increase your beer IQ. @WTEnews #craftbeer #beerIQ

Everybody wants a higher IQ, right? Well, I want you to have a higher beer IQ. If you find yourself sitting in a brewery and you glance down the menu and it looks like Greek to you, then hopefully this will help.

Pilsners

"What you need to know: The style we now know as pilsner was first brewed in the city of Plizen, which is found in the western half of the Czech Republic."

American Wheat Beer

"What you need to know: This is an Americanized version of the hefeweizen style, generally coming in a pale gold, light color with few hop notes."

Lager

"What you need to know: Light bodied and pale in color, this is the beer that made larger breweries after prohibition."

IPA

"What you need to know: Ask where the name India pale ale comes from and most brewers will tell you a story about beer shipped from England to India during the 19th century. The story goes that additional hops were added to the drink to increase preservation as hops have an antibacterial quality."

Porter

"What you need to know: Porters are very similar to stouts and, indeed, many modern brewers argue what exactly separates the two. The short answer is that the stout was simply a stronger version of the porter in the past, but today the two styles share many of the same characteristics."

"What you need to know: Originating from England and Ireland, these are the beers that most often feel like a meal."

"In certain styles such as IPAs and a lot of pale ales, you should be able to taste the flavor of the hop (and the resulting bitterness)," said Tim Moore, head brewer and founder of Freedom's Edge Brewing in Cheyenne. "While other styles, such as stouts and porters, the hop flavor should be almost non-existent and only contribute to balance out the sweetness of the malts." I hope this has helped you learn a thing or two about craft beer, I know I did.

Referenced from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.