Craft Beer 101

What is a Craft Beer?

• Freshly made beer with malts, hops, yeast and water
• Traditional but has more personality
• Independent and owned by passionate brewers
• Micro-brewed in small batches -- not mass produced
• Variant-filled beer styles

Basic Beer Ingredients:

• Malts
• Hops
• Yeast
• Water

Definition of Terms:

• ABV - Alcohol by Volume
• IBU - International Bitterness Units

Beer Styles:

• Blonde Ale
• An easy-to-drink craft beer that has moderate bitterness and maltiness. Some variants are brewed with real fruits giving it a unique natural taste.
• Wheat
• A refreshing summer beer style that usually has the taste of banana and clove. These beers are naturally poured with a cloudy body but presents a familiar flavor.
• Lager (Pilsner, Kolsch) 
• The original pale and hoppy beer style; it offers a clean and bready maltiness with lots of hop character. It has a crisp and clean flavor that will make it your go-to, end of the day beer.
• Pale Ale
• The Pale Ale has a medium body and low to medium maltiness that may include some caramel malt character.
• Dark (Brown Ale, Porter, Stout)
• Dark beers are composed of brown ales, porters and stouts that give variety to the thickness and complexity of this beer style. They are bold with dry-roasted bitterness that elevates a chocolate or coffee finish.
• India Pale Ale
• The India Pale Ale is the go-to beer for craft beer connoisseurs. It is a beefed-up version of a Pale Ale, made using more hops and with a higher alcohol content. The IPA has a complex sense of bitterness because of the more nuanced contributions hops add to a beer such as aroma and flavor.