Going back to basics to understand beer

In my haste to make beer (and probably arrogance), I haven’t made a full attempt to understand the ways that beer is measured, classified and categorized. I know things by hunch, and from drinking experience (like the difference between lager and ale, of what make an IPA as such), but I can’t really put a finger on what I know, so here start a little research that I’m doing for myself, about things I’m not sure of, or I just need to write to make sense of.

So the firsts to attack will be colour (EBC), alcohol levels (ABV), bitterness (IBU) and how OG relates to the approach to drinking and understanding beer. (Thanks to Fourpure for making me wonder what that means)

So first off: ABV – Alcohol By Volume, measured in a percentage from the volume of liquid. Measured by checking the original specific gravity (OG) minus final specific gravity (FG) divided by 7.89.

EBC – European Brewery Conversion is one of the scales that replaced the Lovibond (“L”) Scale in measuring the darkness of beer. The scale runs from 4 (Pale lager) to 80+ (Imperial Stout, Black Ale), with IPA around 12 and so on.

IBU – International Bittering Units measuring the effect of acids from the hops on the beer. Also can be ABU (American..) EBU (European…) and all scale from low (less bitter/more sweet) to high numbers (more bitter). Usually the range is from around 3-6 (Berliner Weisse) up to 100 (Barley Wine).

What does that tell us about the beer? Look at the board from Fourpure as an indication of what to expect. I’ve learned a little more about beer today, was it news to you?