Stephen Snyder - The brewmaster’s bible: The gold standard for homebrewers

T here is an old saying, The truth is rarely pure and never simple. This is nowhere more appropriate than in the world of beer, despite the fact that all beer has roots in just four simple ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. Even the name of our beloved beverage is a source of contention and confusion. Many people prefer to call warm-fermented beers ales and cool-fermented beers lagers. Others take issue with this, however, because lager merely comes from the German verb meaning to store and has nothing to do with color, content or method of brewing. German altbiers are ales, after all yet they are cold-lagered; German wheats are often fermented with ale yeast then bottle-conditioned with lager yeast. Further-more some even feel the word beer should be used only to identify products where the yeast settles to the bottom during fermentation (bottom-fermented) and ale should be used exclusively for a product where the yeast rises to the top during fermentation (top-fermented). In fact, beer itself was once a term specifically used to differentiate malt beverages flavored with hops from ales, which were once flavored exclusively with other bitter herbs and spices.

The long and short of all this is that the lines between beer styles cross and crisscross, have two or more names, or have varying fermentation and conditioning methods from country to country and region to region. Therefore, in order to simplify matters for the practical purposes of homebrewing, I refer to all beverages herein as beer and have divided the recipes (for five gallons, unless otherwise noted) into three main sections: Top-fermented beers will be termed ales and bottom-fermented beers will be classified as lagers. There is also a shorter third section of Specialty Beers that includes rare Bavarian styles, seasonal Holiday Beers, or beers that use fruit or spices as flavoring agents; this section includes both ales and lagers.

Youll notice some of the recipes may fit into more than one category, particularly American versions of the classic styles. Some of these are included in the appropriate American sections, others in the European sections; in most cases, the ingredients used, especially the yeast and hops, were the deciding factors in where the recipes would be placed. Youll also see that brand names or specific products are recommended in some recipes. This is not for promotional purposes or because weve received a kickback from the manufacturer but because it was the product used in the original recipe, it is the best one for the job in the brewers humble opinion, or it is true to the style of the beer due to the physical properties of its ingredients (that is, a continental American malt for a steam beer or a maritime German malt for a helles). The same is true for the hop alpha acid percentages given. Since it may be difficult in future years to find hops with the exact alpha acid percentage (AA%) as given, use the HBU/AAU/IBU formulas to adjust what alpha acid percentage you have to the ones given in the recipe. Otherwise use whatever you have available and what suits your personal taste. Good luck and happy homebrewing!