Amidst all the sometimes-vehement debates surrounding the definition of craft beer, and the arguments about styles, I am absolutely going to be cheeky enough sweep all of that aside as irrelevant and entirely redefine “beer.” Hey, it’s the Apocalypse, it’s a whole new world! And for some background, read the Introduction.
What is “Beer”?
In the early 21st century, “beer” has a rather precise classification among industrialized societies: a carbonated alcoholic beverage (usually less that 10-12% alcohol by volume) made from malted cereal grains (most often malted barley), almost always spiced with hops, and fermented with a specific family of yeast.
A lot of thought and ink has been devoted to defining “beer” and classifying it down into various styles, somewhat by ingredients (“beer” as opposed to “braggot” which is half beer, half honey mead for instance) but more often by appearance and flavor variations, especially subtle ones (pale ale vs. India pale ale vs. bitter for instance). Within these definitions, of course, there is variability: other sugar or starch sources besides grains (such as fruits, processed sugars and syrups, honey, and so on) may be added to supplement the beer at various stages of the brewing process; the beer can be flavored with other herbs and spices in addition to (and sometimes instead of) hops; it may be aged in wooden barrels previously used to age other alcohols; and so on.
Ultimately, these definitions all still agree that beer, at its core, is primarily made from grains and hops and adheres to a certain set of guidelines (and the country of Germany took this definition step further—or narrower—with their Reinheitsgebot purity law which stipulated that beer could legally only consist of malt, hops, water, and yeast).
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