Alcoholic Beverages Key Terms

A mix of alcoholic beverage key terms for your establishment

Bar and/or restaurant ownership and operation can prove to be very lucrative business ventures, especially if you and your staff are familiar with a wide range of alcoholic beverages to serve your customers with. To be able to provide excellent customer service, and to ensure that your bartenders and servers are serving the correct drinks, be sure to learn and educate your staff on the key terms ale, stout, draft, icewine, single malt and proof.

 

Ale

Be sure to educate your servers and bartenders about beers. A type of beer that is considered an ale is a beer made from fermented yeast. Ales have a distinct fruity flavor due to the byproducts they absorb during the fermentation process.
Try: Visit Brew-Monkey.com for the complete definition on ale and how it is made.

Stout

Another type of beer is a stout. Stouts are distinguished by their deep, dark color. Stouts are made with dark roasted barley, which gives them their rich color and strong flavor.
Try: A Taste of The Southwest explains what a stout beer is in its beverage glossary.

Draft

A draft beer is usually the cheapest type of beer available. A draft is a way of serving beer. Draft beer is pumped from a keg, using a hand pump or the air pressure from within the keg.
Try: Foster’s Group describes what draft is and how draft beer is sealed and pumped.

Icewine

Icewine is a highly prized wine because it is difficult to make. It is made from grapes, but unlike most wines, icewine is made from frozen, late harvested Vidal or Riesling grapes. Harvesting the grapes for icewine is a challenge because they must be harvested at a very specific temperature and because they are the last grapes left on the vine.
Try: To learn more about icewine and the grapes used to make it, check out DrinksMixer.com.

Single malt

Single malt is one of the five primary categories of Scotch whisky. It is defined as single because it is distilled at one distillery, using only one malted barley.
Try: The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) defines the categories of Scotch whisky, including single malt Scotch whisky.

Proof

The proof of an alcoholic beverage explains the volume of alcohol in each beverage. The drink itself is measured in ounces and the proof is measured in the percent per ounce. For example, an 80 proof beverage contains 40 percent alcohol.
Try: BC Liquor Stores provides a definition of the proof of alcoholic beverages.

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