Best served
at room
temperature
Beer quality is
a�ected by both
temperature and light
Best servedcold
A beer’s shelf life is about three
months
LAGERALE Pale lager is the most widely consumed and
commercially available beer in the
world
IN MINUTES News and events — visually
SUSAN BATSFORD, GRAPHICS EDITOR, TWITTER @SBATS1;
INFOGRAPHIC BY MEGAN DINNER/QMI AGENCY
What’s your type?
Oldest type of beer
Uses top fermenting yeast, which floats on surface for first few days then settles to bottom
60-75ºF (Temperatures above 75ºF produce secondary flavours and aromas, usually fruity)
A few weeks at 40-55ºF
Sweet and fruity taste
Usually higher
In Germany
Bottom fermenting yeast that tends to be more aggressive (leaves less sugars)
46–55ºF
A few months at 32-45ºF
Crisp, dry taste
Usually less than ales
How to make beer Amber Reddish-
brown; ranges from pale to dark with hints of caramel
Bitter Amber ale with a dry, sharp flavour produced from hops
Brown ale Dark brown; nutty and malty with flavour ranging from dry to sweet
Burton Dark brown; strong ale with roasty malt flavours
Hefeweizen Frothy wheat beer; light in body, flavour and alcohol content
India Pale Ale Pale and profusely hoppy
Malt liquor Pale, malty lager; over 5% alcohol
Pale ale Dry in flavour; contains high-quality malt and high levels of hops
Pilsner Very pale ale; dry, hoppy flavour and aroma
Porter Dark brown; full-bodied and bittersweet or chocolately in flavour
Stout Dark brown; rich, slightly burnt taste; sometimes made with caramel sugar and high levels of hops
Wheat beer Pale colour; made with wheat malt; medium-bodied texture and slightly tart
Making beer is just like cooking. Each recipe requires di�erent ingredients and techniques.Beer is made from four basic ingredients:
Water Filtered water is best — if your tap water doesn’t taste good
neither will your beer. Don’t use distilled water as it has been depleted of oxygen.
Malt is dried barley grain that has been carefully soaked in water
until it sprouts. It is then mashed, which extracts sugars and starches from the grain. Advanced homebrewers can do this at home, but if you’re new at it look for a product
called malt extract.
Hops are green flowers that look
similar to pine cones. Malt causes beer to be
really sweet, so hops are used to balance it out with bitterness. It also adds a distinctive aroma to the finished brew.
Yeast is a living organism that feeds
o� the sugars in malt, which it converts to
alcohol and carbon dioxide (fermentation). Look for specially cultured beer yeast, usually called brewer’s yeast.
Beer sub-types
Beer can be categorized as a
lager, aleor specialty.
Specialty beers are either ales, lagers, or a hybrid of the two.
Examples:Examples:
The process
Malt, hops, and water are boiled into a mixture called wort (pronounced wert).
1The wort is poured into a fermenter and allowed to cool.
2Yeast is pitched into the fermenter and sealed.
3Usually in 7 to 10 days the yeast will have eaten all the sugar it can and fall to the bottom of the fermenter.
4Beer is bottled and set aside for a couple of weeks to mature and carbonate.
5Sources: beertutor.com; Indiana University; thebeerstore.ca; 2basnob.com; drinkingbeer.net; beer.about.com; typesofbeer.biz; Wikipedia
2.92%
12.69%
Low
High
Typicalalcohol
%4.02%
15.66%
Low
High
Typicalalcohol
%
DevelopedFermenting
style
Fermenting temperature
AgingTaste
Alcohol content
The strongest beer ever created in terms of alcohol
by volume is the lager Schorschbrau Schorsch-bock 57% Finis Coronat Opus with a whopping
57.7%Laying beer
bottles on their side can create
a yeast ring that won’t settle