
- Belgian Strong Ale – These usually have fruity and spicy esters with a rich malty body. They are produced with a Belgian ale yeast strain that gives a distinct flavour and allows the high alcohol levels to be produced. Trappist breweries predominantly produce these types of ales. Belgian Strong Ales of note include:
- Dubbel – These have a deep red colour and a moderately strong.
- Tripel – These have a deep golden colour and are stronger than Dubbels.
- Quad – These have a deep brown colour and are even stronger than Tripels.
- Belgian IPA – These are IPA's that use something akin to a Tripel base but with an IPA level of hops.
- Stout/Porter – These use a high level of roasted malts to give a black colour but with limited hop characteristic. Traditionally a Stout was a strong porter, however, nowadays the names are interchangeable. Types of Porters and Stouts of note include:
- Oatmeal Stout – These are Stouts that use a significant portion of Oatmeal which gives a velvety mouthfeel.
- Milk Stout – These use lactose (an unfermentable sugar) to sweeten it.
- Black IPA – These use the malt body of a Stout or Porter but the hop level of an IPA. This beer is also known as a Cascadian Dark Ale.
- Dry Irish Stout – A stout with a lighter body (but darker in colour) and a dry note coming from the roasted barley
- Imperial Stout – Also known as a Russian Imperial Stout, these are Stouts that have an increased malt body, hop profile (but less in profile due to masking), and alcohol content. Originally brewed in the 19th century to win favour with the Russian Czar.
- The Baltic regions made their own version, similar to the Imperial Stout, creating the Baltic Porter style, which is usually cold fermented.
- Wheat Beer – These use wheat and wheat malt as a high proportion of the malt bill; these can include lagers as you will see below. The types ales in this category include:
- Hefeweizen – These use at least 50% malted wheat and the rest pale malts (usually pilsner malt). When filtered it can be called a Kristallweizen but outside of Germany it is often not.
- Dunkelweizen – Similar to the Hefeweizen but uses more dark malts such as Munich malt to give a stronger malt flavour and darker colour.
- Weizenbock – This is wheat beer brewed in the style of a Bock (see lagers) but using ale yeast.
- Witbier – Similar to the Hefeweizen but uses unmalted wheat instead of malted wheat. They are often spiced with Orange peel and Coriander Seed.
- White IPA – These are a very new style of IPA that uses a Witbier base but with an IPA level of hops.
- India Pale Ale (IPA) – These are similar to Pale Ales but have a much higher level of hops to give more bitterness and hop flavours. These include the Black IPA and Belgian IPA mentioned below.
- Imperial IPA – Also known as Double IPAs (IIPA/DIPA). These are IPA's that have an increased malt body, hop content, and alcohol content; essentially it is just a bigger IPA. This term is dependent on the brewery as one brewery's Double IPA will be another IPA.
- For Belgian IPA, Black IPA, and White IPA look under Belgian Strong Ale, Stout/Porter and Wheat Beer respectively.
- Sour Beer – These are allowed ferment for years using wild yeasts and bacteria, often allowed to spontaneously ferment via infection. The hops for these are aged to get rid of all hop flavour but give bitterness and preservation properties. Lambic is another name that is commonly used for this type of beer, but strictly it refers to spontaneously fermented beer made in the region of Pajottenland in Brussels.
- Gueuze – These are a blend of old and young lambics with the young lambics acting as a primer to give carbonation.
- Fruit Lambic – These are similar to Gueuzes but fruit is added in the process. Examples of this include Kriek, that use cherries, and Framboise, that use raspberries.
- Faro – These are similar to Gueuzes but either sugar or Belgian Candi is added in the process.
- Gose –
- Flanders Red Ale –
- Berliner Weisse –
- Barleywine – These are similar to a Pale Ale but richer. They use more malt giving a darker, colour, thicker mouthfeel and higher alcohol content. There are also more hops to balance this richer flavour.
