Beer For Dummies E-Book

Marty Nachel

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 553

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

The fun and friendly guide to all things beer Beer has always been one of the world's most popular beverages; but recently, people have embraced the rich complexities of beer's many varieties. Now, with Beer For Dummies you can quickly and enjoyably educate your palate--from recognizing the characteristics of ales, lagers, and other beer styles to understanding how to taste and evaluate beer. The author, a beer connoisseur, shares his own expertise on this subject, revealing his picks for the best beer festivals, tastings, and events around the world as well as his simple tips for pouring, storing, and drinking beer like an expert brewmeister. * New coverage on the various styles of beer found around the world including: real ale, barrel aged/wood aged beer, organic brews, and extreme beer * Updated profiles on the flavor and body of each beer, explaining why beers taste the way they do, as well as their strengths and ideal serving temperatures * How to spot the best beers by looking at the bottle, label, and a properly poured beer in its ideal glass * The essentials on beer-and-food pairings and the best ways to introduce beer into your cooking repertoire From information on ingredients like hops, malt, and barley to the differences between lagers and ales, this friendly guide gives you all the information you need to select and appreciate your next brew.

Leseprobe

Beer For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/beer to view this book's cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Getting a Taste of Beer

Part II: Taking a Look at Beer Styles — Old, New, and Revived, Too

Part III: Buying and Enjoying Beer

Part IV: Exploring Beer around the World and at Home

Part V: The Part of Tens

Part VI: Appendixes

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Getting a Taste of Beer

Chapter 1: Drink Up! Beginning with Beer Basics

Introducing Beer’s Building Blocks

Surveying Different Styles of Beer

Ales versus lagers

Hybrid and specialty beers

Shopping for and Savoring Beer

Buying beer

Serving and tasting beer

Dining with beer

Cooking with beer

Taking a Tour of Beers around the Globe

North America

Europe, Asia, and beyond

Brewing Your Own Beer

Chapter 2: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous: Beer Ingredients

Barley: Cereal for Beer, Not for Breakfast

Hops: Flowers for Flavor and Aroma

Getting to know top hops

Hopping for bitterness, aroma, and more

Yeast: A Fungus Is Among Us

Water: A Big Influence on Beer

Wing of Bat, Eye of Newt: Adjuncts You May Love or Hate

Chapter 3: A Little Brew Magic: Understanding How Beer Is Made

Kettles, Tuns, and Tanks: Brewing Equipment

Ale Alchemy: The Brewing Process

Malting

Milling

Mashing

Boiling

Fermenting

Aging

Packaging

Cleaning

Part II: Taking a Look at Beer Styles — Old, New, and Revived, Too

Chapter 4: Getting to Know the Mother Beer Categories: Ales, Lagers, and More

Two Big Branches on the Beer Family Tree: Distinguishing Ales and Lagers

Yeast makes the beer

You can taste the difference, sometimes

Old-School Beer: Understanding Ales

The “New” Beer on the Block: Getting Familiar with Lagers

Mixed Up: Taking Note of Hybrid Beers

Warm fermentations with lager yeast

Cold fermentations with ale yeast

Everything but the Kitchen Sink: Looking at Specialty Beers

The Anatomy of Beer Styles: Examining the Traits of Different Beers

Defining beer styles with three parameters

Using a few tasting terms

Crafting great beers

Style Is Everything: Listing Common Beer Styles

Ales

Lagers

Hybrid beers

Specialty beers

Chapter 5: Investigating “Real” Ale

Understanding What Makes Ale “Real”

Starting the Real Ale Journey in Casks

A barrel of fun: Checking out the parts of a cask

Sizing up the situation: Pins, firkins, kilderkins, and beyond

Refining and Conditioning Real Ale

Let me make this perfectly clear: Clarifying with finings

From the spile file: Letting real ale breathe

Dispensing Real Ale

Pulling real ale through a beer engine

Using a tap for gravity dispense

CAMRA: Campaign for Real Ale

Chapter 6: Exploring Barrel-Aged and Wood-Aged Beer

Differentiating Between “Barrel-Aged” and “Wood-Aged”

