BeerStyle - Frequently Asked Questions

BEERSTYLE

Life's Short, Drink Better Beer

Frequently Asked Questions

Why the sudden push for food and beer pairing? Are you trying to copy wine?

With the resurgence of many historical beer types and the creation of new beer styles by
innovative craft brewers, it is only natural that there is a demand on a greater emphasis
on correct food and beer pairing.

No, we are not trying to emulate wine. While wine provides a good contrast to food, beer
provides a better complement to food. Just try pairing wine and beer with desserts and
you will understand what i mean.

How would I know what is the correct type of food pairing?

. Food with strong flavors should be paired with strong aggressive beers. sweetness,
roastiness and so on.
sweetness, roastiness and so on.

Second, try to find harmonies. Pairing are always better when they share some common
flavor or aroma. Smoked beef with smoked porter or a fruity beer with fruit desserts are
examples of that.

If you are in a restaurant or pub that sells our beers, please do not hesitate to ask for our
Craft Beer and Food Pairing Guide. Remember, there are no absolute rules. Do not be
afraid to experiment and be creative in your pairing.

Do all craft beers taste good? And does this mean industrial beers are bad tasting?

Not necessarily. There will always be head brewers around the world that make a few
mistakes. Mass produced or industrial beers are not really considered bad. Many macro
breweries are darn good at producing a consistent product and they have great Quality
Control. Craft brewers, on the other hand, do not think too much about consistency. Coz
they are more concerned whether their beers taste great.

Why are your beers slightly more expensive than most beers here?

Craft beers uses the best quality malts and hops. Take the case of the Czech pilsner,
now the most common style of beer brewed worldwide. Craft brewers follow the course of
their European ancestors, making all-malt pilsners with a full-bodied flavor and generous
helpings of hops. Because of the increased percentage of specialty malt and hop
ingredients you are going to experience flavors and aromas not found in light Industrial
style lagers. Hence, it is only fair that it costs more.

Our craft beers are imported from the U.S. mainland to Singapore. American craft
breweries care a lot about the quality of their distribution and that's why the beer is
shipped here in a refrigerated container and immediately moved to a refrigerated
warehouse upon reaching Singapore. The beer that you drink is as good as drinking it in
the States itself because we do not compromise on quality and high costs. There are
many beer importers who forgo this important aspect so that their beers can be
competitively priced. That's why you have a prodigious amount of imported beer sitting in
normal room temperature warehouses undergoing the inexorable effects of aging and
oxidation.

What makes beer turn bad?

Storage helps slows oxidation in beer. Even the tightest bottling system will allow air into
the bottle, which, over the months, will start to destroy the beer and give it a wet
paper/cardboard flavor.

Beer should be kept out of direct light, which allows damaging UV rays in. Both excessive
direct sunlight and heat can give the beer a “skunky” stale flavor, which is a by-product of
the delicate hop oils spoiling. That is one reason why many breweries choose to use
dark brown bottles for their beers.

Beers like barley-wine, imperial russian stout or Double Indian Pale Ales do not go bad
with time because they have high alcohol/hop levels. In fact, they are likely to age well
given the right cellaring conditions.

Is drinking unpasteurized beer safe?

Yes. An unpasteurized beer is "live", containing living micro-organisms such as yeast.
The alcohol in beer will kill any harmful bacteria, which is why unpasteurized beer is not
the health risk that unpasteurized milk is.

If its safe, then why most beers in the market are pasteurized?

Pasteurization, whereby the beer is heated briefly to kill any microbial wildlife, is used
widely by industrial breweries to extend the shelf life of the beer. Craft breweries tend to
avoid this process because they found that it strips some hop flavors from their beers.