Real Ale is Ale that has been cask (or bottle) conditioned and thus the final stages of fermentation are done after leaving the brewery. This means that it is constantly developing and requires constant care and attention from the publican - hence why if you go to a bad pub in the UK you can get awful Real Ale that elsewhere would be really good (you can also get Real Ales that are bad anywhere due to the Brewers just being bad). The CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) movement has been going in the UK since the 70's and has done a good job in bringing back the Real Ale methods that were getting lost to the macro-lagers; concentrating mainly on the English Bitter style mentioned above. However, I think we have now got to the point where CAMRA is becoming a bit stuffy and will only accept Real Ale as good beer; rejecting all Lagers and Ales that are completed in the brewery then packaged in kegs. This is a shame as it leaves out many great beers, including the wonderful world of Lagers:
- Pale Lager – This is basically a Pale Ale but brewed with Lager yeast, generally the base pale malt tends to be a pale lager malt that is slightly different.
- Pilsner – A type of pale lager that uses a varying amount of hops to get a strong hop flavour (usually European hops). Originally from the city of Plzeň in the Bohemian part of the Czech Republic.
- Helles – Also known as "Munich Original Lager" this is a very German lager that has a low but lingering note of hops.
- Dortmunder – Like the Altbier this is another speciality of the Westphalia region of Germany. This beer has a malty body like the Helles, but with a bit more biscuit, and a hoppy bitterness comparable to the Pilsners.
- Amber/Red Lager – As with the Pale Lager the Amber/Red Lager is essentially an Amber/Red Ale but brewed with Lager yeast; it also generally uses pale lager malts as a base,
- California Common – This is an unusual lager that fermented with a lager yeast but at the warmer temperature usually associated with ales, pretty much the antithesis of a Cream Ale.
- Märzen – Also known as the "Oktoberfestbier" this beer was brewed to be extra strong and aged for 4-8 weeks (although it is not considered strong by today's comparison). It is also quite well hopped, to prevent infection, and should have a malty body with a dry finish.
- Kellerbier –
- Vienna Lager –
- Dark Lager – These are darker than the Amber/Red Lagers, using more roasted malts, and are the equivalent of Brown Ales, Porters, and Stouts but brewed with Lager yeast.
- Munich Dunkel –
- Schwarzbier –
- Bock –
- Maibock/Helles Bock –
- Doppelbock –
- Eisbock –
Other modifications to these styles include
- Rye Beer – These use a significant amount of malted rye in the grain bill to impart a peppery taste, they can be adaptations to most styles but usually to the paler beers.
- Fruit/Spiced Beer – These can use a variety of grain bills but use spices and/or fruit in addition or in replacement of hops. This includes the Framboise, Kriek, and some Witbiers mentioned above.
- Gruit is an old style of ales that use spice (as hops were not present) and is a style of beer in itself.
- Smoked – These use smoked malts to impart a smoked flavour. These smoked malts can be used in all types of beer but are generally found in stouts. This includes the Rauchbier mentioned above.
- Rauchbier – These are a particular type of smoked beer with a distinctive smoked flavour imparted by using malted barley dried over an open flame; more commonly found in Bamberg in Germany
- Wood Aged – These can be any style of beer that has had a maturation process in a wooden barrel, usually oak.
The Craft Beer Movement came out of America in the 90's and focus' on making good beer, with no limitations. Real Ale in the UK has its limitations as it won't allow any Lagers or Kegged Ales, the Reinheitsgebot in Germany has its limitations as it will not allow anything that is not Malt, Hops, Water, or Yeast. Whilst under these limitations many breweries have produced fantastic beers it does not have the same opportunities as the Craft Beer Movement which can make beers based on any of the styles mentioned above, can mix styles - such as India Pale Lagers, Black Lambics, Oatmeal Pale Ales, etc. - to create fantastic new styles, and can enhance the flavour of any beer by using a wealth of different ingredients such as fruit, spices, herbs, even wacky things like Bacon and Rocky Mountain Oysters (look it up if you dare).
