Dry Hopping

Dry hopping involves adding hops to the keg after fermentation, a technique which doesn't add bitterness but does re-introduce aromatic oils normally lost during the boiling process. The dry hops are allowed to soak in the beer for several weeks, giving off a burst of hoppy aroma.

Dubbel

The Flemish word for double. The term was first used in brewing by the Trappist Abbey at Westmalle for a beer they first produced in 1856, a brown beer of higher alcoholic strength than the witbier they had previously brewed for their own consumption.

Westmalle | La Trappe

Dunkel (or Dunkles)

The German name for dark beers which have a colour range from amber to a deep reddish brown and are characterised by their malty flavour. The traditional beer style of the Bavarian countryside, dunkel beers are mostly dark lagers but can also be wheat beers.

Erdinger

Fermentation

The process in brewing whereby the action of the yeast turns the malt sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide - once this is done, the ingredients are officially beer!

Finish (or Aftertaste)

Sometimes called the 'aftertaste', the finish is the impression left by the beer in the mouth. Each style of beer has distinct aftertaste components, from pilsners which should be clean and have almost no aftertaste whereas stout which is malty with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Some characteristics of aftertaste in beer include bitter, malty, earthy, sweet, fruity, cloying, clean or sour.

Fruit Beer

Fruit flavourings have been added to beer for centuries, with the art being perfected in Belgium with fruit either added whole or as a syrup to Lambic, Oud Bruin or, occasionally, white beer, resulting in the delicious kriek (cherry), framboise (raspberry), pêche (peach) and cassis (blackcurrant) beers, to mention just a few of the flavours available.

Brewing of fruit beer is also popular in the United States, along with seasonal variations such as pumpkin ale produced during Autumn.

Liefmans | Timmermans | Bacchus