MdV:
Merchant du Vin beer e-newsletter –Wednesday October 10, 2007: Beer Styles
Samuel
Smith’s Winter Welcome is shipping now!
The first imported winter beer seen in the
http://www.merchantduvin.com/Samuel_Smith_Winter_Welcome_2007.pdf
Green’s
gluten-free Belgian ales are getting into wider distribution each week, and the
beer press has been giving them quite a bit of attention. More in our news release: http://www.merchantduvin.com/greens_intro_6_7_07.pdf
Media
coverage of Merchant du Vin’s fine beer portfolio continues to grow:
Ayinger
Brau-Weisse, Rochefort 10, and Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock are in the October
’07 Men’s Journal’s “Top Beers;” Westmalle Trappist Dubbel was featured in
articles on the dubbel style in All About Beer magazine as well as in Beer
Advocate Magazine; Ayinger Brau-Weisse and Ur-Weisse were the top light and
dark hefeweizens at the BTI’s World Beer Championships (and Brau-Weisse’s 97
was the highest ranking of all beers tasted). Plus, beer festivals, dinners,
and events are offering beer lovers all across
Full
national news & MdV event listing at:
http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/1_about/news.html
Beer
Chat from the
We’ve
noted lots of writing and talking in recent months about Beer Styles, about
Beers Not To Style, and even about how Beer Styles Shouldn’t Limit Brewing
Creativity.
A
beer style is a quick description of how a beer will look, smell, and taste,
within a somewhat-defined range. Styles
also have a historical and regional precedent that results from ingredients and
techniques available to brewers; also, of course, a style results only when
consumers buy and drink the product . . . and then brewers reproduce that beer.
For
a beer drinker, a style helps indicate something of what the beer might taste
like: if someone orders a variety of Oatmeal Stout that they have never heard
of, he or she should get beer that may have nuances and may be wonderful, but
should be of medium strength with a roasty component to the flavor, silky body
from oats, and some fruitiness from ale fermentation. India Pale Ales should have hops forward in
the flavor. Doppelbocks should be rich
and strong.
A
style designation is an indicator of a range of flavors, which helps the
drinker pick an appealing beer.
The
Brewer’s Association lists over 130 styles and substyles of beer; the Beer
Judge Certification Program lists 80. As
both point out, styles are evolving: a dozen short years ago, the only beer
style with the term “Imperial” was Imperial Stout, or Russian Imperial Stout, a
style that was originally produced by British brewers for Russian Czars. Now “Imperial” is a designator that can be
paired with IPA, Porter, Hefeweizen, Pils . . . it has come to mean any style
pushed to the high ranges of flavor, strength, roastiness, bitterness. (Generally, “Imperial” means the same thing
as “Double” when it comes in front of a style: more strength and more flavors
to balance.)
We’re
pleased about the wonderful imported and American beers now found in stores and
pubs. When it comes to styles, we think:
Here’s
the Brewers Assoc style listing, from the World Beer Cup page:
http://www.beertown.org/events/wbc/competition/reg_info/style_guide.html
and
here’s the BJCP listing:
If
you are reading this newsletter for the first time, check our archive at:
http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/1_about/enews_archive.html/
and
sign yourself up for e-news at:
http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/1_about/guestbook.html
Merchant