After malting, barley is milled, which finally removes the hull, breaking it into large pieces. Dublin’s hard water is well-suited to making stout, such as Guinness, while the Plzeň Region’s soft water is ideal for brewing Pilsner, such as Pilsner Urquell. The level of dissolved bicarbonate influences beer’s finished taste. A mixture of starch sources may be used, with a secondary carbohydrate source, such as maize (corn), rice, wheat, or sugar, often termed an adjunct, especially when used alongside malted barley. The longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness they contribute, but the less hop flavour and aroma remain. The first step, mixing malted barley with hot water in a mash tun, is “mashing”.

Process

  • During the building of the Egyptian pyramids, each worker got a daily ration of four to five litres of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment and was crucial to the pyramids’ construction.
  • Most beers are cleared of yeast by filtering when packaged in bottles and cans.
  • Cans protect the beer from light (thereby preventing spoilage) and have a seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles.
  • The flavor gets better from there, with tons of caramel playing off the beer’s natural bitterness.
  • Nevertheless, this distinctive yellow, red, blue, and white can is a solidly drinkable lager with a rounded, silky mouthfeel and some delicate vanilla dancing around the edges.
  • Many beers are sold in cans, though there is considerable variation in the proportion between different countries.

Lagers are fermented at cooler temperatures with bottom-fermenting yeast. Choosing a good beer can be more complicated than you’d think, and popularity is not always an indication of the best product. Beer sales data, online reviews, and personal experience were drawn upon to arrive at the ranking order. We’re always ready to set sail for brews like the highly rated 60 Minute IPA, which gets its name from a 60-minute boil with over 60 hop additions. You’ll get toasty, mature hops at first swig, but then the hops will begin to materialize in crystal-clear herbaceous form to balance things out.

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Water is the main ingredient, accounting for 93% of beer’s weight. The carbonation is often increased either by transferring the beer to a pressure vessel and introducing pressurised carbon dioxide or by transferring it before the fermentation is finished so that carbon dioxide pressure builds up inside the container. The starches are converted to sugars, and the sweet wort is drained off. As of 2006, more than 133 billion litres (35 billion US gallons) of beer are sold per year, producing global revenues of US$294.5 billion.

Best in Beer Readers’ Choice: Your Favorite Beer Styles in 2025

There’s a fair amount of skunk, but it’s intentional and works well with the sweetness, fruit flavor, and dash of corn. Instead, you’ll get the same satiny light taste all the way through to the bottom. It’s relatively sugary, so if you like bitter or heavily-hopped beers, you will want to give this one a pass. It’s a nice nod to the style while still giving Modelo Especial character all of its own. Modelo Especial is a deceptively full-bodied beer with plenty of bright herbs, luscious honey, and corn flavors.

Busch

In short, Busch Light isn’t terribly bad, but it’s not terribly beery either. Busch Light is like water dressed up for beer as Halloween, with a last-minute costume and a vague understanding of what beer is supposed to be. Although Busch Light is certainly a great low-carb beer option that won’t ruin your diet, it’s also a very subdued version of what beer is supposed to be.

Kyrgyzstan also has a beer made from millet; it is a low alcohol, somewhat porridge-like drink called “Bozo”. With improved modern yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically no more than 2 weeks. The term ‘real ale’ was coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973 for “beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide”. At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly “fruity” compounds resembling apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, or prune, among others. Top-fermented beers are most commonly produced with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a top-fermenting yeast which clumps and rises to the surface, typically between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F). The maximum amount of beer a brewery can produce and still be classed as a ‘microbrewery’ varies by region and by authority; in the US, it is 15,000 US beer barrels (1.8 megalitres; 390 thousand imperial gallons; 460 thousand US gallons) a year.

From simple lagers to hoppy IPAs or inky stouts, there are many beautiful beer styles to try. Some of these brands (especially Belgian styles) haven’t changed at all, while others have tweaked recipes or merely updated the brewing equipment and techniques. Unsurprisingly, these are typically easy-drinking beers ideal for consumption at the beach. Mexican-style pilsner and other beers from the Caribbean, Central and South America all take inspiration from European styles dating back to the Colonial Era. Think it’s a coincidence that IPAs and stouts are the go-to styles for your local brewery in the US?

