Encyclopedia

A. B. The mixture of mild and bitter is usually called half-and-half, although this name is also used for a mixture of porter (or stout) and bitter. The last one is often called a Black-and-tan, but that name has bad connotations in Ireland, where it was the nickname (due to the colors of their uniforms) for the Royal Ulster Constabulary, who were hated by the catholics. The term "A. B." is unknown to me, and I have not been able to verify it on Internet. Note that A.B. is also the common Swedish abbreviation for a Inc. Abbey. This entry confuses two things: the concept of an abbey ale, and the trade label of "genuine trappist" beer. An abbey ale is an ale in the style brewed in abbeys. A Trappist ale is an ale that is brewed in a trappist abbey. Abdijbieren. Technically this definition is correct, but slopply and incomplete, as the term is in plural, while the explanation is in singular. Worse is that it should have a reference to the fact that the term is in Dutch, and as such refers to Dutch and Belgian abbey beers when used in English. (And there are very few Dutch abbey beers because The Netherlands are mainly a protestant country. However, there is the abbey of Köningshoven, which happens to be a trappist abbey, and where the brewing has been set out to an external, secular organization. Acetaldehyde. This entry contains a contradiction when it says that acetaldehyde "forms during fermentation" and "decreaes ... druing the production of ethanol". Because fermentation is the production of ethanol, this statement does not make sense. Adam. This story is not verifiable. Searching the Internet for "Frederick William IV" and "adam" "beer" and "dortmond" turns up a large number of references in English to the story given in the book. However, trying to go the source, and searching for the kings name spelled in German (Friedrich Wilhelm IV, and the proper German name for the beer (adam bier), turns up nothing. The story is strange, because the adam bier of Dortmund is not the kind of beer that you would like to drink a tankard at once. Possibly a urban legend.