Entering into the beer world

As the first post of the blog, I thought that bringing some introductory context about beers would provide important information for the beer reviews that are to come in further posts. In this article, I would like to guide you through historical facts, my experience with beer and basic concepts that I have learned so far. So, let`s talk about beer!

What is beer?

Besides being the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world, the dictionary also defines beer as an alcoholic drink made from yeast-fermented malt flavoured with hops.

The Heartland Brewery describes the beer as the oldest recorded recipe in the world. First documented by ancient Egyptians the first beers were brewed with fruits and herbs for religious ceremonies. It is also believed that the primitive cultures of Mesopotamia were the first brewers due to residues found.

Eventually, beer made its way to Europe, specifically Northern Europe, where it became part of life because of its nutritional value and as a safe alternative to drinking water that was highly contaminated by that time. Germany, Belgium and the British Isles also became brewing centers originating many styles of beers such as pale ales, porters and stouts brewed in England and Ireland for hundred years.

European colonists brought beer to the New World, New York and Philadelphia were early brewing centers in America, alone New York City had 42 breweries in 1810. Today, there are hundreds of beer styles that are continuously evolving.

“Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage worldwide, and the third-most popular drink overall after water and tea.” Jan Conway – Statista 2020

Among the others, beer became the alcoholic beverage with the highest average revenue worldwide and forecasts demonstrate that this scenario will remain the same.

How is it made?

How one of the most consumed beverages in the world is made? As we could see, since the beginning ancient civilizations used to brew beer for many different reasons and ways of consumption. Even though today there are several varieties of beers, the basic process for brewing is the same. Below is a short video explaining how this production process works:

What if I told you that I haven’t always liked beer?

I know! The person that decided to write about beer actually hated it for some considerable years, shocking!

And that’s the reason I know there’s a beer out there to make you happy, don’t give up! I started with beers about 3 years ago during university. Well, in the last year to be more accurate. I started with the commercial brands, cheap beer because of the student budget, and my taste was developing throughout the years. Last year was the period when I started to try new beers, I didn’t understand much about them, but I knew that they had different colours, tasted different, some were more hoppy, bitter, others lighter and even fruity!

In order to remember the brands I liked I started to post pictures on my Instagram stories of the beers I have tried and liked, so that became a thing. My thing. But I didn’t write any review, only posted the beer and tagged the brand, if my friends or followers wanted to know something about the beer they usually had to shoot me a message directly.

Recently, some friends started to tell me that I should have a blog or invest in this since more and more people ask me for recommendations and tips about the beer world. So, this blog is a development of it.

But now, let’s talk about the different types and colours that sometimes is confusing for most people!

Basic concepts

We've got to the good stuff! First, what is the difference between Ale vs Lager beer? It is actually simple: Ale is top-fermented, which is the oldest fermenting method, at a higher temperature which tends to add more flavour. On the other hand, Lager is bottom-fermented at a much lower temperature which takes more time resulting in a beer with less pronounced flavour than an Ale.

The 5 most popular beer styles that I usually find at bars

1) Belgian Witbier (Ale) – This is my favourite type of beer. It is unfiltered and contains orange, citrus and coriander aromas. I know those ingredients sound weird, but they bring a perfect combination to the final taste of this cloudy light colour beer.

2) India Pale Ale (Ale) – With a hoppy aroma and flavour, this beer brings a combination of sensations, sometimes it might have a fruity aroma but the bitterness will always be present.

3) Pilsner (Lager) – Light gold colour and body, soft malts and floral hops, this beer presents a bitterness that is not aggressive and allows a clean finish

4) Weissbier (Lager) – That is a German wheat beer, even though it’s a lager, the taste is pretty similar to a Witbier and some other Ales because this beer is also top-fermented, and cloudy, the flavour range goes from malty to fruity with a slight bitterness.

5) Stout (Ale) – Have you ever seen that black beer that almost everyone talks about? It is a stout, produced from roasted barley they are usually dry and add chocolate and coffee flavours, the carbonation is low with a creamier overall mouthfeel.

Here is a video showing a few types of some of the beers above:

And in case you're still not sure about the taste, you can try to match the beers with your personality with this fun infographic from Bite! How about that?

I hope you had as much fun reading as I enjoyed writing about it. See you in the next post!

Cheers!