Some people prefer lighter brews and some go for dark. For me, it depends on my mood. But if you want to know precisely what you’re getting yourself into before you pop open an ice cold can of alcoholic refreshment, it’s good to know that there exists a precise scientific scale for measuring the relative color of any beer. Using a colorimeter, Joseph Williams Lovibond developed his scale in 1885 which is still used today. The Standard Reference Method—or SRMs—is measured out in degrees Lovibond, in honor of its inventor. Brewers can now use more advanced tools like spectrophotometers in order to establish the attenuation of light as it passes through a sample of their suds. For a relative gauge of what particular style of beer might rank in terms of this scale, consider this: a super pale lager like Bud or Miller lite would be at around 2 SRMs. [...]
Beer Basics: IBUs
Beer really all boils down to three main components: the malt, the yeast and the hops. Within these broad categories there are, of course, worlds of flavor to enjoy. But ultimately it’s all about the fundamental characteristics and combinations of these three constituents. Today let’s concentrate on that magical budding flower that has been used for hundreds of years as the primary bittering agent of beer: hops. If you really want to get technical, you could take a whole chemistry class on the isomerized alpha acids present in hoppy resin that ultimately produces that lip-puckering bitterness that has been likened to rusty tin. But let’s keep it simple here and just zero in on a relatively easy matrix that has been established in order to help us assess the relative hoppiness of any beer: International Bitterness Units, or IBUs. This measurement is essential in understanding the fundamental flavors of your [...]
Beer Basics: Specific Gravity
Making beer is an intricate process of surprising complexity. It involves elements of chemistry, biology, engineering, hydrology, calculus, and a whole other slew of disciplines that you’d have trouble sitting thru in any college classroom. Thankfully we have brewers—modern day alchemists—who sift through the tedium to produce something as simplistically magical as an ice cold brewski. If you happen to glance at the technical specifications accompanying most beers, you will sometimes notice all sorts of measurements that might not make any sense to the layperson (non-beergeek). Most people are familiar with the ABV—alcohol by volume, is a very straight-forward reading of what percentage of the libation is pure alcohol. Most spirits sit at or around 40% ABV, wines hover near 12%, and your standard beer is probably just below 5%. That part is easy to understand. But you might also notice a number that has a ‘degree’ sign next to [...]
Whisky Bar Diplomacy
By Nate from whiskywall There is that moment in a whisky drinker’s life when the sum total of their whisky knowledge exceeds what would be considered common-place. To some it is an ephemeral thing, a sudden and stark internal recognition that they know an unusual amount about whisky. For others it is a gradual process through which one comes to terms with the fact that they know more about whisky then they do about any other thing fit for human consumption. Perhaps the most common awakening is the day one walks into a bar and feels that the bartender is speaking to them with child-like condescension. Of course, the bartender is probably doing no such thing.
Read our Latest Issue!