Figuring Out Which Wood Is Best

Choosing new or used barrels

Opting for oak

Creating new beer flavors with old barrel flavors

Marking Some Milestones in the Aging Process

Checking the beer’s oxidation

Deciding whether to let the beer sour

Blending beers from two or more barrels

Chapter 7: Diving In to Extreme Beer

What Makes a Beer “Extreme”?

Bigger body

Bolder flavor

Higher alcohol content

Monastic Brews: The Original Extreme Beers

The origins of Dubbels, Tripels, and Quadrupels

The creation of Doppelbock

If It’s Imperial, It Rules: Intensifying Beer Styles for a Bigger Punch

Beer Wars: My Beer Is More Extreme than Yours

Stealing attention away from other brews with zanier names

One-upping the competition with wackier packaging

The Future of Extreme Beers

Chapter 8: Checking Out Organic, Gluten-Free, and Kosher Beer

Natural Selection: Organic Beer

In the beginning: The rise of organic beer

Sorting through organic beer certifications

Why go organic? Help the environment — drink a beer!

Organic movement: A list of organic beers

Some Hope for People with Celiac Disease: Gluten-Free Beer

The gluten-free gang: Grains and starches used in gluten-free beer

Free of gluten but full of flavor: A list of gluten-free beers

Following the Law: Kosher Beer

Figuring out what qualifies as kosher

Everything’s kosher: A list of kosher beers

Part III: Buying and Enjoying Beer

Chapter 9: The Better Way to Buy Beer

Cans, Bottles, Growlers, and Kegs: Deciding on Your Container of Choice

Doing the cancan

Opting for bottles

Going for growlers

Kicking it with kegs

Purchase or Perish: Looking for the Freshest Beer

Knowing that time isn’t on your side

Aging beer like fine wine — but only in a few special cases

Staying away from beer left out of the cold

Avoiding the light

Checking out the store scene before buying

Making friends with your local beer retailers

Did You Get Burnt? Checking Your Beer at Home

Popping your top

Battling the oxidation blues

Chapter 10: Looking at Label Lunacy and Marketing Mayhem

Understanding Labeling Laws

Label must-haves

The weak, the strong, and the unintelligible: Alcohol content

Know-nothing labels: Additives and preservatives

The Reinheitsgebot: The German beer purity law

Beer Advertising and Marketing

Touting nonessential details

Invading craft brew territory with stealth micros from megabrewers

Getting the lowdown on contract brewing

“Guinness Is Good for You”: Nutritional Content

Cholesterol and fat free

Drink beer, live longer

Chapter 11: Serving Beer

Choosing a Glass with Class

The glass lineup: Basic types of glassware

To the next level: Sport drinking tools

Let’s get practical: Determining the glasses you really need

Pouring It On

Knowing the right serving temperature before you pour

Deciding whether to tilt or not to tilt

Neatness Counts: Cleaning and Storing Glassware

Understanding “beer clean”

Putting everything away

Chapter 12: Making Your Buds Wiser: Tasting and Evaluating Beer

Evaluating Beer 1-2-3 (Actually, 1-2-3-4-5)

Smell: The Nose Knows

Look: You Can’t Judge a Bock by Its Cover

Every color in the rainbrew

On a clear day

A head in the hand

Taste: Nuts and Bolts, Malt and Hops

Marvelous malt taste

Heavenly hops taste

Fabulous fermentation

Aftertaste: Let it linger

Touch: Mouthfeel and Body

Reflect: Is the Whole Beer Greater than the Sum of Its Parts?

