If you don't know a bitter from a hop, use this glossary as a quick study guide. After you pass the test, treat yourself to an ale or a lager. Photo by Odelia | CSP.

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February 2005
Updated December 2008

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Beer

Beer Glossary

Page 6: Beer Types ~ N To P

This is Page 6 of an eight-page glossary of beer terms. Click on the black links below to visit other pages. Also see more than 50 other food glossaries, chock-full of information about your favorite foods.

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OLD ALE
In the U.K., this term refers to a medium-strong dark ale. In Australia, “Old” simply means dark ale.

PALE ALE

A bronze- or copper-colored ale, as opposed to dark brown ale. Some English brewers use this term to describe their premium bitters.

PILSNER or PILSENER or PILS

A general name for a crisp, golden-hued, highly-hopped, bottom-fermented lager. The original Pilsner was first brewed at the Bürgerlisches Brauhaus in the Bohemian town of Plzen (meaning green meadow), Czechoslovakia in 1842, using a special yeast smuggled from Germany by a Czech monk. Until then, all beers were dark and cloudy. The new Czech Pilsner was the first beer to be brewed clear and golden, the the palest beer to date (and soon to be copied worldwide). The archetypal Pilsner is Plzensky Prazdroj or Pilsner Urquell (urquell meaning original source), a name trademarked in 1898. Pilsners are medium to medium-full bodied lagers that are characterized by a dense, white head, high carbonation, floral aroma and a bitter finish (from the Czech hops used).

PORTER

A London style of beer, Porter is a strong, dark ale, bottom-fermented with the addition of roasted malt to give flavor and color. Higher in alcohol and more roasted-tasting than ale, it is lighter-bodied than stout.

PREMIUM BEER
“Premium” is a term used by breweries to describe their top-of-the-line offerings, made from the best ingredients. It doesn’t describe a style of beer, or even mean that the beer is of superior quality. There is no FDA regulation of the term, so it would behoove any brewer to call its beer “premium” as a marketing advantage (similar to putting the word “gourmet” on a product label—gourmet mustard, e.g.). Beer connoisseurs would prefer a “microbrew” or “craft beer” from artisan brewers that only make premium beers, as opposed to a mass-marketing giant selling a “premium” beer.

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