Download July 2010 - Bite Magazine

24
BITE
‘n’
SLURP
BEERS
A STYLE GUIDE
Beer then comprises of four main
ingredients, malt, water, yeast and
hops. The malt is the starch source
although wheat, maize and rice and
even potato, cassava and agave are
used as secondary starch sources
throughout the world. But that’s not
the whole story, it is the quantities,
combination and methods that
produce such an extensive range of
styles.
Beers are commonly categorised into
lagers and ales. Lager yeast, collects
at the bottom of fermenting beer and
lager is also fermented at
considerably lower temperatures than
ale. Ale is fermented at warmer
temperatures and ale yeasts
traditionally form a layer of foam on
the surface of the fermenting beer.
There are also beers that
spontaneously ferment using wild
strains of yeast, the majority come
from Belgium and are referred to as
Lambic.
The style of your beer depends upon
its appearance, aroma, flavour,
mouthfeel, strength and gravity.
Consider the following:
Ales
As we have seen are fermented at a
higher temperature than lagers and
often have fruity notes, and a fuller,