The Internet is a vast ocean overflowing with information. On a daily basis, many knowledge-thirsty consumers traverse site after site searching for ways to improve their lives. Many companies big and small leverage that opportunity by offering free product education to their visitors. Much of this education is simply brand hype, but occasionally we stumble across something special–something designed to educate and inspire us first, and sell us second. That is exactly what the Flying Dog brewery did, and this is the story of how it inspired me to be a better beer drinker.
A little bit of back story
For those that weren’t at Icrontic’s 2009 EPIC, I was a knucklehead that brought a really cheap 12-pack of Natty Boh (Ed: National Bohemian), primarily to razz our friend Robert Hallock for being a bit of a beer snob. This came about as the result of a Twitter exchange in which I expressed my feeling that beer was the workingman’s drink and that fans of craft brewing were often pretentious because they chose to “over spend” on craft beers.
Robert holds a high preference for craft brew, so he and I went back and forth a bit, and I figured it would be fun to try and get him to swill a can of the cheap stuff at EPIC. Robert, being the gentleman he is, took down about half a can of what I now admit is not very good beer.
I did bring a couple cases of the good stuff, because that’s the right thing to do when invited to a man’s home for a few days, but I will go on record to say that my knowledge of craft brew was limited; Clipper City was the only micro brew regional to Maryland that I had much knowledge of.
Expanding horizons
I recently had the opportunity to take a tour of the Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland. I jumped at the chance to have a good time drinking craft brew with my wife and friends, but while I was there, I noticed a few things about how Flying Dog markets its product.
First, Flying Dog offers a flavor scale for each of its brews to indicate if the beer is “light” or “dark” with a flavor that is more malty or more hoppy. Digging a little deeper, I also noticed numbers for IBUs. I had no idea what that was. I wanted to ask some of the professional staff for more information, but the place was madness and I didn’t want to interrupt them with my questions. Instead, I waited until I got home and turned to the Internet to begin my research.
I started at the Flying Dog website, searching for the specifics on each and every brew. That gave me some specifics on the different characteristics of each brew, but not the foundation I needed to understand them. To Google!
Content on beer is plentiful, to say the least. I can’t say I landed on one specific resource that had every bit of information I was looking for, but with the combined power of many websites I was armed with terminology that I am now eager to share.
How beer works
First, it must understood that brewing beer is a complex science. Brewing is chemistry. In its most basic form, beer has four basic ingredients: Water, hops, malted barley and yeast. TLC Cooking has a fantastic article which covers these components in detail, but here are the basics for each.
Malted barley
Barley is the seed of a grain that looks a lot like wheat. Before barley can be used to make beer, it must be malted, which involves a natural conversion process. After this natural process has released the enzymes, the green malt is dried by gradually raising the temperature. The intensity of the malt’s flavor and color depends on how high the temperature is raised during the drying process.
Hops
The hops used to make beer are the flower of the hop vine, which itself is a member of the hemp family (Cannabaceae). Hops contain acids, which give beer its bitterness as well as oils that impart some flavor and aroma.
Yeast
Yeast is the single-celled microorganism that is responsible for creating the alcohol and carbon dioxide found in beer. There are many different kinds of yeasts used to make beer, and just as the yeast in a sourdough starter gives sourdough bread its distinctive flavor, different types of beer yeast give beer different flavors.
All of these ingredients are combined in the brewing and fermentation processes that eventually convert sugars via chemical reactions into the drink that makes us feel good after a couple glasses.
But wait, what about my specific questions pertaining to the Flying Dog package? What is an IBU? What is Plato? How about ABV? What were some of the specific characteristics of some of my favorite varieties of beer? Back to Google!
Rating systems
I will admit to one thing I did know: ABV, or alcohol by volume. In simple terms, it’s the statistic that tells you how ripped you will get after waxing a sixer. Many American-style “lagers” sit around 4%, while a common amber lager might have around 5.5%. There are even stronger brews like the Double Pale Ale which, at 11.5%, may leave you wondering what you did last night.
Continuing, the Plato Scale indicates how heavy the malted sugars are relative to the total brew. The higher the Plato number, the higher the specific gravity of the solution.
The IBU, as I wondered, stands for International Bitterness Unit. The IBU describes the relative bitterness of a beer as a result of the methods used to process the beer’s hops. A typical American light beer can come in as low as the single digits, perhaps 10 at most, while a regular American-style “lager” might hit 15. A really strong bite-you-in-the-back-of-the-mouth Imperial IPA can reach the high end of the scale at 120.
New opportunities
Now I understand that the IBU rating on the label is a way of indicating how bitter the glass of brew will be. Bitterness in beer is something of an acquired taste–I personally enjoy it, but others may find it overpowering without malty notes to balance the flavor.
Currently, my favorite beer is Flying Dog’s Dogtoberfest Marzen. Notice it carries nearly the same IBU as the Pale Ale, but it’s balanced with more malt. The malty characteristic blended with the bitterness of the hops creates a beer that is slightly sweeter, though a little less aromatic.
After my research, I am a new man that’s better equipped and ready to embark on new and flavorful adventures. Armed with an understanding of beer and a set of authentic Icrontic pint glasses, I hope you will continue to follow me on my journey as I explore new brews with you in the future.
This is gonna be good!
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