The term “beer drink” exists only in Russia, it was included in the technical regulations for the production of beer and related drinks. This concept includes all beer, where the content of unmalted grains and other “foreign” additives is more than 20%.
Short answer to the question
Briefly, main difference between beer and beer consists in the fact that any third-party ingredients other than classic ones (malt wort, brewer’s yeast, hops, water) cannot be used in beer.
It is worth mentioning that classic beer is made from malt (sprouted grain), usually barley. But in addition to classic beer, varieties are also brewed with the addition of unmalted grain, that is, not germinated. This is done solely to obtain the original taste, and not because of the economy, as some people believe.
In the USSR, such varieties usually had the prefix “original” or “special” in their names, and the content of non-malt in them could reach up to 50%, this was determined by GOST and this fact did not bother anyone. Suffice it to recall such popular Soviet varieties as Leningradskoye or Klinskoye (not to be confused with the modern brand), where rice chaff was used to boil the wort.
Hoegaarden Rosé is a typical beer drink
According to the Reinheitsgebot formula, beer should contain nothing but water, malt and hops. But depending on the manufacturer, the same composition may be written differently on the label.
Water – drinking water, purified drinking water.
Malt – barley malt, light barley malt, light barley brewing malt.
Hop – hop products, hop + yeast.
If the drink contains other components (maltose syrup, E950 sweetener, starch syrup, etc.), then it will no longer be called beer, it will be a beer drink.
Relevance: 24.01.2016
Tags: beer, cider, ale