Variety of Beer
While there are many different types of beer brewed around the globe, the basics of brewing beer are shared across national and cultural boundaries.
The traditional European brewing regions-Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria-have local varieties of beer.
In some countries, notably the USA, Canada and Australia, brewers have adapted the European styles
to such an extent that they have effectively created their own indigenous types.
Despite the regional variations, beer is commonly categorized into two main types-the globally popular pale lagers and the more regionally distinct ales, which are further categorized into other varieties such as pale ale, stout and brown ale.
The late British beer writer Michael Jackson, in his 1977 book The World Guide To Beer, categorized a variety of beers from around the world in local style groups suggested by local customs and names. Fred Eckhardt furthered Jackson’s work in The Essentials of Beer Style in 1989.
The most common method of categorizing beer is by the behavior of the yeast used in the fermentation process. In this method of categorizing, beers using a fast-acting yeast which leaves behind residual sugars are termed “ales”, while beers using a slower-acting yeast, fermented at lower temperatures, which removes most of the sugars, leaving a clean, dry beer, are termed “lagers”.
Differences between some ales and lagers can be difficult to categorize. Steam beer, Kölsch, Alt, and some modern British Golden Summer Beers use elements of both lager and ale production. Baltic Porter and Bière de Garde may be produced by either lager or ale methods or a combination of both. However, lager production results in a cleaner-tasting, drier and lighter beer than ale.
In the next 2 articles, more will be covered about Ale and Lager.
Reference / Source of information: Wikipedia.org
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