DECEMBER 09, 2000: Raleigh, NC-- If you have sampled and compared brews from some of the major beer producing areas of the world-England, Belgium, Germany/Bohemia, and now the craftbrewing United States-you are aware that there are tangible attributes that rise above the minutiae of style and sub-style classification. Let's call it a "national character." As the aromas and flavors flood the palate, there is often no mistaking where the beer was produced. The reason is elementary: ingredients, methods, and preferences are similar within geographical regions. These qualities can be reproduced easily and satisfactorily on your homebrewing system.

Darwin was right

Like language or music, brewing evolved as people spread across the world and adapted what they knew to what they had at hand. Crops take on different characteristics, and develop different simple flavor profiles, when grown under different conditions. Technology or local preferences make an equally important contribution to overall character.

Take barley, for example. From a cultivation standpoint, the maritime barley of Britain is very different from that of continental Europe, say Germany or Belgium. To compound the difference, malting techniques are equally disparate. English malt, produced for ales, is highly modified by the maltster, whereas German malt, produced for lagers, is less modified. One robust, one delicate. It's easy to see how quickly a basic ingredient can diverge along national or geographical lines.


The Homebrew Connection

Given the burgeoning popularity of homebrewing, any local brewshop worth it's Burton water salts should have everything necessary to produce any beer imaginable. In any case, its a matter of considering the four main ingredients: malt, hops, yeast and water. All four require some special considerations, of course, but when you study their indigenous usage, the picture becomes fairly clear. The idea here is to simplify by grouping the main ingredients together to define the signature character. In many cases, one component defines a beer.


England

English ales have a rich, fruity, robust quality that belies their simplicity. Even low-gravity milds and ordinary bitters have a substantial background. It's been said that malt is the soul of a beer, and English pale ale malt has lots of it.

High-quality pale ale malt, low in protein and highly-modified, requires only a single-infusion mash schedule. It can even be used as 100 percent of the grist. Pair the malt with the soft herbal character of the traditional Goldings hops from East Kent. They can be used as bittering, flavor, and aroma hops and will really stand out if used throughout in the kettle.

Some English malting companies export specialty grains, so you can produce pale ale to porter with 100 percent English malt. There are several good English ale yeast strains on the market. Some have a clean crisp footprint while others have a slight residual diacetyl flavor. Select the one to your liking to put an exclamation point on your English ale.


Germany/Bohemia

About 150 years ago, lagers were emerging from the breweries of this region, based on an understanding of microbiology, refined malting techniques, and employment of subdued fermentation and cold storage.

Whether dark or pale, strong or light, the beers are characterized by a clean, smooth maltiness and a distinctively floral-sulfury aroma. To produce these beers in your home brewery, you will need, at least, a refrigerator and some type of temperature regulator to do cold fermentation.

Start with a German pilsner malt as your base malt. As it is less modified than an ale malt, you will need to do two-step infusion mash, including a protein rest. To make pale lager, use pilsner malt only or augment the grain bill with up to 10 percent carapils. For amber beers, like Märzen or maibocks, try using Vienna or Munich malts for 20 to 50 percent of the grist. It provides the "toasty" malt flavors found in these rich seasonal beers. Look for caramunich malts, which are produced to several lovibond ratings, to produce dunkels or darker bocks.

Hop choices should be noble hops such as Halletauer, Tetnanger, or Hersbrucker for German lagers and Saaz for Czech pilsners. Use these low-alpha acid hops for bittering as well as later additions, to achieve the noble spicy character and aroma.

Lager yeasts run the gamut from low to high-attenuators, so decide if you want a crisp or malty beer. German ales, like kolsch and altbier, follow the same strategy with respect to hops and malt as lagers. They are known as obergarig laberbiers, or top-fermenting lager biers, meaning that they are fermented warm and then cold-conditioned. There are several German ale yeasts on the market especially for these styles.


Belgium

Some fairly common threads run through the seemingly complicated Belgian beer world. Yeasts contribute fruity, cellar-like, and spicy characteristics. The use of candy sugar, both light and dark, is also common and adds winey flavors and aromas. Belgian maltsters even produce a unique array of base and specialty malts.

The good news for homebrewers is that all of these authentic ingredients are available. Base malts include both pale ale and pilsner malts. For strong pale brews or witbiers, use the pilsner malt; for amber, dubbel or tripel ales, use the pale ale malt. Specialty malts include Munich, and caramelized versions of Munich and Vienna malts, as well as a myriad of other grains with names like "aromatic" and "special B".

Genuine Belgian candy sugar is available, and may seem pricey, but you will only need about a pound per five gallon batch. I have substituted turbinado sugar in dubbel, and plain dextrose in strong golden ales with good results.

Hop choices include Styrian Goldings and, to a lesser degree, Kent Goldings for bittering, and Saaz for all additions. Commercial Belgian or abbey yeasts are excellent and pretty forceful in their flavor profiles, so examine their characteristics before deciding. If you are really adventurous, try growing a starter from the dregs of a bottle-conditioned Belgian beer.


The New World

When the craft beer movement took hold in the US a few years ago, it seems everyone was brewing aromatic ales. Things have changed, but there is no mistaking the resiney, citrus-like aroma of many of our beers. This character is imparted by west coast hops, primarily Cascade. This is not to say that our beers are necessarily one-dimensional. American malt is characterful in its own right and stands up to the ample hopping rates quite well. Base malts and character malts are produced at various places in the United States and Canada.

To make an American-style ale, use 2-row malt for both your base malt and specialty grains. Use Cascade, Galena, Chinook or Centennial hops for bittering, and Cascade or Willamette for aroma and flavor. Dry hopping adds a nice extra touch. Ferment with a clean American ale yeast.


Experimenting with character

To check out the impact that some of the ingredients have on flavor profile, you can do some fairly simple experimentation. Outlined below is a grain bill (with all due respect to the maltsters and their craft) to produce 5 gallons of amber beer, with an original gravity of around 1050. See how simply varying the hop schedule and yeast lets you approximate "national character."

Mash the grains at 122 degrees F for twenty minutes, then at 150 degrees F for one hour. Mash out at 170 degrees F and lauter/sparge to collect wort. Boil the bittering hops for one hour, and add the aroma hops within the last five minutes of the boil.

Grist:
1# crystal or caramunich malt
2# Munich malt 7#
2-row pale, pilsner or pale ale malt

American Ale: 35 IBU Centennial hops, 1 oz Cascade aroma hops, Wyeast #1056

Belgian Pale Ale: 28 IBU Saaz hops, 0.5 oz Saaz aroma hops, Wyeast #1762

English Pale Ale: 35 IBU East Kent Goldings hops, 1 oz East Kent aroma hops, Wyeast #1028, add 1 teaspoon Burton water salts to brewing water

Vienna Lager: 28 IBU Halletauer hops, 0.25 oz Tetnanger aroma hops, Wyeast #2206, ferment at 50 degrees F, cold-condition at 32 degrees F.

Düsseldorfer Altbier: 35 IBU Spalter or Halletauer hops, no aroma hops, Wyeast #1007, ferment at ale temperature, then cold-condition at 40 degrees F.


First Published in All About Beer magazine.