The Toit / Beer AlphabetThe alphabet done right.

The only alphabet worth considering, which when put together, translates into the magical language that is beer. Because English is far too complicated anyway.

A couple of these terms you might already be familiar with, but there’s not harm in touching base with the basics, when it comes to beer. Mmmm! Begin, Beer lesson 104.

A- Alcohol By Volume

This is the one that will give the novices bragging rights, and the aficionados blogging rights.

B- Basmati Blonde

Too early for a shameless plugin? Never! Our beloved Basmati rice and German Pilsner based ale.

C- Colonial Toit

*cough* Don’t know how this one slipped in here too. But our Pale Ale doubles as a history lesson in brewing as well.

D- Dark Knight

We obviously couldn’t leave this one out—it’s our Stout. Also, we’re most excited about Batman Vs. Superman.

E- EBC

Or European Brewing Convention, kind of the colour scale equivalent for beer.

F- Fining

Agents or particles that help filter the leftover substances in the brew and aid the clarification process.

G- Gravity

In the world of beer, it’s the measurement of density of a liquid or solid, when compared to water. Also a great song by John Mayer.

H- Hogshead

Basically a cask that can hold 243 litres of beer. And in a world almost (but not quite) as magical as the world of beer, you’ll find a similarly named inn in an obscure village called Hogsmeade.

I- Indiranagar

Referred to as the Holy Grail of Local Brews by a select few. ( Maybe just us.)
A small but amazing part of our beloved Bengaluru, that we call home.

J- Jolly

The feeling that takes over your body and mind after consuming a certain number of brews. (Yup. Really scraping the barrel with this one.)

K- Kudix

Not like he needs introducing, but that’s our beloved mascot, the coolest cat (skunk) in the animal kingdom, just by virtue of sheer coolth.

L- Light-struck

Speaking of skunks, beer starts to get a weird smell when struck by light, making it taste almost rancid. This process is also referred to as skunking—a matter that offends Kudix most deeply.

M- Matt Callahan

Boss of brewing at Toit, his extremely soft spoken ways are rumoured to be matched only by his tyranny in the brewery. Don’t let the sweet grandpa image fool you. He’s a malt mashing monster. And we love him!

N- Namma Metro

Ok, technically this has nothing to do with beer as such. But it’s right in front of Toit, almost passed through our establishment at one point, and serves for a great mode of transport for anyone who’s had one too many.

O- Original Gravity

This gravity, claiming to be the real deal, refers to the density of fermented sugar in the mix of malt and water. Original it might be, but definitely a less catchy name for a song.

P- Publican

The person holding the noble title of owner/manager of a pub, deeply invested in the remarkable endeavour of improving the lives of many on a daily basis.

Q- Quench

As in, nothing quenches your thirst better than a chilled, tall glass of beer. Again, really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

R- Red

Great colour, especially in the form of an ale, called Toit Red. An Irish beer this, saluting our Irish brewer.

S- Sparge

The process of removing soluble sugars from the grist, by spraying it with hot water.

T- Tintin Toit

Tintin + Toit— the former being an iconic character created by the legendary Hergé, the latter being a legendary local brewpub, and the union of the two resulting in a most legendary Belgian style ale.

U- Units of bitterness.

Like, IBU, which stands for International Bitterness Unit, denoting the level of bitterness of the hops in your beer. Also indicative of slight alphabetical cheating on our part. But hey, we’re almost at the end!

V- Vinous

Like the wine kind. Which isn’t beer. So we don’t know why this is on the list even. Next!

W- Weiss

Last one about us, ok? We promise. Weiss being our very own Hefeweizen, with a distinct banana and clove aroma.

X- Xylophone

We reached our limit. Even scraping the bottom of the barrel didn’t work this time. If you think of something, let us know.

Y- Yeast

One of the four pillars of beer brewing, about which we learned in Beer 101. Time to get back to basics.

Z- Ze End.

By now we hope you’re inspired enough to re-learn your alphabet.

Come by, we’ll do group studies over a few pints, and recite the alphabet together!