Beer Types
There are so many varieties of home brew beer from which to
choose,
so where do you begin when deciding which one to make at home? We discuss the varieties available and help you to choose. The home brew enthusiast can produce an endless
variety of beers by adjusting the ingredients slightly, but they will usually fall
into one of the main categories of beer as follows:-
Bitter - Usually fairly hoppy in flavour and darker brown in colour than say a lager, with a medium to strong alcohol content. As its name suggests it will usually have a slightly bitter finish. Pictured right is Woodforde's Wherry, one of the most popular bitter making kits on the market. It makes 40 pints for less than 20 quid all in, so at 50p for an exceedingly good pint, you can't go wrong. Click here to buy one now
more info on bitter and types of bitter -->
Ale - One of the larger families of beers, ales are by definition fermented with top-fermenting yeast, are low in carbonation and normally served at cellar temperature. Having said that, there are various types of ale, some of which are discussed below. We will use the term ale here to mean real ale. Pictured left is Tom Caxton's Dark Real Ale. Theres a perfect balance of the best quality malted barley and great hopped overtones. And by adding the unique hop sachet youll give your beer a wonderful aroma of country hops. Under the cap youll find our straightforward brewing instructions, yeast and hop sachet. All you need to add is sugar and water to brew 40 enormously satisfying pints.
Brew Tom Caxton's Dark Real Ale now
Pale Ale - Also sometimes referred to as a light ale, this
beer is more normally drunk as an accompanyment
to food. This is perhaps due to it being a light, not too strong beer, not as
hoppy as bitter, with a clean refreshing
taste. The Muntons Gold shown is a refreshing light pale ale with a rich golden colour and a distinctive hoppy taste A gentle invitation for lager drinkers to enter the flavoursome world of English style bitter.
India Pale Ale (IPA) - This is yet another version of bitter
really although it is somewhat stronger and more fully flavoured than
ordinary Pale Ale, due to having more hops and malt. It still
has a clean taste though. In a pub or off license you will maybe recognise it in McEwans Indian Pale Ale. Keeping the British troops supplied with fresh beer out in the British East Indies proved to be a problem during the 19th Century. The lengthy journey by sailing ship caused the beers to spoil and a special brew therefore had to be supplied. India Pale Ale. This was brewed to a high alcoholic strength to keep bacteria at bay during the voyage. Upon arrival the beer was watered down to normal pub strength for the troops. Of course the officers had access to the non-diluted version. However you have a choice. Recreate India Pale Ale brewed to the Troops Tipple at approximately 1041 strength or the Higher Ranks Reserve version in its higher strength form.
Brew Muntons Gold India Pale Ale now
Barley wine.- This is a very sweet, heavy beer, with
a high alcohol content. Commercial varieties can sometimes be
around the 10% ABV mark. High for a beer. It is golden
in colour, and has a touch of bitter aftertaste.
Usually served in smaller glasses than normal beer. Barley Wine can be a bit tricky to get
right first time for the home brewer, so maybe not a good choice to start with, but it is well worth the effort when you get it right. Pictured is the infamous Woodforde's Headcracker !! Have a go - see for yourself.
There are many styles of Belgian beers, such as Kriek (cherry beer), Framboise (raspberry beer), Abbey, Dubbel and many more. Brewferm are the major Belgian Beer Kit company in the UK. Click here to see a list of their superb range of Belgian Beer Kits.
more info on Belgian Beer styles
more info on Belgian Beer kits
Brown Ale - A top-fermented beer that is lightly hopped and flavored with roasted and caramel malt. Dark brown color, sweet in palate, long clean finish. Sweeter, darker and less bitter than Pale Ales but usually lighter in colour and body than Porters. A good example of a home brew Brown Ale is The Muntons Connoisseurs Nut Brown Ale. Coming from the renowned Muntons Connoisseurs Range, it is dark and smooth, a brown ale with a slightly nutty character. To really enjoy this ale serve at cellar temperature. The Muntons Connoisseurs Range has been formulated to brew strong beers emulating beer styles from around the world. Each Beer kit contains 18kg of 100 hopped malt extract and in common with all Muntons beer kits no cheap barley syrup is used in their manufacture. The Connoisseurs range offers the home beer maker the chance to make premium strength beers.
Brew Muntons Connoisseurs Nut Brown Ale now
Lager
From the German word to store, lagers represent a major family of beers. They have a longer and cooler fermentation period than ales, and are brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast. Most German and North American beers are lagers. An increasingly popular beer for the home brewer, although not as easy to reproduce as some other styles, but well worth it when
it comes good. Pale in colour, and light bodied, it
has just a touch of hoppiness. To brew a good lager
it is essential to use a bottom fermenting (lager)
yeast.
These are just some of the main categories of beer, and most home brew kits produce a beer pretty similar to one of them. With so many to try now, don't just try one and stay with it for ever or give up becuse you don't like it. Try some of the different ones. Get more adventurous. Some Belgian beers are so different to many normal bitters, lagers and ales, such as Kriek, a cherry flavoured beer, but not as sweet as you may expect. Experiment, try a few out and if you don't like one, move on to another.