According to this map, and my own research :), Americans like to drink beer. We aren’t alone in this, as you can see in this map, there are many other countries around the worlds, where beer is the most commonly consumed alcoholic beverage. Perhaps the country you live in is one of these places.

In honor of American’s love of beer I thought I would write a post today on that topic. First, let’s review some synonyms for the word “beer” in English.

American-English synonyms for beer: brew, brewski, a cold one

British-English synonyms for beer: a pint, ale

Example of use:
American: Want to join me for a cold one after work?
Brit: Sure, let’s go to the pub and have a pint or two.

Second, now that you know a few names for this cold foamy alcoholic beverage, let’s talk about what ingredients go into beer. Beer is most commonly made with: water, barley or wheat (both grains), hops, and yeast.

Now, how about we look at the English names for a few types of beers.
India Pale Ale (IPA) – This type of beer has a strong hop flavor and often has a slightly higher alcohol content than other beers.
Stout – This is a thick, often black, beer made with barley. Guinness is a type of stout.
Pilsner – Some say this is the world’s most popular beer style. This is a light, pale colored, beer that has a crisp taste.

Lastly, here are a few other vocabulary words you might see or hear related to beer.
brewery – A place were beer is made.
craft brewery – This generally is used to refer to a beer that is not made on a large scale. These are often distinctive beers made with better ingredients and therefore they are a bit more expensive than an average beer.
microbrewery – This is also a term related to beer that has to do with quantity of production, but it also has to do with market.  A microbrewery is usually a limited-production brewery, that produces specialty beers and sells these beers locally.