BEER Cheat Sheet

Do you know the difference between a Weissbier and a Witbier?  Do you prefer Dubbel, Doppelbock or Single Bock? Do you know what a Kolsch or Gueze is?  Well, you do now. Who knew beer could be so diverse.

                                                                                                         Me and Yun on number...10 I think.
                                                                                               San Diego County Fair Beer festival 2011
                                                                                                      (Picture thrown in for no reason)

ABBEY - Strong, fruity, spicy, aromatic, complex.
ALTBIER - Bronze colored, snappy bitterness, full of malt flavor.
AMBER - Color signals caramelized flavors in amber ales and lagers
BARLEY WINE - Very strong, dark, bittersweet, malty, complex - a sipping beer. (Whatever!)

                                                                                                               Stone Old Gaurian Barley Wine

BIERE DE GARDE - Full-bodied, herbal, flavors of anise and earth
BITTER - Fruity and racy, subtle, low carbonation, robust hopping.
BOCK -  Dark (usually), strong, malty, toffeeish, full bodied, restrained bitterness.
BROWN ALE -  Dark, caramelized, fruity, light chocolate and coffee.
DOPPELBOCK - Very strong, dark, toffeeish, with some sweetness.
DORTMUNDER EXPORT - Golden, dry, bready, moderate bitterness.
DUBBELL - Dark, fruity, complex, raisiny, spicy.
DUNKEL/DUNKLES - Dark, malty, juicy, bready, moderate bitterness.
ESB - "Extra Special Bitter", amber, fruity, slightly strong, hoppy.
FRAMBOISE/FRAMBOZEN - Beer made with raspberries; can be sween or dry.
GUEUZE - Pale, dry, funky, wildly complex, quite tarte.
HEFEWEIZEN - Wheat beer with yeast, light bodied, spritzy, clovey, banana like.
HELLES - Golden, light bodied, malty, bready, restrained bitterness.
IMPERIAL STOUT - Very strong, dark, roasty, coffeeish, chocolaty, robust.
IPA - "India Pale Ale", amber, strong, dry, robust hop bitterness and aroma
KOLSCH - Very pale gold, bready, lightly fruity, restrained bitterness.
KRIEK-Beer made with cherries, can be sweet or dry.
LAMBIC - Fermented by wild yeasts (like your mamma!), tart base for gueuze and fruit beers, funky
MARZENBIER - Amber, bready, round, malty, caramelized, juicy, medium bodied.
MILD - Dark, lightly hopped, caramelized, raisiny, light bodied.
OKTOBERFEST - Should be the same as marzenbier, but sometimes paler.
OLD ALE - Somewhat strong, dark, caramelized, fruity, balanced bitterness.
OUD BRUIN - "Old Brown", dark, sweet and sour, fruity, juicy, raisiny, complex.
PALE ALE - Amber, snappy, dry, fruity, hoppy, with some caramel flavors.
PILSNER - If genuine, golden dry, sharply bitter, flowery, bready, snappy.
PORTER - Very dark, chcolaty, coffeeish, caramelized, hoppy.
RAUCHBIER - "Smoked beer", smoky flavors and aromatics, juicy, caramelized.
SAISON - Dry, sharp, spicy, complex, refreshing, hoppy, slightly strong.
SCHWARZBIER - "Black beer", dark, bitter chocolate, dry, caramelized, bready.
SCOTCH ALE - Dark, sometimes strong, malty, full bodied, restrained bitterness.

                                                                                Harvestoun Ola Dubh Scotch Ale - 12 year - YUM!

STOUT - Black, coffeesh, chocolaty, can bbe dry or sweet, strohng or modest.
TRAPPIST - Made by monks, stong, fruity, spicy, complex.
TRIPEL - Pale, strong, dry, fruity, complex, spicy, rummy, spirituous.
VIENNA-STYLE - Bronze, sweetish (not swedish), malty, bready, caramelized, light bitterness.
WEISSE/WEISSBIER - Wheat beer, usually with yeast (like your mamma!) See hefewizen.
WITBIER - Belgian wheat beer, hazy yellow, light bodied, citric, spritzy, slightly tangy.
BUDWIESER -  Slight taste of duck urine, watery, worthless.

*The above list was pulled directly from  "The Brewmaster's Table", Garret Oliver, Harper Colins 2005

U.S Breweries Map

One of the best things about starting this blog is all the additional information my friends are sending me on the beer industry in San Diego and across the US. My brother in law sent me a great article on the SD beer obsession a few weeks ago, which I passed on to viewers of this blog in a previous post. My friend Adrian sent me the below link to a map of the breweries across the US.

  http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0068/6272/files/PCL_BreweriesoftheUnitedStatesREVISED.png?102908

Please continue to share the knowledge, I will definitely give credit where it is due. Also, if any one wants to finance a cross country brewery tour, I'll chip in for gass. (Use the link rather than look at the below pic, there is a good zoom feature)

O’Brien’s Pub – San Diego

Don’t let the fancy website fool you. O’Brien’s is no frills and a bit blue collar.  They rotate their beer out regularly and bring in a different cask beer every Thursday.  The staff is nice…but not too nice, and I find that refreshing.  It’s located in the Clairemont Mesa area of San Diego in an Asian strip mall.  Very convenient if you want to grab some fro-yo or tofu after you are done drinking.  Also very convenient if your wife loves fro-yo but hates you drinking at O’Brien’s.  Handing over her favorite frozen treat when getting home from work 2 hours late helps.

If you live in San Diego, you have to check this place out.  Many local brew masters and beer aficionados go here regularly and it’s a great place to strike up a conversation with someone.  I’ve been going to O’Brien’s for years,  but my most recent visit was special because I went with a friend, for the sake of this blog let’s call him Tony…because that is his name.  On Friday afternoon, Tony asked me if I wanted to grab a beer. “Sure!” I said, “What kinda beer do you like?”   “Oh, the Bud Light Platinum isn’t too bad…”

This is the point in the movie when the record screeches to a halt and an all out brawl starts, but I took a deep breath and told him “First, we are going to O’Brien’s, they don’t have Bud Light. Second, I’m ordering your beers, and third, Bud Light is not beer.”

It’s not.

We arrived at O’Brien’s just after five and it was standing room only, all the booths inside filled up and all the tables outside were taken as well.  I ordered Tony a Kilkenny Irish Red to ease him into the world of flavored beers.  From the makers of Guiness, it’s a little weak in flavor for my taste but Tony loved it.  I started with a PortMongo IPA from Port Brewing, not my first time with this strong hoppy ale, and I put it at the top of my IPA list.

Next, with the bar line almost outside the door, I moved on to The Widow Belgian Strong Dark from the new Societe Brewing Co. in San Diego,  and Tony ordered a Roenbach Grand Cru (Red Ale) from Palm Breweries.  I was surprised to find that the Roenbach was actually a barley wine. Tasty but I was worried Tony would protest. He didn’t.

“This is tasty, I could down this in one gulp.”

“Glad you like it,” I said.

I could have stayed all day but we called it a night after two and went home. Before I forget, a warning, the parking lot at O’Brien’s is a nightmare, tight, and normally full.  Luckily there is plenty of street parking nearby.   O’Brien’s also has a few televisions usually showing soccer or rugby, and a dart board if athletics is your thing.