Understand beer. Find beer you’ll like.
Learn why beer tastes the way it does — and use that to find the next one you’ll enjoy.
Beer looks like this
Colour is the first thing you notice and the easiest way in. It follows the malt, and the malt is most of why a beer tastes the way it does. Pick a shade you recognise.
- German PilsStraw to light gold
- TripelGold
- American pale aleGold to light amber
- Best bitterAmber to copper
- DoppelbockGold to very dark brown, depending on the example
- Munich DunkelDeep copper to dark brown, ruby where light passes through
- English porterDark brown to black, ruby highlights
- Dry stoutBlack, with ruby highlights at the edge
What are you trying to do?
- I like a beer — what next?
Name something you already enjoy and get suggestions that explain themselves.
- Find me something new
Answer a few questions in plain words. No beer vocabulary needed.
- What goes with this food?
Works from either end — name a dish or name a beer.
- Why does my beer taste odd?
Pick what you can smell or taste and get the likely causes ranked.
- How long does beer last?
What actually changes with time, and why stale is not the same as bad.
- Work out a number
ABV, IBU, units and more — every one shows its full working.
Start from flavour
You do not need beer vocabulary to use this. Pick the shape that sounds right and work back to the styles.
- Crisp & refreshing
Pale, clean-fermented beers with a dry finish and brisk carbonation, built to refresh rather than to be contemplated.
- Light & easy-drinking
Lower-strength beers with soft flavour and little bitterness, designed to be drinkable over a long session.
- Hoppy & bitter
Beers where hop bitterness leads, with resinous, citrus or earthy hop character and a dry, cutting finish.
- Juicy & aromatic
Heavily hopped beers that emphasise fruit aroma and a soft, full mouthfeel while keeping bitterness deliberately low.
- Malty & amber
Amber to copper beers built on kilned and caramel malt, with toffee and toast flavour and hops kept in support.
- Dark & roasted
Dark beers led by roasted grain, from dry and coffee-like to sweet and chocolatey, at everyday strengths.
- Rich & strong
High-strength beers with concentrated malt, noticeable alcohol warmth and the stability to develop with age.
- Wheat & fruity
Wheat-based beers with soft body and pronounced fruit character, from banana-and-clove Bavarian to spiced Belgian white.
Start from food
Pairing works in both directions here — pick a dish, or start from a beer and find something to eat with it.
- Beer with curry
A broad category united by aromatic spice and chilli heat — the heat, not the protein, decides the beer.
- Beer with pizza
Tomato acidity, salty cheese fat and a charred bread base — three things at once.
- Beer with steak
Grilled or pan-fried beef, where charred crust and savoury depth are the flavours a beer has to meet.
- Beer with cheese
A cheese board spanning fresh to aged — fat and salt are the constants a beer must handle.
- Beer with barbecue
Slow-smoked meat with a sweet, tangy sauce and a heavy smoke character.
- Beer with fish and chips
Battered fried fish with chips — the definitive test of a beer’s ability to cut fat.
Popular comparisons
- What is the difference between porter and stout?
Less than most answers claim.
- What is the difference between Helles and Pils?
Both are pale German lagers, and the balance is opposite.
- What is the difference between Czech and German pilsner?
The Czech original is fuller-bodied, slightly sweeter and more golden, with a rounded bitterness and bready malt depth from decoction mashing.
- What is the difference between West Coast and New England IPA?
Almost everything except the hops.
- What is the difference between IPA and pale ale?
Degree, not kind.
- What is the difference between Hefeweizen and witbier?
Both are hazy wheat beers, and their flavour comes from completely different places.
Beer around the world
Almost everything characteristic about a beer turns out to be a consequence of somewhere. Kölsch comes in a small glass because a Cologne brewery house replaces it before it can go flat; British beer is modest in strength because it is drunk in pints over an evening.
- Beer cities and beer culture
Düsseldorf and its Alt houses, Cologne and the Köbes, Bamberg and the smoke, Prague and the pour.
- Festivals and beer seasons
What Oktoberfest actually is, who taps the first cask, and which festivals are still running.
- How beer is served
Why a Czech beer has three fingers of foam and why nobody in Cologne orders a second one.