Beer Lesson #1 – Know the Bare Beer Basics (so you can impress your friends)

Okay, I’ll admit, when I was younger I would look through the beer list and order whatever had the highest alcohol content, regardless of the type of beer. Thankfully I’ve long grown out of that stage, but unfortunately there are still many people out there who continue to pick their beers based on the highest alcohol percentage for the lowest cost.

Most people do not know the difference between types and styles of beer and as a result when they pick the beer with the highest ABV they don’t always end up liking it. I try the best I can when working at the brewery to find the perfect beer for the guest. Countless times I’ve had someone come up to me at Imperial Oak asking for a light beer, but not knowing whether they really want something fruity (like a Hefeweizen) or crisp and clean (like a Kolsch) or with a little bitterness (like a Blonde Ale).

So many options – why not try them all? Beer flight from Hailstorm Brewing in Tinley Park, IL

Unless you’re a beer nerd, you may not know the difference, so I’m here to enlighten you!

Every beer has a few basic qualities that make it different from another beer:

• SRM (Standard Reference Method)
• IBUs (International Bitterness Units)
• ABV (Alcohol by Volume)
• ABW (Alcohol by Weight)
• OG (Original Gravity- also called Specific Gravity)
• FG (Final Gravity)

The SRM basically clarifies the color of the beer as set by the American Society of Brewing Chemists. It ranges from 1° (pale straw) to 40°+ (black). The Beer Drinkers Guide to Colorado has a cool chart showing the colors and the styles of some beer.

IBUs measure the bitterness of a beer and range from 5-100+.  Humans can generally start tasting a bitterness between 4-9 IBUs. The bitterness in beer is needed to balance the sweetness from the malt.

ABV is the measurement of alcohol content in beer.  To get this number, a brewer will use a hydrometer (that finds the density of liquid in relation to water) to measure the OG. They let the beer ferment and then remeasure (days, weeks, months) later to find the FG, then multiply that number by 131. Basicially: OG – FG x 131 = ABV% (easy enough even for a math inept person like me)

Beer may also show the ABW on the side of the bottle. Between 1933-1990, after Prohibition, brewers wanted to show that the alcohol in the beer was not that high and opted to use the ABW on the side of their bottles instead. The rest of the world continued to use ABV and eventually it became the norm in the US again.  In order to convert ABW in the ABV, another fun math equation: ABW x 1.25 = ABVWhat does all this information actually mean to a customer? A couple weeks ago I had a woman come into Imperial Oak who was looking for something light, not hoppy and had a little sweetness to it. She really had no idea what style of beer she was looking for, so I suggested our Dunkelweizen. Although it looks dark (due to the dark malt used), it is a wheat beer and therefore not bitter, and it’s also low in alcohol content. Needless to say, it was a perfect match for her and she ordered a couple more for her friends when they showed up to the bar.

There is SO much info out there about beer, but if you know some of the basics you can impress your friends next time you’re at the bar… heck, it might even impress me!