Put Your Tongue to the Test: Recording Your Beer Ratings

Rating beer in online forums

Maintaining a personal journal

Chapter 13: Dining with Beer

What a Pair! Making a Match with Beer and Food

Guessing at general guidelines

Cutting, contrasting, and complementing different flavors

Paring down your pairing list

Timing Is Everything: Serving Beer for Different Occasions

Selecting beers for before and after dinner

Serving beer according to the season

Chapter 14: Cooking with Beer

Using Beer as an Ingredient in Any Dish

Knowing when you can (and can’t) use beer in a recipe

Choosing the right beer for a recipe

Checking Out Great Recipes Featuring Beer as an Ingredient

Part IV: Exploring Beer around the World and at Home

Chapter 15: Sampling Beer in North America

Looking to Beer’s Past in the United States

Respecting the elders: Tracing back great U.S. brewing traditions

Moving on up: The boom in U.S. brewing during the 20th century

Teaching an old dog new tricks: The rise of small craft brewers

Renaissance or revolution? U.S. brewing today and tomorrow

Howdy, Neighbors! Checking Out the Beer Scene in Canada and Mexico

Oh, Canada

Down Mexico way

Going Where the Beer Is

Beer bars

Brewpubs

Gastropubs

Beer dinners

Celebrating at North American Beer Festivals

Discovering beer festival do’s and don’ts

Looking at notable beer festivals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico

Exploring North American Beer Museums

Chapter 16: Trying Beer in Europe, Asia, and Elsewhere

Building Your Own Beer Adventure

Exploring Beer in Germany

Discovering regional tastes: The north, west, and east

Heading south to Bavaria

Tapping German shrines, festivals, and museums

Looking at Beer in the United Kingdom

Biting the bitters in England and Wales

Holding strong with Scotland

Exploring shrines, festivals, and museums in the United Kingdom

Getting a Taste of Ireland

Brewing Guinness for the nation

Going beyond traditional Dry Stout

Checking in to Irish breweries and pubs

Sipping Beer in Belgium

Trekking for secular brews

Marketing Trappist beers and Abbeys

Finding the best Belgian shrines, festivals, and museums

Checking Out Beer in the Czech Republic

Visiting the birthplace of Pilsner

Trying other Czech beers

Exploring historical Czech beer establishments

Finding Noteworthy Beers in Other Corners of the World

Austria

Denmark

The Netherlands

Norway

Australia and New Zealand

Japan

Thailand

Chapter 17: Embarking on Beer Travel and Tours

Keeping a Few Beer-Trekking Tips in Mind before You Leave Home

Working Beer into Your Vacation Adventures

All together now: Going with tour groups

Malty meandering: Unplanned beer adventures

Hop Pillows for Everyone! Lodging Near and in Breweries

Beer, bed, and breakfast

Steep ’n’ sleep, mash ’n’ crash: Spending the night at a brewery

Taking a Look at Brewery Tours

Touring breweries on your own

Trying group bus tours

Pedaling your way to Pilsners and Porters: Bike tours

Chapter 18: Brewing Beer at Home

Getting Started with Homebrewing

Supply shopping

Pots, buckets, brushes, and such

Brew ingredients

Department of Sanitation: Keeping Clean During the Brewing Process

The importance of sterilizing and sanitizing

Soaps for suds

General cleaning practices

Following Step-by-Step Homebrewing Instructions

Ready, set, brew!

Fabulous fermentation

Bottle it up!

