Morrissey’s Perfect Pint. Richard Fox

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       Types of beer

      How was it for you? We took our first brew out onto the streets of Yorkshire to check and it went down a storm. One thing you learn pretty quickly is how different each brew can turn out – especially if you’re making small quantities at home. You also learn the vast range of beer types you can choose from. Check out our list of home-brew suppliers in the directory at the back.

      Beer is a brown drink with a foamy head, or a piss-coloured, fizzy drink called lager, right? Wrong. There are as many types of beer as there are types of women – more even. Here’s our guide to some of the tastiest, foxiest and downright psycho …

      Belgian ‘wild’ beers

      Really crazy beers, with fermentation being left to ‘wild’ yeasts in the air – just like in days of yore. Whereas modern breweries are cleaner than a nun’s panties, these Belgian ‘Lambic’ brewers go more for the British hospital approach to hygiene. Windows are left open, moulds encouraged to fester – anything to get those free-thinking yeasts in to have their way with the brew.

      The beer equivalent of an orgy – takes place spontaneously, with random partners; you never quite know what the outcome will be.

      Wheat beers

      Also often called ‘white’ to confuse things. This fresh and feisty style is another Belgian classic, a great thirst quencher – better than cheap, lager piss by a country mile. Often cloudy (hence ‘white’), the husk of wheat make it a tricky little customer for the brewer and it often clogs the brewing vessels.

      Foxy little blonde – easy, a bit thick, but fresh as you like and liable to leave you wanting more on a hot summer’s day.

      Porters and stouts

      Dark, heavy beers that get their burnt fruit flavour from the roasting of malts at high temperatures. Thick, gooey beers – think Guinness, think Beamish with knobs on. Sadly porters are not much around today, though obviously popular in Ireland – and Alaska for some reason.

       Strong, dark, body and creamy head is an acquired taste not easily forgotten!

      Celtic beers

      At this point a word or two about our Celtic friends in Ireland and Scotland is probably in order. Without wanting to give a history lesson, it’s worth noting a few differences in brewing, which have left a beer legacy in these fine countries today.

      It was a Celtic tradition to use bittering herbs like heather, cereals and fruits to flavour the beer, because hops were difficult to grow, and expensive to import from southern England. Even if you could overcome the shame of it. Small breweries have revived this practice and their beers are proving very popular with the punters and beer writers alike. Pine cones and seaweed are among the ingredients being used to give a unique Caledonian tang to today’s beers. And not just because they’re free.

       Shilling

      One of the things an English beer drinker will notice when entering the land of kilts and free prescriptions is how much the Scots go on about England and the English.

      Another thing is the need for a whole new vocabulary at the pump – the language of shillings. No, this is not a cheap joke about wallets and cobwebs. At your average Scottish bar, you’ll have the choice of a pint of 60/– or 70/–. Perhaps an 80/– or 90/– if you’re feeling adventurous.

      These shilling СКАЧАТЬ