Steve Ettlinger

Quality beer is widely available and relatively inexpensive, but choosing among all the various styles can be a little confusing without some help. A little beer knowledge can turn a daunting experience into an enjoyable one.Start with a list of handy beer descriptors, along with some great beer styles and brands to try.

The name lager is taken from the German word lagern, meaning "to store." Most of the mass-produced beers of the world are lagers, but a wider range of styles exists than what those commercial brands may lead you to believe. American Pale Lagers: Although these beers differ greatly from brand to brand in the mind of the unknowing consumer (thanks to advertising campaigns), they’re, for the most part, identical in taste and strength (about 4 to 5 percent alcohol by volume).

To fully enjoy your beer-drinking experience, it helps to follow a few simple serving suggestions. Here are some very simple and easy ways to increase your beer enjoyment: Make sure the beer is at proper serving temperature. Lighter bodied and lighter colored beers can be served cold (40 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit, 4 to 6 degrees Celsius), but darker beers should be served a bit warmer (44 to 48 degrees Fahrenheit, 6 to 9 degrees Celsius).

Most beer drinkers tend to drink just a couple different beer styles without straying too far off the beaten path. But to fully understand and appreciate the wider spectrum of beer styles, here are a few types of beers that every beer drinker should taste at least once: Belgian Fruit Lambic: Well-aged ale with surprising, effusive fruit aroma and taste; intoxicating fragrance Doppelbock: Strong, dark, and caramel-like Bock Beer with two times the flavor and body of Bock (doppel your pleasure, doppel your fun) Imperial Stout: Dark, rich, and creamy Stout with complex grain flavors; a brew to chew Rauchbier: Oktoberfest beer made with a portion of beechwood-smoked malt; delicious and unique but takes somewhat of an acquired taste (great with smoked cheese or sausage) Witbier: Perfumy Belgian Wheat Beer made with orange rind and coriander seed; like nothing else in the beer world Certain brands of beer have become synonymous with distinctly different flavor profiles.

Because beer is widely available in a variety of different styles, describing it isn’t as easy as it used to be. Knowing a handful of colorful beer descriptors comes in handy when discussing beer with others. Here’s a sample list to get you started: Aggressive: Boldly assertive aroma and/or taste Balanced: Malt and hops in similar proportions; equal representation of malt sweetness and hop bitterness in the flavor — especially at the finish Complex: Multidimensional; many flavors and sensations on the palate Crisp: Highly carbonated; effervescent Diacetyl: Buttery or butterscotchy aroma or flavor Estery: Fruity aromas Floral: Full of aromas reminiscent of flowers Fruity: Flavors reminiscent of various fruits Hoppy: Herbal, earthy, spicy, or citric aromas and flavors of hops Malty: Grainy, caramel-like; can be sweet or dry Roasty/toasty: Malt (roasted grain) flavors Robust: Rich and full-bodied The following are two other terms commonly used to describe a beer, but they don’t describe taste: Mouthfeel is the tactile sensory experience of the whole inside of the mouth and throat — warmth (alcohol) in the throat, dryness, carbonation, and so on — and includes a sense of body.

To ensure that you always get the most bang for your beer buck, keep these tips in mind when buying beer. Remember that freshness in beer is as important as freshness in bread. Don’t buy bottled beer that’s coated in a layer of dust and/or has any flakes, chunks, or floaters in it. Always consume beer from growlers before it goes flat — usually in the first 24 to 36 hours.

Drinking beer is easy, but evaluating it as you drink requires a little more diligence. Here’s a good step-by-step process to evaluate beer like a pro: Purposely pour the beer to create at least two fingers depth of head in the glass. Creating a decent head also creates a fuller aromatic bouquet. Experience the beer’s aroma first because aromatics dissipate quickly.

Beer makes an excellent accompaniment to many different foods. The following beer and food pairing tips can help enhance your overall dining experience: A very general rule is to think of lagers as the beer equivalent to white wine and ales as the red wine equivalent. The best pairings occur when beer is used to either cut, contrast, or complement the dish.

Ale is the beer classification that predates written history. Presumably, the very first beers brewed by our hominid forebears were a crude form of ale spontaneously fermented by wild airborne yeasts. These yeasts became known as top-fermenting yeasts for their propensity to float on top of the beer as it’s fermenting.