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Foreign Beer Styles
by Ian McLaren
For those of you thinking of sampling the foreign beer at this year's London Drinker Beer Festival, Ian McLaren takes you on a journey.
How many times have you been to a beer festival and seen the foreign beer bar without visiting it? Perhaps you think it is all going to be fizzy lager (Stella Artois has a lot to answer for). Or perhaps you are worried that it will all be too complicated. If so, here are a few answers to your unspoken questions:
1. Yes, it's good beer
Everyone that works at a beer festival is a CAMRA member, devoted to promoting and drinking good beer. If we didn't like what's on offer, we wouldn't order it.
2. No, it doesn't all taste the same
It doesn't even look the same. A pale wheat beer can be white or creamy, and could taste of wheat, orange peel or exotic fruits. Gueuze, the wheat beer from Brussels, can be very sour. A dark wheat beer could be almost black, rich and chocolate tasting. The alcohol level could be anything from 2.5% to 8.5%. And that's just one beer style of many.
3. Yes, there are ales
Most European countries have an ale tradition as well as producing 'lager'– that is, brewing top fermented beer as well as bottom fermented. In Belgium, the pale ales can be very similar to a Burton best bitter. They might also be much stronger: the Abbey Double style is for dark beers of 7-8% abv while the Triple style is paler and stronger. In southern Belgium and France the beers are often spiced. They might be called Saison or Scotch. The Alt beers of northern Germany (Dusseldorf and Koln) are very pale, and usually below 5% abv. Wheat beers are all ales as well.
4. No, there are lots of lager styles
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, all lagers were dark beers. Pale ones were developed in Plzn in Bohemia: the original one is Pilsner Urquell. Even from this region there are still dark lagers: the stronger ones are sometimes called Porter. The Munich style of lagers was a pale brown: these are still made: stronger ones are called Bock and are often made for Christmas or the New Year. You may even find the red lagers of Vienna. The taste of lager can range from neutral euro-p*** to hoppy, grainy and fruity styles. Generally, the deeper the colour, the stronger the flavour.
5. Yes, beers come in fruit flavours
There are many ways to flavour beer. The types of barley malt, yeast and hops make as much impact on foreign as on British beers. In Belgium and Holland, there is also a tradition of using other ingredients to flavour the beers. Fruit flavours may be added during the boil or during fermentation. The best results seem to come from sour cherries (Kriek) and raspberries (Frambozen). Other real fruits include figs, dates, apricots and blackcurrants. Quite often these affect the aroma of the brew rather than the taste. Nearly all the good beers finish dry: the sweet, low alcohol concoctions are essentially shandy – taste-free beer plus fruit syrup. Wheat beers often have citrus fruit flavours – some have orange peel added, but most of the taste is due to the wheat malt.
6. It all depends on what you are drinking
Yes, most foreign beers are a bit stronger than a standard bitter. Most German beers and wheat beers are about 5% abv (think Winter Warmer). The price will reflect that higher strength. Some beers are much stronger. Belgian Abbey and Trappist ales range from 6 to 12% abv, and some special and Christmas beers can also exceed 10%. Even if they are in small bottles (25cl is just under half a pint), they can pack a punch. The idea is to sip and appreciate them.
7. Yes, that's what we are here for
Please ask if you want more information. If we don't know the answer, it's often fun finding it out.
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 8.
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