If you don't know a bitter from a hop, use this glossary as a quick study guide.  After you pass the test, treat yourself to an ale or a lager. Photo by Odelia | CSP.

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February 2005
Updated July 2009

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Beer

Beer Glossary

Page 4: Beer Types ~ F To K

This is Page 4 of an eight-page glossary of beer terms. Click on the black links below to visit other pages. Also see our 60 other food glossaries, chock-full of information about your favorite foods.

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FRAMBOISE or FRAMBOZEN
Raspberry beer, usually made from lambic. See also kriek.

GUEUZE
A dry style of lambic, made without fruit. Called the “Champagne of beer,” gueuze is a blend of one-, two-, and three-year-old lambic beers. The beers are kept in old oak barrels that have generational colonies of bacteria that give Gueuze its natural tart flavor; the beer is naturally effervescent. Like Champagne, gueuze is bottled immediately after blending and undergoes a secondary fermentation using the active yeasts and sugars still remaining in the beer. Unlike most beer, a traditional, dry gueuze benefits from at least two years cellaring and can be cellared for twenty to thirty years, becoming more mellow and earthy over time.

GRUUT
A Medieval Belgian wheat beer, brewed today in a somewhat different recipe. The original was brewed with spices rather than hops; today’s gruut contains some hops along with coriander, bitter orange and orange peel.

HEFEWEIZEN or HEFE-WEIZEN

A wheat beer (Hefeweizen is German for “yeast wheat”—Hefe is the word for yeast) in which the beer is not filtered before bottling. Thus, the yeast continue to act (known as bottle conditioning), and there may be sediment in the bottle. Also called Hefeweisse, Hefeweissbier and Weissbier. Some Weizenstarkbiers (high-alcohol wheat beers) are left unfiltered, and therefore are Hefeweizens. The body is crisp and effervescent.

HELL
Rather than a bottle of fire and brimstone, hell is simply the German word for “pale,” and indicates an everyday beer that is golden in color.

HOP
A climbing plant, much like a grape vine. The cone-like blossoms on hops are the tannins, which help preserve and clarify beer and are the essential ingredients that impart aroma, dryness and the characteristic bitter flavors.

I.B.U.
International Bittering Unit, a comparative measure of the amount of bitters in a beer.

ICE BEER

See eisbier.

IMPERIAL BROWN ALE

A bigger, bolder version of a brown ale, with a higher ABV—7% or more.

IMPERIAL STOUT

An opaque black stout that was originally brewed by Thrale’s Brewery in London, England for export to the court of the Tsar of Russia. It is very rich, with powerful malt flavors, hints of dark fruits and often, chocolate notes. The high alcohol content (generally 9% to 10%) was originally intended to preserve it during the long journey, as well as to provide fortitude in the cold Russian climate. Also known as Imperial Russian Stout or Russian Imperial Stout.

INDIA PALE ALE or IPA
The pale ales of the early 18th century were lightly hopped, but by the mid-18th century they evolved;  most were manufactured with coke-fired malt, which produced an even paler ale via less smoking and roasting of barley in the malting process. One particular variety of pale ale was called October beer. It was well-hopped and then cellared for two years. In the 19th century, the British living in the Indian Empire drank ale from England, largely because the Indian water supply had microbes that caused digestive problems to humans not raised on it. But not all beer could hold up on the long journey in a hot ship’s hold. IPA had the level of alcohol (7%-8%) and hops (which act as a preservative) to withstand the voyage of up to six months. Today, transportation problems have been solved and there’s plenty of bottled water for travelers in foreign lands. The IPA style has evolved (or devolved, in the case of British IPAs, to 5.5% ABV), but are still highly hopped. American IPAs tend more toward old style. Serve an IPA with robust food: red meat and strong cheese.

India Pale Ale served with Gouda, grapes, bread and crackers. Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

IRISH ALE or IRISH RED ALE
See red ale.

KELLERBIER

An unfiltered lager with a high hop content and low carbonation.

KLOSTER BIER or CLOISTER BEER
A beer that is, or formerly was, produced in a monastery or convent. See also abbey beer and Trappist bier.

KÖLSCH BIER
Beer in the style of the city of Koln (Cologne), Germany; it can legally be produced only in the Koln-Bonn metropolitan area. Kölsch is a top-fermented beer producing a light, refreshing (but dry) pale golden ale with soft, layered flavors that have a delicate fruitiness and a prominent hoppiness. It is usually served in tall, slender glasses. Kölsch can be paired with cervelat, a mildly seasoned, mildly smoked, semi-dry sausage.

KRIEK
Cherry beer, usually based on lambic, with 5% to 6% alcohol by volume.

Cherry kriek with brie, figs and grapes. Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

KRISTALLWEIZEN
A German filtered wheat beer. Kristall is the German word for crystal, so indicates that the beer will be clear, not cloudy (as opposed to a Hefeweizen, which might have sediment). It is often served with a slice of lemon on the rim of the glass, or in the glass, similar to the lime served with Mexico’s Corona beer. Also known as Kristall Weissbier.

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Some terms in this glossary are © 2005 National Beer Wholesalers Association. All rights reserved. Other content is © Lifestyle Direct Inc. All rights reserved.