Ales
A malt beverage brewed with (usually) barley malt and fermented at relatively high temperatures (60-75 Fº) with top fermenting yeast, which usually creates a fruity taste. Ales are produced with a wide variety of colors, palates and alcoholic strengths.
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Belgian Styles
Belgian-style ales seldom fit neatly into classic beer styles, but this category represents those ales under 7% abv that do not fit other categories. Colour ranges from golden to deep amber, with the occasional example coming in darker. Body tends to be light to medium, with a wide range of hop and malt levels. Yeastiness and acidity may also be present.
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Pale Ale
Ale brewed with pale malts (lightly kilned) giving it an often honey-like or caramel sweetness. They are often bronze or copper colored as opposed to the dark brown or black of porters and stouts, hence the term "pale ale." Some English brewers use this term to describe their premium bitters.
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Dark/bock
German word for strong beer. It is a lager, usually dark, made from barley malt that usually displays a malty sweetness and relatively high alcohol content while limiting the presence of hop bitterness. Bock beers are traditionally served in autumn, late winter or spring.
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India Pale Ales
Commonly referred as an "IPA," it is a stronger, hoppier version of a pale ale. The term originates from the difficulties of British brewers to make beer that could sustain the long voyage from England to India in the 1700s. The solution was to add hops to already fermented beer to act as a perserving agent. Hops are now not only added to fermented beer (dry hopping) but are also boiled in the wort.
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Lagers
Any beer fermented at low temperatures using bottom fermenting yeast and then stored (lagered) in cool conditions in order to clear away imperfections to ensure a clean taste. Usually golden in color but can be dark.
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Ciders
Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples, preferably cider aples. Cider alcohol content varies from 1.2% ABV to 8.5% or more in traditional English ciders, and 3.5% to 12% in continental ciders.
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Seasonal
For centuries, beer styles have followed the change of seasons, not because of the need for variety, but because the ingredients they had available depending on the climate.
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Stouts
Stout is a dark beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery.
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Wheats
Wheat beer is a beer that is brewed with a large proportion of wheat in addition to malted barley. Wheat beers are usually top-fermented (as required by law in Germany). The main varieties are weissbier, witbier, and the sour varieties, such as lambic, Berliner Weisse and gose.
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