»*Small beer, a derogatory term for a trif le or matter of little importance, pops up in several Shakespeare plays. The Bard was more of an
ale man – ale being an English fermented malt drink made without hops – who disliked its hopped continental rival.sample, rather than a full glass, swirl
your beer a nd g ive it t he nose w it h lit t le
bunny sniffs before you taste. It should
make you want to dive in. Take a sip and
let the beer run over your tongue before
swallowing. What you’ll taste depends
on t he st yle, but it should a lways be f resh
and make you want more. Before your
second sip, consider the aftertaste the
first sip left behind. Is it subtle or strong?
Does it ma ke you wa nt more?TASTE ENHANCERS
G et t he best f rom beer by ma k ing sure
your glass is scrupulously clean. At
home, wash by hand, and in the pub,
politely refuse a dirty looking glass. Any
residue from a dishwasher can make
beer go f lat and spoil its f lavour. The
shape of the glass is also a factor. Many
beers have specially designed glassware.
Using the wrong glass significantly
changes how the beer tastes. Another
thing to bear in mind is how the f lavour
of your beer m ight interact w it h t he
taste of any food you have with it. Look
out for beer dinners and suggestions
on menus to help you try this out.
In genera l, to get t he best f rom cra f t
beer, don’t be afraid to ask questions
and keep trying new brews to find out
what f lavours and styles you prefer.ABV Stands for alcohol
by volume and is a measure
of how strong a beer is.
Amber beer A distinct style in
the USA, here it’s a name that
frequently replaces ‘bitter’.
Belgian beers These are much
stronger than British beers
and the flavour tends to be
yeast- rather than hop-driven.
Dry hopped/double dry
hopped/DDH A brewing
technique in which hops, or
sometimes hop powders, are
added during the finishing stage.
It creates strong hop flavour and
aroma rather than bitterness.
New England IPA (or NEIPA)
More boozy fruit smoothie than
beer – courtesy of dry hopping.
Trappist beer Beer made by
or under immediate supervision
of Trappist monks within their
monastery. Similar beers brewed
elsewhere are instead referred
to as ‘abbey beers’.
Microbrewery A term that
has largely been replaced
by craft brewery.
Micropub Small pub, often in
a former shopfront; focusing
on cask ale from craft brewers.
Pilsner Style of pale golden
lager that originated in Pilzen
in the Czech Republic.
Weissbier Also known as wit,
Weissbier means wheat beer.
A European style, made with
wheat as well as barley malt.
In Belgium, spices, such as
coriander, are often added.
Session beer Beers with great
drinkability, such that many
pints can be enjoyed before
inebriation ensues! Session beers
tend to be 4% ABV or lower and
with balanced flavours that don’t
overwhelm the tastebuds.
Small beer* Formerly very weak
beer made from re-using grains
from which a stronger beer was
brewed, but now referring to
any beer around the 1–2% mark.
Table beer Usually below 3%,
rather sweet beers from Belgium
and France, reinvented in the
craft beer era to be hoppier.FIND YOUR CRAFT
Cask or keg? Cask or real, ale carries on
fermenting in the cask from which it is
served, creating gentle carbonation rather
than fizz. It must be served cool and within
three days of opening. Keg beer is force-
carbonated and served using gas pressure
and a ‘flash chiller’, so it’s colder and fizzier.IPA (India pale ale), pale ale and bitter
These are all variations on a style. They
range from pale gold to chestnut brown
and may be lightly or heavily hopped.
British hops have a peppery tang, or floral
notes. Darker beers may have fruitcake
flavours. Hops from the US, tropical fruit
flavours. American Pale Ale (APA) is the
same style but made with American hops.Lager Differs from ale largely because it’s
made with a different type of yeast, whichimpacts less on the flavour. In general,
lager is ‘cleaner’ tasting and with less of an
aftertaste. Lager is also fizzier as it’s ‘force
carbonated’ to boost the bubbles created
naturally as part of the brewing process.Stout and porter These dark beers are
very similar as they’re made with roasted
malts that create rich, chocolatey flavours.
Stout tends to be the more bitter of the
two. If described as ‘imperial’ expect
something strong, often around 10%.Sour beers Sour by name but beers such
as gose and Berliner weisse, are actually
more tart and acidic than sour. They have
flavours in common with wine and cider.
The sourness may come from the use of
wild yeasts. Fruit is often added, which
are refreshing on a hot day.one if the brewery is independently Glossary
owned (with no more than 25% owned
by a company that isn’t a craft brewery)
and makes no more than six million
barrels a year, which is more than a
billion pints! In the UK, no such rules
exist, but there’s an understanding that
British craft beer is made by small,
independent breweries, rather than
multinational brewing corporations.
According to CAMRA there are more
than 2,000 breweries in the UK, so it’s
likely there’s one local to you. If it’s a
good one, t h is is t he best place to sta r t
your craft beer journey – especially
if there’s a tap room where you can
sample truly fresh beer.FINDING THE FLAVOUR
The quality of the ingredients and the
attitude and skill of the brewer define
craft beer more accurately than the
description on the label.
A beer’s appearance used to be simple
to assess: Wheat beers and other yeasty
st yles should have been clea r, w it h
no haze or f loating particles, and had
a lasting head of foam. Now, modern
brewing techniques tend to look
more fruit-smoothie than beer.
