THE BEER ALPHABET

A

Ale – a beer fermented at a higher temperature and characteristic of breweries in the United Kingdom. There are several types of ale, which differ according to the ingredients used, the country and city of origin, alcohol content, colour…

Amber – a lager or ale with an amber colour, which brewers achieve by adding caramel malt.

APA (American Pale Ale) – a light-coloured American beer made primarily with the addition of American hops, featuring a more intense, fruitier flavour.

Abbey beer – various types of beer brewed by monks in monasteries or in commercial breweries that donate a portion of their profits to a nearby monastery.

B

Barley wine – a type of ale known as barley wine. It has a higher alcohol content.

Bock – a dark beer, brewed as an ale as far back as the 14th century in Germany. Its colour ranges from reddish-brown to dark brown.

C

Cask ale – beer that is kept in wooden barrels at cellar temperatures instead of in steel kegs. Consequently, the beer has lower carbonation and is served at cellar temperature.

G

Gose – a sour wheat ale from Germany with traditionally added coriander and salt.

Golden ale – an English version of a lager with a slightly lower alcohol content.

H

Harvest ale – a beer that has been hopped with freshly picked and undried hops. This type of beer is brewed in September during the hop harvest.

I

IPA (India Pale Ale) – a type of beer. Its distinctive features are a higher alcohol content and a high hop content, which was used as a preservative on long voyages from the United Kingdom to India during the colonial era.

Imperial double or triple IPA – a strong, intensely hopped version of the traditional India Pale Ale.

L

Lager – still the most common type of beer today. There are several types of lager, which differ according to the ingredients used, the country and city of origin, alcohol content, colour…

There are pale and dark lagers, depending on whether the malt is roasted or not. The name lager refers to a warehouse or storeroom, and thus to the production process in which the beer is matured for several months at temperatures close to zero degrees Celsius, which clarifies it.

Lager – derives from German.

M

Märzen – a German amber lager, March beer. It is traditionally brewed in March, as there was once a decree in Germany that beer could only be brewed between September and April (due to cooler temperatures and the resulting control over the process).

P

Pale ale – an English light beer of the ale type. It is a close relative of bitter ale, but contains more hops.

Pils – originates from Plzeň in the Czech Republic. Pilsner-type beers belong to the lager family.

Porter – an English dark beer made with roasted malt.

R

Radler – a mixture of beer and orangeade or lemonade.

Red ale – a reddish-coloured beer, ranging from orange to dark red. Irish red ale is well known, being a variation of the classic English pale ale.

Russian imperial stout – a strongly hopped dark beer with a high alcohol content and a distinctively pronounced roasted character.

S

Saison – a type of beer originating from Wallonia. It is a pale beer, often with added spices and herbs, such as pepper.

Stout – an Irish dark, almost black beer. The darker and more bitter sibling of the porter type, which uses heavily roasted malt, resulting in flavours of dark chocolate and coffee.

Smoked beer – a beer containing malt dried over smoke, usually by burning oak.

Sour beer – a beer produced by spontaneous or wild fermentation. It acquires its acidity through the addition of various cultures of microorganisms. Such beer is often fermented in wooden barrels or open tuns to allow various microorganisms to settle in them.

T

Trappist – beer produced by monks of the Trappist order in monasteries. Most are found in Belgium. There are only eleven breweries in the world permitted to brew this type of beer.

U

Union – a popular type of beer with a milder taste, brewed using a special process, flavoured with the indigenous Slovenian hop variety of Aurora and fermented with its own yeast strain (strain C16).

W

Wheat beer – contains a high percentage of wheat malt.

Z

Zlatorog – a beer brewed in Laško according to a traditional recipe that has remained unchanged for decades. Its characteristic bitterness and specific flavour are provided by the indigenous Slovenian hop varieties of Aurora and Celeia.