ALE: The first type of beer made, ales are brewed with "top-fermenting" yeasts, close to room temperatures, 50-70F. Within the ale category are many styles, including alt, barley wines, bitters, lambics, pale ales, porters, and stouts. Expect ale to be a hearty drink, cloudy in appearance, a higher alcohol content than lagers, and served slightly warm.

BARLEY WINE: A rich beverage, full-bodied and dark in color. You'll have more sweetness than bitterness, and an unusually high alcohol content.

BITTERS: A popular English style ale, there are three categories of bitters to reckon with: Ordinary, Special Best (SB), and Extra Special Best (ESB). There is a varying sweetness, is gold to copper-colored, and low carbonation present in all forms. The difference (surprise, surprise) comes in the flavor of the beer, but not in terms of bitterness alone. In fact, a medium degree of bitterness is acceptable in the ESB. You also have to take in account the degree of hop flavor and body, which increases with each degree of bitter.

BELGIAN LACE: The pattern the head leaves around the glass after partial consumption. The Belgian Lace is one way of judging a beer, since the head is a signpost of a beer's consistency. After drinking half of your beer, see if there is a uniform pattern to the head dripping down the inside of your glass. If so, you've got a well-crafted beer. If not, your beer could possibly be thin, weak, and poorly carbonated.

BOCK: Bock is a style of lager beer which originated in Germany. It was traditionally brewed in the fall, at the end of the growing season, when barley and hops were at their peak. It is fermented all winter and consumed in the spring at the beginning of the new brewing season amidst the hoopla of festivals. An interesting legend: The term 'bock' is also the name of a mythical invisible ram. When someone drinks too much beer, it supposedly summons the beast, which then runs up and knocks the offending drunk down - fun, eh? Bocks can be pale (helles) or dark (dunkles) and there are double (doppel) bocks which are extra strong. Also keep an eye out for the seasonal triple-bock, with only limited distribution and very high alcohol content. WARNING: The triple is dark and has a consistency comparable to maple syrup, so prepare yourself.

CARBONATION: An artificial or natural process resulting in the release of carbon dioxide in beer. It's what gives the beer body and "fizz." In a good beer, carbonation is a natural outcome in the brewing process. In cheap beer, however, the carbonation is injected artificially. How can you tell? Look at the bubbles. If the bubbles are tiny and flow up ward in small, uniform lines, it's most likely a natural brew. If the bubbles are large and flow up sporadically, you've got an injected beer.

HOPS: Cone-shaped flowers used in brewing for flavor and aroma. Their flavor depends on the variety the brewer uses, which ranges from sweet to bitter.

LAGER: Lagers are brewed with "bottom-fermenting" yeasts at much colder temperatures than ales, typically around 35-50F over long periods of time (months). This is called "lagering," and it prevents fermentation byproducts to develop as they do in ales. Lagers include bocks, doppelbocks, Munich- and Vienna-style, MŠrzen/Oktoberfest, and pilsners. Expect them to generally taste cleaner and lighter than ales.

LAMBIC: A type of light- to medium-bodied ale developed in Belgium where the wort (beer before fermentation) is exposed to the open air. Wild yeasts and other microorganisms settle on the surface of the wort as it cools and begins fermentation. They are often sweetened with fruit like peaches, strawberries, bananas, etc. Very nice as a dessert beer.

MALT: In beer, "malt" is malted barley grains. The grains have been soaked in water to soften to the point that the grain actually germinates. The product is then mashed into powder or syrup. This process converts the carbohydrates into sugars. A major flavoring agent in beers.

PALE ALE: Golden to copper colored ale that has medium body bitterness, and high hop flavor. A variation is the India Pale Ale (IPA), originally developed for British soldiers stationed in India to withstand the long transport time by boat at the turn of the century. Expect an intense bitterness, a very crisp and dry flavor, and high alcohol content.

PORTER: An old variety of ale that comes in two categories, brown and robust. Browns are, well, brown in color, can have a light to medium body, and a medium malt flavor with a hint of sweetness. Robust porters are heavier versions, black in color, full-bodied It was brewed with soft rather than hard water. Within a few years Entire was also being referred to as "Porter" (short for porter's ale) because the porters of the London street markets were especially fond of it. Porter that was extra strong was known as "Stout Porter", and eventually "Stout".

SPECIFIC GRAVITY: Specific gravity is a measure of the density of a liquid. With beer, it is used to measure the amount of fermentable sugars it contains. When brewers test the specific gravity in their product, they can figure out the strength of the beer.

STOUT: Stouts are an extremely rich type of ale, identifiable a mile away by their black color and rich heads. With medium to heavy body, slight bitterness, coffee overtones and malt sweetness, stouts are not for the faint of heart. There are different classifications of stouts:
Foreign - malt sweetness, caramelly at times with a dry finish
Irish - classic style, dry-roasted throughout with heavy head, the most common. Think Guinness.
Imperial - Rich malty flavor, more pronounced bitterness, and high alcohol content
Oatmeal - Guess what flavor dominates here? Also expect some maltiness, caramel and chocolate overtones.
Sweet - Less bitter than others, this variety is actually given some body and flavor by the added ingredient of of milk sugar before bottling.

WEISSE: German for "wheat" - a wheat beer that is golden and cloudy in appearance, spicy and slight sweet, served cold with a wedge of lemon for taste. Another variety is the Dunkelweisse, a dark wheat beer with similar characteristics, but more robust, dryer, maltier to the taste and, well, darker.

WORT: State of beer before the fermentation process.

YEAST: This is what converts the sugars in beer into CO2 and alcohol. A VERY necessary component to any brew recipe.