Beer, Hops and Breweries – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 15 questions in the Beer, Hops and Breweries quiz, each with a short explanation. From pilsner to stout: test your knowledge of beer styles, ingredients and brewing cities. Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 15 questions1. Germany's 1516 purity law originally allowed which three ingredients?
Answer: Water, barley and hops
The Bavarian Reinheitsgebot, issued by Duke Wilhelm IV at Ingolstadt on 23 April 1516, permitted only water, barley and hops in beer. Yeast was not listed because its role in fermentation was not yet understood; it was added as a fourth ingredient in the 19th century.
2. The German word 'lager', used for the beer style, literally refers to what?
Answer: Storage
The term lager comes from the German word for storage (lagern, to store), because these beers were traditionally matured for weeks in cool cellars or caves, often in the Bavarian Alps, using bottom-fermenting yeast.
3. Arthur Guinness signed a lease on Dublin's St James's Gate lasting how long?
Answer: 9,000 years
On 31 December 1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on a disused brewery at St James's Gate, Dublin, at £45 a year. The company later bought the site outright, making the famous lease redundant.
4. What is the name of the one-litre beer mug served at Munich's Oktoberfest?
Answer: A Maß
A Maß (short for Maßkrug) is the one-litre mug used at Munich's Oktoberfest, where all six licensed breweries serve beer in this standard size. The glass is slightly bigger than a litre, with a calibrated fill line leaving room for the head.
5. To carry the authentic Trappist label, where must a beer be brewed?
Answer: Within the walls of a monastery
The International Trappist Association, founded in 1997, requires that beer carrying the Authentic Trappist Product label be brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery by or under the supervision of the monks, with profits supporting the community and charity.
6. Which Mexican beer is often served with a wedge of lime in the bottle neck?
Answer: Corona
Corona Extra has been brewed in Mexico since 1925; serving it with a lime wedge pushed into the bottle neck became popular in the 1980s.
7. The original golden pilsner was first brewed in 1842 in which city?
Answer: Plzen, Czech Republic
The world's first golden pale lager was brewed on 5 October 1842 in Plzen (Pilsen), Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll, using soft local water and Saaz hops; it became Pilsner Urquell.
8. What gives Guinness stout its famously dark, near-black colour?
Answer: Roasted barley
Guinness gets its near-black look from roasted (unmalted) barley, which also gives coffee-like dryness; held to the light a pint actually shows a deep ruby-red tint.
9. Which Dutch beer comes in a green bottle with a red star on the label?
Answer: Heineken
Heineken has been brewed in the Netherlands since 1864 and is known worldwide for its green bottle and red star logo.
10. In a British pub, a 'shandy' is beer mixed with which drink?
Answer: Lemonade
In British usage a shandy is beer mixed with lemonade (sometimes ginger beer), typically about half and half; the name is short for the 19th-century term shandygaff.
11. Munich's Oktoberfest actually starts in which month each year?
Answer: September
Despite its name, Munich's Oktoberfest opens in September, running from the Saturday after 15 September until the first Sunday in October. The shift from October happened in 1872 to take advantage of warmer weather and longer days; in 2026 it ran 19 September to 4 October.
12. The small 'widget' in a Guinness can releases which gas for a creamy head?
Answer: Nitrogen
The plastic widget in a can of Guinness Draught shoots out a jet of beer and nitrogen when the can is opened, creating the tight, creamy head. Nitrogen forms much smaller bubbles than carbon dioxide, and the invention won Guinness a Queen's Award for Technological Achievement in 1991.
13. Which grain, sprouted then kiln-dried, makes the malt used in most beers?
Answer: Barley
Barley is the grain steeped, germinated and kiln-dried to make the malt that forms the backbone of most beers, because its husk aids filtration and it is rich in the enzymes that convert starch to fermentable sugar. Wheat, rye and oats are used only as partial additions.
14. In beer, what do the letters IPA stand for?
Answer: India Pale Ale
IPA stands for India Pale Ale, a strongly hopped pale ale named after the British beers shipped to India in the 19th century.
15. In a British pub, a 'snakebite' mixes lager with which other drink?
Answer: Cider
A snakebite is roughly equal parts lager and cider served in a pint glass, popularised in UK pubs in the 1980s. Adding a dash of blackcurrant cordial turns it into a 'snakebite and black', also called a diesel.