If you wander in to any off licence these days you will be mesmerised by the vast array of craft beers now available.
Paddy McDonald from Laois’s very own 12 Acres Brewing Company is going to guide you through the basics to help you understand your pale ale from your IPAs and your Porters from
your stouts so you can make an informed choice and enjoy some of the wonderful craft beers that are on offer out there today.
What is craft beer?
Craft beer is a pretty loose definition but it is generally accepted that craft beer is defined by Customs & Excise as a beer which brewed in a local microbrewery which produces less than 30,000
hectolitres per annum.
Craft beer is all about flavour and freshness which can only be achieved by brewing in small batches with no chemicals or preservatives and not by mass producing generic beer on an industrial scale in a giant brew factory. It is artisan versus mass produced.
David versus Goliath!
All beers fall under a style definition and there are many, each beer style is like a beer specification which has upper and lower limits of spec i.e. Alcohol Content, Bitterness, Colour, Carbonation etc.
It is up to the brewer to interpret the style in a way he or she wishes, it’s basically like cooking but with only four ingredients – Water, Malted Barley, Hops and Yeast.
The beauty of craft brewing is that by playing around with all these wonderful natural ingredients so many different beers with varying flavours, colours, aromas etc can be brewed and enjoyed.
And that is what craft beer is all about – quality not quantity.
Month 1 – American Pale Ale
Probably one of the most popular craft beer styles and the iconic
beer style that has led to the boom in craft beer since the 1990s in American and more recently this side of the Atlantic.
An American Pale Ale usually comes in between 4 and 5% ABV (Alcohol By Volume) so would be considered sessionable, and is characterised by a nice hoppy, floral or fruity flavour and aroma which derives from the American hops usually used in the brew which are characteristic of the style.
Bitterness is low to moderate and colour is usually pale or golden with good carbonation and with a nice subtle malty backbone.
In general it is a nice easy going refreshing beer with more
fruity flavour than the commercially available red ales that we have been used to in Ireland, but with a nice balance between the malt sweetness and the hop bitterness.
It is a nice introduction to craft beer for the uninitiated or the curious beer drinker. A good entry level craft beer style.
Classic example of the style would include Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Stone Pale Ale, some Irish examples of the style would include Kinnegear – Otway, from Donegal and of course Laois’s own 12 Acres Pale Ale!
So ditch the mainstream and get out and try a craft beer!
SEE ALSO – Laois Abroad: The young Laois couple making strides in Yorkshire
