Cheers to beer: a pint of advice

All beer is composed of water, hops, a starch...and alcohol. Photo provided by Devang Joshi By Devang Joshi
joshid@mytjnow.com

There is nothing like a nice cold pint, especially when it’s something that is carefully crafted to become something other than a stale yellow waste of a glass. Starting with this article, I hope to take you on a journey, exploring all of the subtleties of beer and hopefully helping everyone make better beer decisions while still not breaking the bank (no Bud Light here ladies and gents).

Before you know it, you will be able to call yourself a certified beer snob and enjoy a nice pint with style.

So, what is beer? Well it is a drink that has a rich history and is much more than the sad beverage carted around by premodana Clydesdales. Let’s start out with the basics. Beer, like wine, is composed of a few main ingredients and is then supplemented with others to add differing characteristic to the aroma (nose) and taste of the final product. All beer is composed of: water, hops (a flower that adds the bitter notes of beer) and a starch (in the form of malted grain). 

Ok, we got the components of beer down, but what about the styles. Again beer comes in many different forms, just like wine, and ranges from the light and fruity to the heavy and complex. This also applies to the amount of alcohol present in each individual brew. For the purposes of our reviews we will be looking at the following styles: ales, lagers, stouts/porters, IPAs and Hefeweizens. 

Each style provides the taster with a unique set of tastes, colors and aromas to experiment with, and the best part, you can try all of these various brews without breaking the bank!

So, remember to pick up a paper each week, and check out mytjnow.com for the latest review, so we can share a nice cold pint together. And, of course, remember that the best part about beer is enjoying it responsibly. Cheers!

Questions comments or concerns? Want to write a review or are you curious about a beer? Email me at joshid@mytjnow.com