Booze comes and goes but beer stays! The life of every party and the huge space taker in your fridge, beer is everywhere. This insanely popular alcoholic drink has gone through many shapes and forms and craft beer is its current popular one. The beers that you so enjoy in your favorite breweries are nothing but craft beers. We’re sure you’ve heard the word tossed around parties but now is your time to become the know it all! Here are all your answers to what is craft beer so you can call yourself a zythophile.
What Is Craft Beer
Let’s start by addressing the beautiful elephant in the room. The question in your mind is what is craft beer and to put it simply, it’s a type of beer crafted by small breweries. These breweries are mostly independently owned where these beers are produced in small batches. As they say, great things come in small quantities and this is pretty true with craft beers. Because these breweries are following non-traditional methods, you get a wonderful variety of flavors with a dominating malty taste. This is the fun and experimental cousin of beer and trust us, it keeps getting interesting!
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History Of Craft Beer
Every great alcoholic drink has plenty of stories floating around its origin and craft beer is no different. Do you remember making things out of whatever is available in your kitchen? That’s exactly how craft beer came into being. This interesting story centers around Egypt. As per the tale, craft beers first appeared in the grasslands of southern Babylonia, specifically between Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The locals of Egypt were known as Sumerians and used to produce grains. Then, these grains used to be converted into bread called bappir. As per the legend, these brewers worshiped the goddess Ninakasi. She was also known as the “lady who filled mouth”. This goddess is believed to have instructed humans as to how to make beer which was earlier known as kas.Â
If we move away from stories and look at facts, America saw a major advance and popularity in craft beers in 1976. New Albion Brewery was founded in Sonoma, California and its founder Jack McAuliffe became a prominent figure in the craft brewery renaissance. He used to be a former sailor so he brought that thrill and experimentation into his beers and traveled the world tasting and curating flavors. When he came back to Glasgow after all his travels, he got back a homebrewing kit. He used a trash can as an alternative for brewing equipment and created a beer that was immensely liked. It was during one of his tours that he had a realization and with the backing of Fritz Maytag, he founded New Albion Brewing Company. This company changed the game of craft beers and the market has been growing ever since.
Just like these two stories, different countries have different claims about the origin of craft beer. The existence of various origin stories makes sense as well because come on, we’re talking about beer here and we all know how stories are told when you’re drunk.
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Some Popular Types Of Craft Beer
The crafty world of craft beers can’t be summed up easily but hey, we’re going to try! There are various kinds of popular craft beers in the market right now and we’ll be taking you through some of the most popular ones:
Lager
Let’s start with a name that is as popular as beer. Yes, we’re talking about lager! People often confuse regular beer with lager but it’s not the same thing. In fact, lager is a type of craft beer that is commonly served in breweries. First originated in Germany, lagers have a rich and malty flavor. These craft beers are produced from a bottom-fermenting yeast and generally have a light color. So, the next time you’re sipping a “light-colored beer” in a cute brewery, you’ll know it’s a Lager!
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Ale
Another popular type of craft beer, Ales are often confused with lagers but they’ve many differences. It’s a dark-colored beer made from top-fermenting yeast. Unlike lager, ale doesn’t have a malty taste. Instead, a warm fermentation technique is involved in the making of ales and a bittering agent is added to balance out the flavors. Due to this, ales generally have a sweet and fruity aroma with a bitter taste. Ales have many popular types depending upon dominating flavors and ABV, Pale ales, Wheat Beer and IPAs are some examples of its varied types. If you enjoy strong-flavored drinks with fruity undertones, definitely check out ale when you head out next.
Stout
Directly from the land of Great Britain, we’ve heavy-bodied stout which happens to be dark in color. Stouts are for those who think that ales aren’t strong enough. These top fermented drinks have strong flavors and are made with interesting flavors such as milk and oatmeal creating Milk Stout and Oatmeal Stout. This kind of beer gets its flavors from the roasted malts that contribute to the sweetness while hops give it the much needed bitterness to balance it out.
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Fruit Beer
If you thought we were talking about your childhood favorite fruit beer, you couldn’t be more wrong! We’re talking about the fruit beers that contain booze and are a type of craft beer. When fruits are added to beers, it’s categorized under fruit beers. These craft beers are mostly made from malt-scented strawberries, plums, raspberries, and cherries. The dominating fruity flavor mostly takes away from the bitterness of the beer. It’s a great pick if you’re someone who wants to get tipsy but doesn’t enjoy the typical taste of beer. The base plays a very important role in the overall taste of these beers so do look at the base and if that’s a flavor you enjoy, order your fruit beer.
Glossary Of Popular Craft Beer Terms
Brewpub – It refers to a place where booze is brewed and sold on the premises.Â
Unfiltered – Filtering the beer is an important step to get a refined end product, in this case a beer. Just like changing times, even the beer industry is experimenting. Now there are craft beers that skip the filtering process and serve the beer in its transparent, unfiltered form.
Gypsy Brewing – It’s a brewing process that aims to bridge the gap between commercial and home brewing. Gypsy brewing provides opportunities for small brewers where they can brew their beer at someone else’s venue using their equipment and pay them a fixed fee to do it.
Dry Hopping – It’s a process where hops are added late in the brewing process. This is done to add the hopping aroma without increasing the bitterness.
Keg Beer – Beers are generally stored in a cask or keg. A keg is a cylindrical container made from aluminum which is generally smaller than a barrel. The beers that are transported in this container are known as keg beer.
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Summing Up
Learning is fun if it’s about alcohol, right? We’re sure we’ve satiated your thirst for knowledge about craft beers. So, now when you’re at a party or sipping drinks in a brewery and drunk conversations become about what is craft beer, you’ll have all the answers.
FAQs
How Is Craft Beer Different From Regular Beer?
Craft beers are beers produced in small quantities at a brewery. Unlike regular beers, these drinks aren’t produced in huge quantities so you get frequent variations in flavors.
What Do You Call Someone Who Loves Craft Beer?
Zythophile is generally used to describe a person who loves beer and all things related to it.
What Makes Craft Beer So Special?
When you remove mass production from a product, the possibility becomes endless. Craft beers generally come to you from small, independent, and local breweries where they put their heart and creativity into these drinks. The soul and fun in flavors are what make craft beers so special.
What Is A Connoisseur Of Beer?
A beer connoisseur is a beer professional, mostly from the beverage and hospitality industry. This individual picks up the beer and can distinguish the aromas by taking in their smell before even drinking it. Just like wine connoisseurs, these experts are the people involved in the production of fine beers.
Do Craft Beers Get You More Drunk?
Different craft beers have different ABV. Generally, standard beer has a 5 to 6% ABV while craft beer can have a 9 to 10% ABV. The higher alcohol content can certainly get you more drunk as compared to regular beers. But, it honestly depends because there are plenty of craft beers in the market with really low ABVs.
Why Is Craft Beer So Popular?
Humans get bored easily and they want to try something new and Craft beer taps directly into that tendency. The flavors are always popping and new which is one of the biggest reasons behind the popularity of craft beers.
