Types of Beer

Abbey Beer: Originally a beer brewed by monks in a monastery, the term now applies to beers from brewers who have acquired an abbey's rights. An abbey beer is often a strong, top-fermented ale.

Ale: Beer brewed using the top fermentation process, where yeast cells rise to the top of the brewing tank, to be skimmed off when fermentation is complete. Ales commonly use darker malt and have a higher alcohol content and richer flavor than lagers produced by bottom fermentation.

amber beer: A common term for beers whose color is midway between dark and pale. The amber color is obtained by the use of special caramelized malts. Most amber beers are top fermented.

dark lager: A bottom-fermented dark beer. The dark color is produced by the use of caramilized malt. Dark lagers are popular in Germany and Eastern Europe.

hefeweizen: An unfiltered wheat beer.

Imperial stout: Extra-strong stout (alcohol content often above 10% vol.) first popular in Czarist Russia.

IPA: India Pale Ale. A highly-hopped and above-average strength brew.

lager: Beer produced using the bottom fermentation process, where the yeast cells sink to the bottom of the tank during fermentation, and are then drawn off when fermentation is complete. Most lagers are of the pils type. Other examples are Dortmunder, bock, dark lager and Vienna.

pale ale: Bronze-to-copper-colored ale. It is pale when compared to porter.

pils/pilsener: A pale lager beer, highly hopped. It takes its name from the town of Pilzen in Czechoslovakia where the bottom fermentation process producing a pale beer was invented in 1842. Lager is often used as a synonym for pils.

porter: Dark brown or black ale with a medium-to-strong hop content. In rare occasions some porters are brewed as lagers.

stout: Dark-brown to black ale. Sweet stouts have a lesser hop content, dry stouts have a higher hop content.

Trappist beer: A strong pale to brown top-fermented beer that is bottle conditioned. Trappist beers are brewed in one of Belgium's five remaining brewing abbeys - Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westvleteren and Westmalle - or in the Schaapskooi abbey brewery in the Netherlands.

wheat beer: Any beer containing a high proportion of malted or unmalted wheat. Wheat beers are top-fermented, and many are bottle-conditioned by the addition of yeast. Such beers are traditionally brewed in Belgium and Germany. Belgian wheat beers contain 30-50% wheat and include Hoegaarden White and also the gueuzes.