How to Talk Like a Beer Geek!

(Yep, I guess I’m a beer geek...)

How to Talk Like a Beer Geek is a new blog series here on Beerploma. Reading beer reviews and talking to a beer geek can sometimes seem like a separate language. When I started getting into craft beer there were times I would read a blog or a review of a beer and walk away knowing even less about the beer the reviewer was telling me about!

My idea of a great beer review was “dang this beer is tasty!”, or, “I wouldn’t drink that with your mouth!” Over the years I have learned what these weird and sometimes unnecessary terms mean. And, I am going to share them with you so you can cut through the jargon us beer geeks use and get the actual info you need!

Our first beer term today is QUAFF/QUAFFABLE. I know, quaff kind of sounds like it should be some sort of unpleasant bodily function. What it really means is to drink heartily. Like you can get er down. Nice full gulps. I see this a lot with session beers. Here is an example: “This low A.B.V. session beer is highly quaffable.” or "Mmmm... I'd quaff that!"

Speaking of SESSION BEER, let’s just get that one out of the way as well! The meaning of this one had eluded me for quite a while into my craft beer beginnings. At first I thought that it was a big robust beer that you could only drink a little bit of during a tasting session... I don’t know, just made sense to me. I was wrong. It is actually the opposite. A session beer is a very easy drinking low alcohol beer. Basically you can sit down for a good long beer drinking session and have plenty of session beers without getting just completely obliterated or burnt out on any intense robust flavors. I was close right?!?!

The last beer geek term for today is LACING. Nope, this doesn’t have anything to do with your shoes, nor does it have anything to do with the ruffles on your fancy underpants! Lacing is the way the foamy head clings to your beer clean glass as you drink it. A beer with a good head served in a properly cleaned glass will leave some of the head clinging to the glass. It almost has a lace-like pattern, hence lacing!

 

(Some lacing on a Bent Brewstillery Acclivity at Ward 6)

Well, there you have it! Your first three terms to help people talk like a beer geek. One thing to always remember though; if beer tastes good it tastes good, and if it doesn’t it doesn’t. There is really only one way to actually find out... Drink it!