Know Your Beer
There are two basic categories of beer: lagers and ales.
Lagers are a bottom fermenting beer, use lager yeast and ferment at cool temperatures. They tend to be clearer and lighter in body and color. Bottom fermenting beers include Bock, Oktoberfest, Pilsner and malt liquor.
Ales are a top-fermenting beer that use ale yeast and ferment at warmer temperatures, then age for a short time. Ales include wheat beer, stout, porter and ale.
Alt - Derived from the German word for old, an Alt (or Altbier) is medium-bodied and slightly fruity with a medium copper hue, Alts generally drink lighter than they appear.
American Light - This variety of beer will usually have little or no hop characteristics. This type of beer is also light-bodied.
Bock - A bock is usually full-bodied, with a strong, malty flavor. The color is usually a very dark brown.
Bitter - A British-style ale, a bitter is usually reddish-copper in color, and similar to a pale ale.
Cream Ale - This variety of beer is usually light in color and body, with high carbonation. Cream ales usually have very little hop flavor
Framboise - Reddish in color. a lambic (see below) which has been fermented with raspberries.
Hefeweizen - An unfiltered wheat beer. Light in color, hefeweizen is fruity and light in body.
India Pale Ale - Often referred to as a IPA, and India pale ale will be very hoppy, medium-bodied and amber in color.
Lambic - A Belgian-style wheat beer, a lambic is not malted and very fruity in
flavor.
Oktoberfest - Medium-bodied and malty, an Oktoberfest will be dark in color and very flavorful
Pilsner - A pale, light-bodies lager, with a hoppy, dry flavor.
Porter - Very dark in color, but medium-bodied, porter is usually dry and fruity with a discernable character.
Scottish Ale - Full-bodies, dark, and strong, Scottish ales have a strong malt aroma and flavor.
Stout - Very dark in color, this is a hopped brew with quite the bitter edge.
White - Also known as witbier, white beers are pale and cloudy in color, with a medium-body and apparent fruit, malt and hops flavor.
When in doubt about trying a beer, don't hesitate to ask. We have a knowledgeable staff that can help guide you to a beer you will surely enjoy.
Test your knowledge of beer and take our fun Quiz. Enter your quiz results along with your name and address for our monthly drawing. Our winner will receive a gift card for dinner for two valued at $25.00.
1. Which is the most popular style of beer consumed in the world?
2. Women account for which percentage of beer consumption in the USA?
3. To Whom did Anheuser-Busch send the first case of Budweiser beer produced after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933?
4. Who was the first American to brew Lager?
5. Gerst beer is a longtime local label of which Tennessee city?
6. The words 'beer', 'brewing' and 'lager' all originate from which country?
7. When were beer cans introduced?
8. Beer is produced by the action of yeast on which sugar?
Did You Know?....
A pint of beer may help protect against heart disease more effectively than red wine or spirits, researchers have found. Beer contains vitamin B6 which prevents the build up in the body of a chemical called homocysteine - thought to be linked to an increase in the risk of heart disease. It also turns out that beer hops contain a unique micronutrient that inhibits cancer-causing enzymes. Hops are plants used in beer to give it aroma, flavor and bitterness. The compound, xanthohumol, was first isolated by researchers with Oregon State University 10 years ago. Most beers made today are low on hops, however, and so don't contain much xanthohumol. But beers known for being "hoppy" , usually porter, stout and ale types have much higher levels of the compound.
Do you have an interesting Beer fact? Do you have a good trivia question or beer quiz question?
If we use your question or trivia on our website you could win a Bier Garden T-shirt!
E-mail us your ideas at info@ashevillebiergarden.com
Fine Dining and the largest beer selection in WNC
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