Keeping records

Stepping Your Brewing Up a Notch

New toys: Equipment upgrades

Specialty grains

Secondary fermentation and the art of siphoning

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Grow Your Appreciation of Beer

Drink Beer with a Purpose

Post Beer Reviews Online

Maintain a Beer Blog

Write a Great Book about Beer

Become Beer Educated and Beer Certified

Brew Beer at Home

Become a Certified Beer Judge

Collect Beer-Related Stuff

Associate with Others Who Share Your Passion for Beer

Go Pro — Brewer, That Is

Chapter 20: The Ten Best Beer Cities in the World (And a Few Extras)

Munich, Germany

Bamberg, Germany

Bruges, Belgium

Prague, Czech Republic

London, England

Portland, Oregon, United States

Seattle, Washington, United States

Denver, Colorado, United States

San Francisco, California, United States

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

A Few More Great Beer Cities to Consider

Chapter 21: The Ten Best Beer Festivals in the World

Great American Beer Festival, Denver, Colorado, United States

Great Taste of the Midwest, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Oregon Brewers Festival, Portland, Oregon, United States

SAVOR, Washington, D.C., United States

American Craft Beer Fest, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Mondial de la Bière, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany

Great British Beer Festival, London, England

Zythos Bier Festival, Belgium

Poperinge Hop and Beer Festival, Poperinge, Belgium

Part VI: Appendixes

Appendix A: A Quick Guide to Beer Styles and Stats

Ales

Lagers

Hybrid beers and specialty beers

Appendix B: A Short History of Beer (For the True Beer Nut)

Colonial times through the 1800s

The Volstead Act

Post-Prohibition blues

Cheat Sheet

Beer For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

by Marty Nachel with Steve Ettlinger

Foreword by Jim Koch

Brewer, Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Beer For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011943914

ISBN 978-1-118-12030-9 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-26843-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-26852-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-26855-1 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

The course of Marty Nachel’s life took a portentous turn in 1982, when a spontaneous road trip to Toronto led to an even more spontaneous tour of the Molson Brewery. Never before had Marty tasted beer so fresh and so diverse. With that new and wonderful sensory experience, the die was cast. Life had changed for the better.

Marty went on to visit many more breweries — somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 — in North America and Europe. More importantly, he started brewing his own beer at home (1985). Not satisfied with just tasting his own brew, he chose to become a Certified Beer Judge so he could taste others’ beer as well (1986).

All the while Marty was brewing beer, judging beer, and touring breweries, he also furthered his career as a freelance writer on these topics. After his first article was published in All About Beer magazine (1987), there was no looking back. Marty’s articles began appearing in many beer and food publications — in print and online.

By 1995, Marty had scored his first book contract, writing Beer Across America, which was based on the newsletters he wrote for the Beer of the Month club of the same name. The following year he authored the first edition of Beer For Dummies, followed immediately by Homebrewing For Dummies. Due to the ever-growing popularity of homebrewing, the second edition of Homebrewing For Dummies was written in 2008.

Never one to let his taste buds sit idle, Marty kept them busy by serving as a beer evaluator at the Beverage Testing Institute in Chicago from 1995 to 1998. That same year, Marty got the call from Denver — he was invited to judge beer at the Great American Beer Festival and is now a regular there.

For several years now, Marty has been hosting beer tastings and leading beer appreciation classes as well as beer sensory classes for homebrewing groups in the Chicago area.

Always looking for new opportunities to promote good beer, Marty recently launched the Ale-Conner Beer Certification program, which allows beer enthusiasts to prove their knowledge, passion, and appreciation of craft beer. Check out www.beerexam.com.

Steve Ettlinger is the book producer/editor/agent/co-writer of more than 40 consumer-oriented books and the author of 7, most of which are food- and drink-related (he produced the best-selling Wine For Dummies). His first book, The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores, has been in print since 1988. His most recent book is Twinkie, Deconstructed. You can find more information on Steve at www.steveettlinger.com.

Dedication

Marty Nachel: Dedicating this book to my wife, Patti, is but one miniscule way of acknowledging her endless patience and forbearance as I’ve rabidly pursued my avocation these past 20-some odd years (some odder than others). For all the times she listened to me babble on about a great beer I tasted or brewery I visited or watched me jet off to another beer festival or beer junket, I owe her so, so much more.

