Kinds and Qualities of Beer

Appears in

Published 2004

About

Beers are a wonderfully diverse group of drinks, and a good beer can be a mouth-filling experience, one that rewards slow savoring. There are several qualities worth appreciating:

Color, which can range from pale yellow to impenetrable brown-black, and comes from the kinds of malt used
Body, or weightiness in the mouth, which comes from the long remnants of starch molecules in the malt
Astringency, from malt phenolic compounds
Prickly freshness, from dissolved carbon dioxide
Taste, which may include saltiness from the water, sweetness from unfermented malt sugars, acidity from roasted malt and from fermentation microbes, bitterness from hops and from dark-roasted malts, savoriness from malt amino acids
Aroma, from woody, floral, citrusy hops; malty, caramel, and even smoky malt; and from the yeasts and other microbes, which can produce notes that seem fruity (apple, pear, banana, citrus), flowery (rose), buttery, spicy (clove), and even horsey or stable-like

In this section

Wheat Beers

Belgian Lambic Beers

Part of

Wine, Beer, and Distilled Spirits

Beer