Dominic Roskrow - Craft Beer - More than 100 of the world’s top craft beers

Beer styles

Alt:A German-style brown ale. Alt translates as ‘old’ in German, and traditionally Altbiers are conditioned for longer than normal.

Belgian ale:Ales under approximately 7.0% ABV that do not fit other categories. Colour ranges from golden to deep amber.

Belgian blonde:Typically fruity, moderately malty, sweet, quite spicy, easy-drinking, copper-coloured ale.

Belgian strong pale ale:Treat with caution, due to high alcohol content. Expect a complex and powerful ale, yet delicate with rounded flavours.

Berliner weisse:a top-fermented, bottle-conditioned wheat beer. The taste is refreshing, tart, sour and acidic, with a lemony-citric fruit sharpness.

Bière de garde:From Northern France. Golden to deep copper or light brown in colour and characterised by a toasted malt aroma, slight malt sweetness in flavour, and medium hop bitterness.

Bitter:A gold to copper colour, with a biscuity malt and hoppy flavour, and medium to high bitterness.

Brown ale:Colour ranges from reddish-brown to dark brown. Beers termed brown ale include sweet low-alcohol beers, medium strength amber beers of moderate bitterness and malty but hoppy beers.

Dubbel:A rich malty beer with some spicy phenolic nuttiness. Mild hop bitterness with no lingering hop flavours.

Dunkel:Traditionally from Bavaria. Smooth, full-bodied, rich and complex, but without being heady or heavy. They boast brilliant ruby hues from the large amount of Munich malts used.

Farmhouse ale:Another name for Saison beers.

Golden ale:Pale, well-hopped and quenching beer developed in the 1980s. Strengths range from 3.5% to 5.3%.

Gose:An unfiltered wheat beer made with 50–60% malted wheat, which creates a cloudy yellow colour and provides a refreshing crispness and a touch of brine.

Gueuze:A traditional Belgian blend of young and old lambics, which are then blended, bottled and aged for two to three years to produce a drier, fruitier and more intense style of lambic.

Hefeweisse:German style of wheat beer made with a typical ratio of 50:50, or even higher, wheat. Has flavours of banana and cloves with an often dry and tart edge, some spiciness, bubblegum or notes of apples.

Imperial stout:Imperial stouts are usually extremely dark brown to black in colour and are intensely malty, deeply roasted and sometimes with accents of dark fruit and chocolate. Imperial stouts are strong and generally exceed 8.0% ABV.

IPA – India Pale Ale:The darling of craft brewing. It is stronger and more bitter than standard pale ale – and was pioneered in England in the early 19th century. There are worldwide varieties. The American version is bigger and bolder with grapefruit, pine, and citrus flavours.

Kölsch – from Köln:Light, delicate top-fermented beer with a dry finish.

Lambic:Naturally fermented with wild yeasts. Dry, sour and acidic, it’s very much a specialist taste, and has grapefruit-like fruitiness. Closer in character to cider or fino sherry.

Old ale:Dark and malty and often of a higher alcoholic strength.

Pale ale:Hoppy and malty flavour and a golden to amber colour. British pale ales can be quite bitter; American-style pale ales have more citrus notes.

Pilsener:Well-hopped, with spicy, herbal, or floral aroma and flavour, with some citrus-like zesty hoppy bitterness.

Pilsner:From Bohemia in the Czech Republic. Medium- to full-bodied. Characterised by high carbonation and tangy Czech varieties of hops that impart floral aromas and a crisp, bitter finish.

Porter:Traditional and historical English beer. Black or chocolate malt gives the porter its dark brown colour. Porters are often well hopped and so heavily malted. There is considerable diversity in style but porters may be sweet.

Saison:Distinctive Belgian-style beer with lactic character and fruity, goaty and / or leather-like aromas and flavours. Specialty ingredients (including spices) may contribute a unique and signature character.

Schwarzbier:Refreshing, dark lagered German beer.

Sour beer:Covers a number of styles but with an intentionally acidic, tart or sour taste. Examples include lambics, gueuze and Flanders red ale.

Stout:Dry, roast and butter.

Tripel:Bright yellow to gold in colour. Complex, spicy, fruity and estery, with a sweet finish. Tend to be high in alcohol.

Witbier:Light, fluffy body and tart, lemony finish. Textured with wheat, very yeasty, and with pungent spices and hints of herbs.

Wood aged beers:Beer matured in oak casks. The casks come from various sources.

3 Monts

PRODUCER:Brasserie de St-Sylvestre

AREA OF ORIGIN:Saint Sylvestre Cappel, France

VARIETY:Golden ale

ABV:8.5%

WEBSITE: www.brasserie-st-sylvestre.com

Brasserie de St-Sylvestre takes the view that the future of small brewers requires looking backwards to traditional brewing methods. It believes the expense of modern mechanisation has favoured the big brewing companies, pointing out that of 2000 small village breweries at the beginning of the 20th century, only 30 remain open now, and two-thirds of those are in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In order to survive, it argues, these small breweries have specialised in traditional beers, in contrast to the big boys. 3 Monts is one such ale, a throwback to another era with big, fruity and hoppy flavours. This ale has a light grassy nose. On the palate it starts sweet and malty, with softly sour wine-like characters and a decent bitter mouthfeel. It has a bitter and dryish finish. A great and refreshing but strong and tasty golden ale.

Abominable Winter Ale

PRODUCER:Hopworks Urban Brewery

AREA OF ORIGIN:Portland, USA

VARIETY:American IPA

ABV:7.3%

WEBSITE: www.hopworksbeer.com

Hopworks is a brewery in Portland Oregon that makes a wide range of beers, both as core offerings and as seasonal releases. Abominable Winter Ale is made with organic Northwest hops and organic malt, and the brewery describes it as a complex floral, spicy, and citrusy beer. Despite its weighty alcoholic content, it is surprisingly easy to drink, with a medium-full mouthfeel and a distinct and enjoyable hoppiness. The taste mixes citrus and resinous hops notes with some light sweetness. There is some limited bitterness, with good floral notes. The body is fuller than average and there’s a nice mixture of malt and fresh hops notes.

Hopworks has now made its range of beers available in attractive and colourful cans as well as traditional bottles, and includes ciders in its portfolio.

Amarillo Sour

PRODUCER:Chorlton Brewing Company

AREA OF ORIGIN:Manchester, England

VARIETY:Sour beer

ABV:5.4%

WEBSITE: www.chorltonbrewingcompany.com

Sour beer is beer that has an intentionally acidic, tart or sour taste. The most common sour beer styles are Belgian: lambics, gueuze and Flanders red ale. The sourness is created by natural yeasts that would have found their way into beers before the introduction of the sterilised conditions associated with modern breweries. Amarillo Sour is based on the sour beer traditions of Prussia and Saxony but it is brewed like a modern pale ale. It is fermented twice: first, with Lactobacillus to give a balanced acidity, and then with a British strain of brewer’s yeast for a smooth body. It’s then dry hopped to give big juicy flavours with negligible bitterness. This is a thirst-quenching beer with a fragrant and clean taste and a sharp acidity, grapefruit flavours and no bitterness.