Beer is one of the world’s most popular adult beverages, brewed and consumed on every continent and in hundreds of nations. It is universal in appeal, being served in the world’s finest restaurants, at sporting events, and in neighborhood taverns. Beer is made in dozens of unique styles (explore beer styles here), ranging from dark to light, from strong to mild, from simple to complex, and from sublime to absurd.
Yes, I did intentionally say absurd, and now I will likely get into hot water with a lot of modern beer devotees. When I look at the entire adult beverage world, I see trends and fads that occur and evolve year to year and decade to decade. In sum, the evolution of wine and spirits is positive, save for a few annoying developments. I wish I could say the same for beer.
I have written about beer extensively for thirty years, launched a significant world beer competition, judged in several others, and brewed beer both as a home brewer and a commercial brewer. Now, back to the regularly scheduled rant.
In 1995, IPA was defined at 5 to 7.5% ABV with bitterness units (IBU) of 40 to 60. By 2014, the American-style IPA had ballooned to 50 to 70 IBU with ABV of 6.3 to 7.6%. What was a moderately hopped and potent IPA in 1995 is now simply the baseline. I love garlic, but if every dish at a restaurant leads with it, I will likely never return.
The classic beers have been buried without even a proper send-off. I can walk into any self-described Whiskey bar and ask for a Speyside Single Malt and be handed a list of options. Walk into a dedicated beer bar with triple-digit taps and ask for a British ESB, however, and they will look at you as if you have three heads.
What do we say about a generation raised on Starbucks? Coffee was always an adult drink, seen as too bitter for children, so they shifted to sweet, dessert-style drinks. The target audience for Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Lemon Bar Frappuccinos was the same crowd turning up at the local taproom to sample the new IPA — which had better have Frappuccino appeal. That’s how we got here. Heavy sigh.
A Brief History of Beer
eer is one of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages (although not as old as wine, which most likely was discovered accidentally). Unlike wine, Beer has to be coaxed by man as its primary ingredient, grains, must be altered by heat and water to convert the abundant starches to fermentable sugars. The brewing of beer dates back to at least the 8th millennium BC at the beginnings of agriculture.
The first beers are believed to have been produced by first creating very dense bread composed of cracked grains baked in crude ovens. This bread would be broken up and added to boiling water, then cooled. This cool liquid was naturally affected by ambient airborne yeasts that transformed the sweet liquid into beer.
In its purest form, beer is made with a simple recipe of water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. Beers made by the Babylonians and Egyptians do not differ greatly from beers made by craft brewers today.
Beer — Just Four Basic Ingredients
Water is more vital to beer’s flavor than it may initially seem. Mineral composition affects texture, mouthfeel, and yeast health — healthy yeast ferments more completely, producing more alcohol and a cleaner finish. Water is not just water.
Malt, primarily barley and wheat, is the grape equivalent in beer compared to wine. Grains must be steeped, germinated, and then dried to make their sugars accessible. Kilning malt to varying degrees produces a wide spectrum of colors, flavors, and aromas — from pale base malts to deep, roasty black malts — enabling the brewer to work across an enormous range of styles.
Hops, first used in beer production around the eleventh century, contribute bitterness, aroma, and natural preservative properties. They provide a counterpoint to malt sweetness, with aromas ranging from floral and citrus to earthy. Bitterness is measured by alpha acid content — above 10 is quite bitter; 3 to 5 is mild.
Yeast transforms sweet malt water into beer. All strains fall into one of two families: Ale or Lager. In rare cases, such as Belgian Lambic, wild airborne yeasts still do the work naturally. Most brewers carefully inoculate their wort with a chosen strain to select for specific flavor characteristics.
Vital Beer Links
Beer 101 — An introduction to beer.
Beer Styles — Exploring beer styles.
How to taste Beer — Learn how to taste beer like a pro.
Beer Terms — Our glossary helps decode beer tasting notes, styles, and more.
Beer Reviews — An archive of our beer reviews, new and old.
Do you want to have a better understanding of beer? May we suggest Be A Beverage Expert (BABE), a guide to understanding wine, beer, spirits, and cocktails.