Dark Does Not Equal Evil

Voldemort was misunderstood

Since its still winter, which I know to be a fact as there is actually snow on the ground in Northern Virginia, I want to continue this recent trend of dissecting dark, “wintery” themes in the brewing world. Contrary to what Jim Koch and the gang at the Boston Beer Company would have you believe, January is no time to be drinking lighter, more spring-like creations, unless you live in a world where that sort of thing doesn't matter. WHAT DOES IT MATTER?! (Sorry, that may have been too soon.)

Many people, most of them unenlightened or newcomers to the crafty beer scene, get confused when the terms “light” and “dark” get thrown around when describing beer. Some people say “dark” when they actually mean “heavy.” Others say “dark” and are actually talking about “calories.” Then there are those who say “dark” and are only referring to Guinness.

When it comes to beer, quite simply, the words “light” and “dark” are referring to the color of the beer… period. A beer can be very dark in color but have a crisp body and mouthfeel, and be relatively low in calories. Contrarily wise, a beer can be lighter in color, and also be a heavy, high-gravity monster. The color of the beer (light or dark) is a characteristic of how the beer is made, but does not drive other characteristics in the beer as is commonly believed.

All barley, three different roasts

Beer color, like beer weight and flavor, depends on the malted grains that are used. As you know, all beer, even properly made wheat beers, contains barley, or at least it should. When barley is processed for brewing, the barley grains are stripped off the stalks and are malted, or made to germinate by soaking in water, and then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. The drying with hot air (or kilning) is where the color comes in. The longer you expose the grains to heat, the more roasted they become, and the darker in color they become. The darker the malted barley grains are, the darker the final product will be. That is a very simple description of the process, but for the sake of not going full-on beer nerd, it will suffice.

A beer’s gravity, or “weight” as it is more commonly understood by non-brewers, has nothing to do with the color of the malted grains, but everything to do with the amount of grains used. This is why you can have a heavy beer that is pale in color and a dark beer that feels very light and crispy. Calories are a byproduct of the type and amount of grain used, but again, are not necessarily tied to the color of the roasted grains. Not to mention that real beer drinkers do not count calories, and any brewer that claims a beer to be low in calories is trying to sell you swill. Get out and exercise, and stop counting calories in your beer.

False advertising runs rampant in the beer world

So how did we get here? How did a country that was founded by brewers become so unenlightened in the terms of beer? I point to the general malaise of late 19th century and early to mid-20th century beer drinkers, coupled with the deceitful tactics and mass-propagated advertising campaigns of BIG BEER as being the culprit. For all of their shortcomings in the quality and processes of their beer, the big boys have always been quite skilled in sales. I am not talking about volume of units sold, but rather selling the consumer on the idea that “it doesn't matter.” Full-scale dis-education operations have been their policy since the beginning, and their consumers have been hoodwinked with lower prices and stories of less calories and bikini models. “Less filling; tastes great!”

Fortunately, we currently live in an age where Budweiser, Miller and Coors are being exposed, and taken to task by the informed and enlightened for their inferior products. They still make their swill, and it still outsells all other American beer annually, but every year, they lose more and more control. And because of citadels of truth like this illustrious blog, more and more people are learning that “less filling” doesn't mean anything, beer is not a venue for cutting calories, taste matters, and dark beer is not the enemy.

Delicious dark beer

So now that we know that dark beer is not necessarily “heavy,” or “filling,” or “high in calories,” or “evil,” the question remains, what is it? Remember back a few paragraphs to the process of malting barley grains. Not only does increased exposure to heat create darker color in the grain, it also creates different flavors in the grain. Roasted barley imposes flavors like smoke, chocolate, toffee and other sweet malty tastes into the finished product. A good generalization to remember is that light beers get their flavors from hops and yeast, while dark beers get their flavors from the malted grain. That doesn't mean that dark beers don’t have hops and yeast in them (because they absolutely do); it means that the darker grain flavors in dark beer are so strong and pronounced, they overwhelm the hoppiness and yeast flavors, unless the brewer has intentionally added more than normal levels of hops in order to make the dark beer hoppy.

What this means for the drinker is a beer that is more sweet than it is bitter. Most people I talk to that don’t like hoppy beer complain that it is too bitter. While I would say that bitter is the least developed taste sense in most people’s palates, and therefore requires time and exposure in order to be enjoyed, the obvious solution to an aversion to bitter beer is to drink sweet beer, ergo, a dark stout or porter with intense sweet malty flavors.

And stop worrying about calories! Stupid Budweiser.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!