Do you know your XPA from your IPA?

Exploring beer styles and how to find your new favourite tipple

Over recent years, the world of beer has absolutely exploded with a growing number of craft breweries, both in Australia and internationally, pushing boundaries and producing some incredible drinks. On 7 August, the wide world of beer is celebrated on International Beer Day, so it’s a great time to find out more about some of the key beer styles.

Ales

Ales are brewed with a style of yeast that gathers at the top of the fermenting vessel, and prefers a higher temperature to lager yeasts. Some of the common ale styles you might find include:

Pale Ale: usually gold or copper in colour with dry finish with crisp hop flavour
India Pale Ale: similar to pale ale, but IPA’s usually have more hops and a higher alcohol (around 5.6-7.9%), traditionally as a result of being shipped to India in thecolonial era but now as a stylistic choice
XPA: X as in extra pale ale, these beers usually have a bit higher alcohol level than a pale ale, but less than an IPA
NEIPA: New England IPAs are a modern style with a hazy appearance and use very fruity hops to often create tropical flavour notes
Brown ale: a classic English style with malty flavours and only lightly hopped
Stout: a thick, black ale made from roasted barley with malt and caramel flavours and little to no hop flavours, the most famous of which is Guinness
Porter: similar to stouts, but porters usually use unroasted barley

Lagers

Lagers ferment at a lower temperature than ales and are often cold conditioned. Classically a southern German style, lagers are synonymous with Oktoberfest. Many mainstream, commercially available beers like Carlton Draught or Tooheys New are a lager. Some of the other types of lagers that you’re commonly likely to find include:

Pilsner: a pale lager with a fair amount of hops and a dry finish
Bock: medium bodied with a maltier taste than pilsner and slightly higher alcohol level
Doppelbock: a strong lager with a higher alcohol percentage of 7-12%
Oktoberfest: typically brewed in March for enjoying during Oktoberfest
Dunkel: a darker style of lager with a malty taste

What about wheat beers and saisons?

Other beers you might see include wheat beers (including hefeweizen) and saisons. Wheat beers are made from at least 50% wheat malt (rather than the more common barley malt from most other beers). Wheat creates a hazy appearance and the yeast used in wheat beers often produces banana, clove and vanilla flavours. Saisons are a sour style of beer that are comparable to natural wine, and tend to use different wild yeast strains. Common sour beer styles include:

Belgian Lambic ales that feature fruits like cherries and raspberries
Belgian Flanders ales
German-style Gose, often made with spices like coriander and sea salt
Berliner Weisse

Pairing food and beer

The diversity of styles within the world of beer, and the variety of flavours that can be found in beer, mean that it’s actually an excellent drink for pairing with food. Many dishes, such as chilli- laden stir fries and complexly spiced curries can clash terribly with wine, making it hard to find a drinks match. Beer can provide an adaptable alternative, as well as a creative pairing for other hard-to-pair foods like strong cheeses, chocolate-dominant desserts and more. To get you started, you can check out this guide to food matching from Beer Cartel, just down the highway in Artarmon.
Whatever style of beer you prefer – or if you’re open to finding your new favourite – BWS at Chatswood Interchange can hook you up with an extensive range from some of Australia’s biggest brands and emerging craft breweries, as well as imported beers from around the globe. And of course, many of the restaurants at Chatswood Interchange and across the greater Chatswood region have sensational drinks lists so you can experiment yourself with matching beer styles to different flavours and food textures.