An Intro to Beer 101!!!

We used to have a weekly event called ‘Beer School’; at this event, our local distributor would come to the Mokena location and present 6 different craft brews for the students to not only sample, but learn about. Students would learn about the brewing process, the different types of hops and malts as well as some of the history of the brews! It was very well received and perhaps sometime in the future, we may be able to do a Beer School again!

But until then, I thought from time to time I would post some useful information to help educate you on the brews that we serve at both of our locations! Some of you may know this already and some of you may be experiencing the wonderful world of craft beer for the first time; in either case, I do hope that you find this information helpful as well as entertaining!

Let’s start off by defining the types of beer!

Essentially there are two types of beer; ales and lagers. The differences between the two are the yeast. Ales are brewed with ‘Top Fermentation Yeasts’. And Lagers are brewed with ‘Bottom Fermentation Yeasts’.

Ales are the oldest of the two beer types and depending on the brewing style (which we will get into later) can be at their very best when very young or very old. Much like red wines, ales are fermented and often served at room temperature. However, that is a matter of taste. Ales tend to have a more intense flavor to them and depending on the brewing style can range from the extremely bracing and bitter, to the subtlety sweet and savory.

Lagers have only been around for several hundred years (where Ales have been around for more than 5000 years). The yeast strains that make up a Lager were created by accident and like white wines, they are best served cooler. Lagers are more popular among the BIG brewers which make up a large portion of the general American drinking populace. Budweiser, Miller and the other popular ‘brands’ are all lagers.

Both types have many different styles to them! Far too many for a single post so I am going to try and pace it across several posts! We will start next on the Ale styles. If you have any questions, please post them here! Or better still; stop on by one of our locations and try one of our tasty selections! Each table has a very detailed Beer Menu to help you decide what to try. Also, our entire staff of servers and bartenders are extremely knowledgeable and are happy to answer your questions! Ask for a taste first, and above all, be adventurous!