OnTap Magazine

C ontemporary beer styles and sub-styles are emerging all the time, as they were in Britain and in other countries over the centuries. A beer style reflects the introduction of new brewing techniques, use of different ingredients, the brewer’s inventiveness, a desire to meet new tastes, or simply to brew something different. PORTER OR STOUT Beer brewing in Britain, as in other brewing centres, has had a history of constant change. From the early 1800s the Industrial Revolution was the making of the British brewing industry. Porter was the beer style of the time - a dark brown beer, sometimes slightly sour and smoky, at times non-sour, weak (mild) and lightly hopped. These variations continued over time, reflecting the modernisation of malt, water, hops, and yeast and innovations in brewing equipment. Porter was one of the first beers to travel. It reached the colonies in America, was sent to India and found keen drinkers in the Baltic States. An Irish brewer in Dublin took a keen interest in the popularity of porter and created a stronger version, originally called ‘extra stout’ porter, then simply stout. His name was Arthur Guinness. Soon dark beer began to lighten. Malt then was either flavourless, or full of smoke or burnt, because it was either air- dried or dried over a wood fire. With new fuel sources and better kilning techniques came brown malt and later paler versions; in part this was attributed to the game- changing invention of the hydrometer in 1790 which helped determine that pale malts gave more fermentable sugar than dark or burnt malt. This gave rise to smoke-free, sweet brown ales - milds - followed by stronger hopped versions - bitter pale ales. Smoked malt is still used today in many beer styles, the classic being Rauchbier from Bamberg, Germany. (And is there a difference between Porter and Stout? Well no, not in style guideline terms.) THE TALE OF A PALE ALE FOR INDIA Hops’ preservative properties were well understood by the 1760s and they played a key role in the almost mythical story of India Pale Ale. During the British Empire when an ordinary beer would not survive the journey from the UK to India, a new pale ale was born. With the climate in India too hot to brew, a strong heavily hopped beer was created. The beer would age like wine during the sea journey, with the hops acting as a preservative. In fact, as early as the 1700s beers were being sent to India. George Hodgson of Bow Brewery in East London supplied porter and strong, long-aged October ale, likely more highly hopped, to the East India Company for export. In the 1820s the East India Company approached Allsopp’s Brewery in the town of Burton-on-Trent to recreate Hodgson’s beer for India, the two having fallen out. Burton was already known for its robust export ales destined for Russia and the Baltic States - Extra Stout Porter was then the drink of choice in the Russian Imperial Court. Today Imperial Stout, as it’s come to be known, is one of the world’s most popular beer styles; big on flavour, rich in dark malts and high in alcohol (up to 15% ABV) these beers can pack a punch, and many are aged in bourbon barrels befitting the definition of Imperial. Thebeer Allsopp recreatedwas different in two respects. Their maltsters produced ‘extra pale’ or ‘white’ malt that gave their beers a gold to light amber colour. And there was something in the brewing water: gypsum (calcium sulphate), a mineral that made the beer paler, drier, bitter and gave it more clarity. The resulting beer was a bright, sparkling hoppy pale ale – the IPA. However,withthecomingofrefrigeration this beer style fell out of favour, only to be rediscovered in the 1970s by American craft brewers. If there’s one beer that defines craft beer, it’s IPA. Modern and in particular craft IPAs are mostly brewed in the American style, meaning they are citrusy, fruity, piney, or resinous... they’re all about the hop flavour. Whereas the classic English pale ales are malty with a hop bitterness; English IPAs and Best Bitters tending to be more malty, richer in body and more bitter. Pale base malts are mixed with specialty varieties such as Maris Otter or Chevallier and caramalt or crystal malt added for colour, sweetness and body. Most are brewed with English hops (Fuggle, Golding, Bramling Cross, Admiral), usually dry hopped and the beer is served bright. GOLDEN AND STRONG Traditionally one of the strongest beers a brewery produced was Barley Wine – a strong October ale - so-called because brewing then was seasonal, October to March. It was produced with the first runnings of wort in a parti-gyle brew where a single batch of malt is used to produce multiple worts. Scottish brewers were also making strong ales called the ‘wee heavy’ or ‘small strong’, often brewed for export. Golden versions of this style are said to have inspired the Belgian strong Blondes and Tripels, including none other than Belgian’s iconic beer Duvel. Albert Moortgat sourced yeast from William McEwan’s Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland, for a Victory Ale which was closer to a Belgian Scotch Ale than what Duvel is defined today, a Belgian Golden Strong Ale. ALL ABOUT BRETT During much of the 1800s a porter would have tasted slightly sour due the presence of souring bacteria ( Lactobacillus Russian Imperial Porter Visit their website for more information. https://www.sambrooks- brewery.co.uk/products/rus- sian-imperial-stout-bottle The word ‘style’ was first coined by the late British beer writer Michael Jackson in 1977. Jackson’s works influenced homebrewers in the US. The need to categorise beers arose from their popularisation of beer competitions. And that’s why we have the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program), which introduced its style guidelines in 1997; theGreat AmericanBeer Festival, whose judges use the Brewers’ Association style guidelines; and South Africa’s very own African Beer Cup, amongst many others. Common reference points are placed around the expected characteristics of classic or typical styles, including flavour, ingredients, and quality parameters, such as alcohol content, bitterness level, sweetness, colour. Interestingly, these guidelines reflect trends since they are continually changing. For example, Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale and Contemporary American-Style Pilsner are relatively new introductions. By defining beer styles, we can differentiate their flavour profiles, discuss their merits, know which beer to order, and develop new beers. As they are guidelines, brewers can push the boundaries, creating beers that don’t conform to a style. In competition terms these beers are entered as ‘specialty’ or ‘mixed style’... until a new beer style is defined. WHAT IS A BEER STYLE? 16 | Autumn 2023 | ontapmag.co.za