Wednesday, June 24, 2009
'Frost brewed'? 'Light'? Beer buzzwords explained
Gordon Kendall
Gordon Kendall's column, "Good Libations," runs monthly in Extra. He welcomes readers' questions and comments about wine, beer or spirits.
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Some years ago, as I approached the end of the day at my sweatshop job, a co-worker announced that he was anticipating enjoying a beer when he got home.
Thinking that he might have an esoteric, interesting selection picked out, I inquired, "What kind of beer are you going to drink?" His reply: "Cold."
Such is the state of beer advertising as summer begins. As the weather heats up, brewers ratchet up their message to resonate with perspiration-soaked workers who have been toiling under the torrid sun all day.
Many of the terms being thrown around are intended to create a mindset of chilled refreshment or perceived sophistication. For example, we have, "frost brewed," "cold-filtered," "cold activated bottles and cans" and "light."
Some terms, such "lager" or "Pilsner," reference a beer style. Some hint at the brewing process, such as "triple hops brewed." And let's not forget the nebulous "drinkability," "clean finish" and "bold taste."
Here is an explanation of some of these terms, not necessarily in order:
Lager: A broad style of beer made by using a kind of yeast that works at cool temperatures. Technically, a lager could be any color from light to dark, but most commercial lagers are made from light malts, supplemented with adjuncts such as corn and rice to have a light golden color and smooth, rounded flavors.
Bavarian brewers invented the style by lagering, or storing, their beer in cool caves.
Pilsner: Before 1840 most beers were dark, murky concoctions with a bite. In 1839, the citizens of Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, built a new brewery and excavated extensive caves in the sandstone below. Light, two-row barley was used, as well as spicy, local Bohemian Saaz hops, soft water and lager yeast.
Bavarian brewer Josef Groll was appointed brewmaster, and he served his first brew in 1842. The brew had a light golden color and pronounced hop character. The style became popular and was widely imitated.
The term "Pilsner Bier" was registered as a brand name in Pilsen in 1859. In 1898 the Pilsner Urquell label was created for the brewery. It is still available today.
Modern American Pilsners add adjunct grains for a lighter style and display less hop character than the Czech original.
Cold filtered: Most commercial beers are stabilized after fermentation so that there is no active yeast present. Beer with yeast is hazy, which would make it difficult to make those commercials showing clear, golden liquid swirling into the glass.
Cold filtering, an alternative to the heat of pasteurization, uses an extremely fine filter that traps the organic particles, resulting in clear beer. Because heat deteriorates flavor, cold filtering should wreak less havoc, assuming the beer has some flavor to begin with.
Cold activated bottles and cans: The label contains images composed of thermochromic ink that changes from white to blue when it gets cold.
Frost brewed: Hard to tell about this one. All beer is made by boiling the wort, cooling it down and adding yeast. I toured a brewery once and saw the beer pass through a wort chiller, which resembles a giant, frosty radiator, on its way to the fermentation tank.
If the beer were chilled to frosty conditions before the yeast was pitched, no fermentation would occur. Once the initial fermentation is complete, the beer could be aged in frosty tanks to mellow it.
Triple hops brewed: While this sound like cutting-edge brewing technology to the uninitiated, it is really nothing new. Hops are green, resinous cones grown on vines that contain bitter resins that require timely boiling to extract. Hops also contain flavors and volatile aromatic components that dissipate quickly when heated.
Crushed grains are steeped in water, then the sweet liquid is drained off and boiled for at least an hour. Some hops are added at the beginning to extract bitterness. Near the end of the boil, different hops are added for aroma and flavor.
Some craft brewers add hops at up to seven intervals. It is interesting to note that the beer that touts the triple hops brewing method has very little hop character. If you want to discover what hops taste like, try Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Clean finish: Professional tasters define the finish as the flavor left in the mouth after the beverage being tasted has left. The lingering flavor should be pleasant. Clean finish implies no aftertaste. Solution: No flavors initially, no aftertaste.
Bold taste: The opposite of above. Advertisers would have you to believe that the same beer can blow you away with bold taste, but yet have a clean (no) finish. Most beers being advertised as having a bold taste are actually light on flavor. Want bold taste? Try a Chimay Grand Reserve.
Drinkability: Because everyone has a different palate, this would vary with the taster. I personally prefer something with more flavor than the beer touted as having drinkability.
Light beer: Beer with fewer calories than average. These days, beer commercials seem like they are promoting beer with the fewest calories possible. Last time I checked, water had 0 calories. Give me a beer with flavor!
Gordon Kendall's wine and spirits column runs monthly in Wednesday's Extra.
