Now that the summer months are upon us hopefully you’re getting the chance to enjoy plenty of summer brews out in the sun. If you’re like the Beeriety crew, nothing goes better with summer than a nice tall glass of hefeweizen or another wheat beer. Frequently when you order one of these delightful treats at your favorite watering hole the bartender may ask you if you would like a slice of citrus fruit, or if you’re not careful, may just put one in your beer without asking. It may seem tempting to try your beer with some orange or lemon thrown in. Wheat beers frequently are citrusy after all, but for the good of your beer, please resist this urge. There are a number of reasons why:

1. The acids in oranges will kill your beer’s head
Although an overly carbonated beer that’s more foam than drink is something no one wants to see, a little bit of foam is actually a good thing. It’s important part of a beer’s presentation and it helps guarantee your getting the proper aromas out of your beer.

2. The citrus will overpower any of the beer’s natural aromas
As I’ve mentioned before on this site, a major part of what we perceive as taste actually comes from our nose, not our tongue. Taking a good whiff of your beer while you drink ensures you’re taking in as much of your beer’s flavors as possible. With an orange floating in your beer you’re not going to smell anything but the orange, not the beer, and that’s going to affect the way the beer tastes to you.

3. Beer should stand on it’s own merit
As I mentioned it’s certainly true that many beers have natural citrus qualities in taste and aroma. Some may feel that adding an orange is simply enhancing what’s already there. However,  the seems little too much like cheating in my mind. Beer doesn’t need help to taste or smell good, it’s perfectly capable of amazing things all by itself. It’s a little like covering a meal in pepper before you’ve even tried it.Perhaps the brewer didn’t want to make his or her beer particularly fruity, perhaps he did, whatever the case you should give the beer the chance to stand on it’s own legs and be the beer it was meant to be, not the beer you want to be.

Now this is of course just a matter of preference. The only really correct way to enjoy your beer is however you want to enjoy it, but hopefully this has given you some food for thought, or beer to drink as the case may be.

Most people know that beer is made from barley, and that’s certainly true. Barley is the main ingredient in most beers; what many don’t realize is that it’s not that only grain used to make beer. There are actually many different grains and beans used to make many different brews and today we’re going to take a look at a few of the most popular ones used by brewers around the world.

Barley – This is your basic grain that’s used in the vast majority of beers. Of the three basic types of barley that exist (two-row, four-row, and six-row) only two-row and six-row are used for brewing, with two-row the most common. Many different varieties of barley are grown all around the world from The US to the Czech Republic. Once it’s been harvested, barley can be malted and processed in any number of ways to prepare it for the brewer. Barley is a quite versatile grain, used as key ingredient in everything from pilsners to stouts.

Rye - This is a lesser known grain, but it’s beginning to be used more and more. Rye gives beer a coarse, grainy flavor that can add a refreshing bitterness to beer distinct from the bitterness of hops.

Wheat - One of the most common grains used besides barley, wheat can be quite smooth and refreshing. The Germans are perhaps the best known wheat brewers; some notable styles include the hefeweizen, the weizenbock and the weiss.

Oatmeal – Most commonly used in the oatmeal stout, this grain usually associated with breakfast provides a wonderful nutty, smooth flavor to beer.

Chocolate – Chocolate grains are perhaps best known as the key ingredient in chocolate stouts, but it’s also used in brown ales as well, providing bittersweet chocolate flavors and a roasted aroma.

Rice – Initially used by Asian brewers, rice was later adopted along with corn by America macro brewers like Coors and Anheuser-Busch as a cheap way of increasing the alcohol in a beer without adding much flavor. Although it’s looked down upon by much of the craft brewing community, rice can be used in moderation to impart dryness to some craft brews also.

Coffee – Primarily used in coffee stouts and porters, coffee beans provide a lovely roasted quality to many brews.