I also want to dedicate this book to my children, Drew and Jill, both now in college. They’ve visited more breweries in their young lives than most people do in an entire lifetime. Mostly in the course of family vacations, I’d schedule brewery stops in between visits to national parks and theme parks. They patiently endured my mania so I might continue to pursue my love of writing about beer. I hope that someday they’ll recognize snippets of their youth in the pages of my books.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

Marty Nachel: Acknowledgements are the least I can extend to a team of dedicated people at John Wiley & Sons, Inc., who have given their unwavering support and enthusiasm to this project. That team includes Tracy Boggier; David Lutton; my very patient and focused project editor, Georgette Beatty; copy editor Jennette ElNaggar; and Carrie Sherrill in the marketing department, who saw that my requests for publicity materials were promptly taken care of. Last but not least is technical reviewer Clay Robinson of the phenomenal Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis (I’m a fan!).

I consider myself fortunate to be one of the For Dummies authors. I’m indebted to book producer and co-writer Steve Ettlinger for opening the door to this opportunity way back in 1996, when we wrote the first edition of Beer For Dummies. Steve’s focus and attention to detail helped make the book complete, but his wry wit added humor when and where it was needed most.

Grateful acknowledgments also go out to Candy Lesher, beer gourmand par excellence. Candy’s contribution of original recipes in Chapter 14 of this book is invaluable. A huge thanks to her for lending her considerable talents and credentials to this effort. Also contributing to the success of this chapter on cooking with beer are recipe tester Emily Nolan and nutritional analyst Patty Santelli. They sure must enjoy their jobs.

Thanks also to the folks who provided permissions to use photos and artwork in this book, including Sarah Warman (on behalf of BrewDog), Eric Olson (PedalPub, LLC), Alastair Macnaught (Cask Marque), Steve Krajczynski and Mali Welch (Kona Brewing Co.), and Paul Virant and Jimmy McFarland (Vie Restaurant). Also, many thanks for the fantastic illustrations created by Liz Kurtzman.

Finally, the road that led to this book was long and enjoyable, and I had lots of company along the way. I’d like to acknowledge those individuals and organizations that have inspired, supported, or otherwise contributed to my passion for beer. They include the Bard of Beer Michael Jackson; Charlie Papazian; Randy Mosher, Ray Daniels, and many other long-time members of the Chicago Beer Society; Steve Kamp, Dick Van Dyke, and the Brewers of South Suburbia (BOSS); Robin Wilson; and all the neighbors, friends, and relatives who ever shared time with me in the pursuit and praise of good beer.

Steve Ettlinger: First of all, I’m eternally grateful to Marty Nachel for becoming my personal beer trainer, patiently explaining over and over again the intricate differences between the various beer styles. He taught me all I know about beer (my father taught me to appreciate it). I’m also in awe of Marty’s sublime homebrewed beer.

Thanks to all those brewers and beverage salespeople who took time to answer my endless questions; to my sister, Betsy, and her pals for advice on beer appreciation; to my mother, Marge, for her editing as well as her testing of the beer-food recipes.

Special thanks go to CAMRA, in England, for research assistance, and to Tim Smith, my managing editor, for constant, patient revisions and fact-checking.

Thanks also to freelance editor Ted Scheffler as well as the knowledgeable Hercules Dimitratos of Fancy Grocery in New York City — my retail beer supplier.

Above all, I’m grateful to Dylan and Gusty (Chelsea, too) for their support and enthusiasm, especially when it came to extended deadlines and my having to burn so much midnight oil away from home.