Aroma is the key to working out if
you are supping a top drop. With a small»*Small beer, a derogatory term for a trif le or matter of little importance, pops up in several Shakespeare plays. The Bard was more of an
ale man – ale being an English fermented malt drink made without hops – who disliked its hopped continental rival.sample, rather than a full glass, swirl
your beer a nd g ive it t he nose w it h lit t le
bunny sniffs before you taste. It should
make you want to dive in. Take a sip and
let the beer run over your tongue before
swallowing. What you’ll taste depends
on t he st yle, but it should a lways be f resh
and make you want more. Before your
second sip, consider the aftertaste the
first sip left behind. Is it subtle or strong?
Does it ma ke you wa nt more?TASTE ENHANCERS
G et t he best f rom beer by ma k ing sure
your glass is scrupulously clean. At
home, wash by hand, and in the pub,
politely refuse a dirty looking glass. Any
residue from a dishwasher can make
beer go f lat and spoil its f lavour. The
shape of the glass is also a factor. Many
beers have specially designed glassware.
Using the wrong glass significantly
changes how the beer tastes. Another
thing to bear in mind is how the f lavour
of your beer m ight interact w it h t he
taste of any food you have with it. Look
out for beer dinners and suggestions
on menus to help you try this out.
In genera l, to get t he best f rom cra f t
beer, don’t be afraid to ask questions
and keep trying new brews to find out
what f lavours and styles you prefer.ABV Stands for alcohol
by volume and is a measure
of how strong a beer is.
Amber beer A distinct style in
the USA, here it’s a name that
frequently replaces ‘bitter’.
Belgian beers These are much
stronger than British beers
and the flavour tends to be
yeast- rather than hop-driven.
Dry hopped/double dry
hopped/DDH A brewing
technique in which hops, or
sometimes hop powders, are
added during the finishing stage.
It creates strong hop flavour and
aroma rather than bitterness.
New England IPA (or NEIPA)
More boozy fruit smoothie than
beer – courtesy of dry hopping.
Trappist beer Beer made by
or under immediate supervision
of Trappist monks within their
monastery. Similar beers brewed
elsewhere are instead referred
to as ‘abbey beers’.
Microbrewery A term that
has largely been replaced
by craft brewery.
Micropub Small pub, often in
a former shopfront; focusing
on cask ale from craft brewers.
Pilsner Style of pale golden
lager that originated in Pilzen
in the Czech Republic.
Weissbier Also known as wit,
Weissbier means wheat beer.
A European style, made with
wheat as well as barley malt.
In Belgium, spices, such as
coriander, are often added.
Session beer Beers with great
drinkability, such that many
pints can be enjoyed before
inebriation ensues! Session beers
tend to be 4% ABV or lower and
with balanced flavours that don’t
overwhelm the tastebuds.
Small beer* Formerly very weak
beer made from re-using grains
from which a stronger beer was
brewed, but now referring to
any beer around the 1–2% mark.
Table beer Usually below 3%,
rather sweet beers from Belgium
and France, reinvented in the
craft beer era to be hoppier.FIND YOUR CRAFT
Cask or keg? Cask or real, ale carries on
fermenting in the cask from which it is
served, creating gentle carbonation rather
than fizz. It must be served cool and within
three days of opening. Keg beer is force-
carbonated and served using gas pressure
and a ‘flash chiller’, so it’s colder and fizzier.IPA (India pale ale), pale ale and bitter
These are all variations on a style. They
range from pale gold to chestnut brown
and may be lightly or heavily hopped.
British hops have a peppery tang, or floral
notes. Darker beers may have fruitcake
flavours. Hops from the US, tropical fruit
flavours. American Pale Ale (APA) is the
same style but made with American hops.Lager Differs from ale largely because it’s
made with a different type of yeast, whichimpacts less on the flavour. In general,
lager is ‘cleaner’ tasting and with less of an
aftertaste. Lager is also fizzier as it’s ‘force
carbonated’ to boost the bubbles created
naturally as part of the brewing process.Stout and porter These dark beers are
very similar as they’re made with roasted
malts that create rich, chocolatey flavours.
Stout tends to be the more bitter of the
two. If described as ‘imperial’ expect
something strong, often around 10%.Sour beers Sour by name but beers such
as gose and Berliner weisse, are actually
more tart and acidic than sour. They have
flavours in common with wine and cider.
The sourness may come from the use of
wild yeasts. Fruit is often added, which
are refreshing on a hot day.one if the brewery is independently Glossary
owned (with no more than 25% owned
by a company that isn’t a craft brewery)
and makes no more than six million
barrels a year, which is more than a
billion pints! In the UK, no such rules
exist, but there’s an understanding that
British craft beer is made by small,
independent breweries, rather than
multinational brewing corporations.
According to CAMRA there are more
than 2,000 breweries in the UK, so it’s
likely there’s one local to you. If it’s a
good one, t h is is t he best place to sta r t
your craft beer journey – especially
if there’s a tap room where you can
sample truly fresh beer.
FINDING THE FLAVOUR
The quality of the ingredients and the
attitude and skill of the brewer define
craft beer more accurately than the
description on the label.
A beer’s appearance used to be simple
to assess: Wheat beers and other yeasty
st yles should have been clea r, w it h
no haze or f loating particles, and had
a lasting head of foam. Now, modern
brewing techniques tend to look
more fruit-smoothie than beer.
Aroma is the key to working out if
you are supping a top drop. With a small