Being familiar with the different beer styles can undoubtedly help with that indecision. Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager has been on the brewery’s taps and in bottles since 1988, and this pleasantly hoppy and malty brew is no stranger to awards and accolades. New Belgium’s Fat Tire is a bold amber ale with a lot of caramelly, toasty malt, and yeast.

Dark Lagers

Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim also use millet in Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalayas. The cooler conditions inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a “cleaner”-tasting beer. Lager typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7–12 °C (45–54 °F), and then a long secondary fermentation at 0–4 °C (32–39 °F) (the lagering phase). Lager yeast is a cool bottom-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus). Stout was originally the strongest variety of porter, a dark brown beer popular with the street and river porters of eighteenth century London.

Sour Beers

The earliest clear chemical evidence of beer produced from barley dates to about 3500–3100 BC, from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. When hopped ale from Europe was imported into Britain in the late Middle Ages, it was described as “beer” to differentiate it from the British unhopped ale, later acquiring a broader meaning. The modern word beer comes into present-day English from Old English bēor, itself from Common Germanic; it is found throughout the West Germanic and North Germanic dialects (modern Dutch and German bier, Old Norse bjórr).

During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal to industrial manufacture, while domestic production ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century. What they did not contain was hops, as that was a later addition, first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot and again in 1067 by abbess Hildegard of Bingen. The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today. Xenophon noted that during his travels, beer was being produced in Armenia. During the Vedic period in Ancient India, there are records of the consumption of the beer-like sura. Unlike sake, mould was not used to saccharify the rice (amylolytic fermentation); the rice was probably prepared for fermentation by chewing or malting.

In 2002, South African Breweries bought the North American Miller Brewing Company to found SABMiller, becoming the second-largest brewery after North American Anheuser-Busch. Some brewers add clarifying agents or finings to beer, which typically precipitate (collect as a solid) out along with protein solids, and are found only in trace amounts in the finished product. The dominant types of beer yeast are top-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae and bottom-fermenting Saccharomyces pastorianus. They have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer’s yeast over less desirable microorganisms, and aids in “head retention”, the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last. Before then, beer was flavoured with other plants such as grains of paradise or ‘alehoof’. The first historical mention of the use of hops in beer dates from 822 AD in monastery rules written by Adalard of Corbie, though widespread cultivation of hops for use in beer began in the thirteenth century.

  • Mexican-style pilsner and other beers from the Caribbean, Central and South America all take inspiration from European styles dating back to the Colonial Era.
  • Christine Fell, in Leeds Studies in English (1975), suggests that the Old English/Norse word bēor did not originally denote ale or beer, but a strong, sweet drink rather like mead or cider.
  • The starches are converted to sugars, and the sweet wort is drained off.

Amstel comes from a European brewery that’s been going strong for the better part of two centuries, and it’s truly mastered the craft do you genuinely like the feeling of being drunk of putting together a great brew. While lesser beers require you to put the lime in yourself, Bud Light Lime does the heavy lifting for you. The kicker is the lime, a bold, beautiful citrusy flavor that permeates the beer and amplifies its natural flavors. It’s somewhere between a commercial beer and a craft brew, and we’re here for it.

Miller Genuine Draft

Bud Light finishes smooth and doesn’t leave you with any lingering aftertaste, and you can easily drink a few of these tall boys without getting bloated. With its iconic blue and white can, Bud Light is a distinctive-looking beer with a predictable taste. Otherwise, there are plenty of superior craft beers at your disposal. Coors Banquet is a wallet-friendly nod to craft beer with a nice body and plenty of fruity notes. While it’s a smooth, drinkable draft, beer lovers might find it pedestrian, while low-carb enthusiasts will look to other options to satisfy their thirst. Depending on the batch, drinkers might notice a subtle but persistent soapy aftertaste, which muddles and diminishes the whole experience.

Heineken Light does light beer proud, cutting back on the calories while still staying true to its European lager roots. You’ll pick up the malt, too; a nice counterbalance to spicier hops. It hits the mark just right, cementing Dos Equis as an excellent beer for your buck with notes of roasted malt and plenty of peppery but smooth hops. Molson Canadian claims that they are the continent’s oldest, longing running brewery, so sipping one allows you to enjoy a lot of nostalgic panache along with a friendly, approachable taste. Molson Canadian is unabashedly sweet and malty, with a clear amber color and a nice body. This is a relatively well-crafted beer, starting and finishing light and lovely with no bitterness or excessive carbonation.