Beer may be fun, but it took a lot of work to get here. I won’t forget your help, all of you.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Vertical Websites

Senior Project Editor: Georgette Beatty

(Previous Edition: Melba Hopper)

Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier

Copy Editor: Jennette ElNaggar

(Previous Edition: Diane L. Giangrossi)

Assistant Editor: David Lutton

Editorial Program Coordinator: Joe Niesen

Technical Editor: Clay Robinson

Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker

Editorial Assistants: Alexa Koschier, Rachelle S. Amick

Art Coordinator: Alicia B. South

Cover Photo: © iStockphoto.com / Jill Chen

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell, Carl Byers

Proofreaders: Lauren Mandelbaum, Toni Settle

Indexer: Valerie Haynes Perry

Illustrator: Elizabeth Kurtzman

Special Help: Elizabeth Rea, Jessica Smith, Jennifer Tebbe

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Kathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Executive Publisher

Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director

Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Foreword

I love beer. My dad was a brewmaster, so I grew up in breweries and came to appreciate the kettles, the tanks, and the smell of a brewery. As a kid, I read the family beer recipes, which had been handed down over six generations.

In 1984, when I brewed my first batch of Samuel Adams beer, there was no need for a basic guide book like Beer For Dummies, especially in the U.S. Mass-produced beers had undergone 40 years of becoming lighter and blander. And beers from abroad, then the only widely available alternative, were often stale because of their long, transoceanic crossing and lengthy warehousing.

But today, beer lovers are in heaven. We are in the midst of a genuine renaissance in what’s known as craft brewing. Literally hundreds of new brands and styles are crowding the shelves and the bar backs — pretty intimidating for the uninitiated unless they have a copy of Beer For Dummies with them. Personally, I love walking into a bar and seeing a dozen tap handles for great, interesting beer styles.

I grew up knowing that beer can have all the nobility and complexity of a fine wine, and it’s fun to see more and more people acknowledging that today.

I think it has to do with education. The more you know about beer — its ingredients, its history, its brewing — the more respect you have for it. That’s why I applaud Marty Nachel and Steve Ettlinger for writing Beer For Dummies.

In this book, Marty and Steve tell you what good beer is and how to find and enjoy it. I appreciate the opportunity to endorse Beer For Dummies and am sure it will entertain you, educate you, and make you thirsty for a really great beer.

Cheers,

Jim Koch

Brewer, Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Jim Koch is credited by many as the leader in the current craft-brewing renaissance. As a brewmaster, he continues a family tradition — six first-born sons in his family have become brewmasters. Jim’s own experience with brewing started at the age of four, when he tasted his first beer. He loved it.

In 1984, armed with his great-great-grandfather’s original recipe for Samuel Adams beer, Jim started the highly successful Boston Beer Company. At the time, he didn’t dream that there’d be a market for more than one style of Samuel Adams. Today, the Samuel Adams family of beers comprises over 30 different brews.

Introduction

There once was a man named Stu —

About beer, he hadn’t a clue.

At the behest of his chummies,

He read Beer For Dummies,

And now he’s the Master of Brew!

Like many people, I first discovered beer while sitting on my father’s knee. My earliest recollections of the beer that Dad drank were that it was always ice cold and foamed like soapsuds — probably an accurate taste descriptor as well. Too bad Dad bought the cheap stuff.

After years of unconsciously buying the cheapest beer, like my father did, I found that my regular beer started to become regularly boring and much less appealing. By chance, a tour of a famous brewery — Molson’s, in Toronto — that made fresh, tasty beer in a number of traditional styles, opened my eyes to an undiscovered world of beery possibilities unavailable in the United States at that time. Beer drinking for me would never be the same again because I had discovered the secrets to true beer happiness: freshness and variety. From that point on, I went in search of good beer and got an education in the difference between it and mediocre beer (and worse).

Learning this difference wasn’t only easy but also fun — so much fun, in fact, that I now make a living doing it! But even for the casual beer drinker, a little beer knowledge can turn a possibly daunting experience into an enjoyable one. Good beer, unlike fine wine, is widely available and relatively inexpensive, but choosing among all the various styles can be a little confusing without some help. If you’ve fallen in love with beer, you have plenty of ways to increase your beer appreciation. This book should be of help to neophyte and serious beer enthusiast alike. And the best news is that in the United States, good beer is being offered by more brewers every day.