Translated - beer, drink of the gods. Today is New Beers Day, the 73rd anniversary of when President F.D. Roosevelt legalized 3.2 alcohol by volume beers, which was the first step in the repealing of Prohibition. To celebrate, Kellie, Chris, Miranda, Dustin and I are going to the Chimes for an outdoor beer garden and concert behind the Chimes. Fun!
In case you've not realized it, I love beer. It is the world's second most popular beverage, second only to tea, which is also very good, but that's another post. Though almost every country on the planet has its own beer, almost all of them are either German style lagers or ales. The English also have their own styles of ale, one of which is typically my beer of choice, a pale ale. They tend to be copper in color, medium body, and hoppy. For me, the hoppier, the better. Though recently I've tried more porters which are heavier, darker and more balanced in flavor, but still an ale. Still though, outside of when I slum it drinking Miller Lite, 90% of the time I choose ales.
Just what is the difference between ales and lagers? Well, it's all in the yeast. Ale yeasts are top-fermenting, meaning they rest on top of the wort (young beer before fermentation) while converting all the sugars in the beer to alcohol. On the other hand, lager ales are bottom-fermenting, doing just the opposite. Ale yeasts can work in much warmer temperatures, ideally just below room temperature, while lager yeasts require closer to 40 degrees farenheit. Because of this, most home brews are ales.
As for differences in flavor, ales are darker, heavier, and post a wider array of flavors than lagers, though color and body within ales quite vary. Put shortly, there are a ton of ales out there. For instance, Belgian ales are light in color, body, and flavor compared to the aforementioned porters. They are quite different, but both ales. Ales also tend to have a hoppier flavor, hopped two times during the brewing process: once during the initial brew for flavor and again at the end for aroma. Hops give pale ales, IPA's, and some ambers their distinctive bitterness, which to many people is nasty, but to me is heaven. I also, however, dig maltier ales such as Newcastle and Turbo Dog.
Lagers are for the most part lighter in color and body, and more crisp than bold in flavor. They are refreshing (think a beer you'd drink after mowing the lawn), but, because of their lighter nature, don't carry quite the palette-tingling abilities of ales. Since I don't mow lawns, or do much of anything physical for that matter, I look for flavor in beer, and, for flavor, ales are where it's at. I have tried to push myself to drink more traditional lagers from Germany when I do go to brewpubs or beer gardens, but I am typically left wishing I had ordered a tried and true ESB or Amber ale instead.
I hope you've enjoyed this small primer on beer. I am an aficionado, but by no means an expert. I know there are many things about my own palette which are lacking, and there are many regional American microbrews that I've not even heard of, much less try. A quick note on American microbrews, to me they are the real gem of beer. Mass production renders beers bland and accessible, which like movies with the same qualities, are rarely worth the time and money. If I do drink Miller or Bud Lite, it's out of convenience rather than pure choice. American microbrews, however, represent regional differences in tastes and methods, and offer a huge array of choices for the burgeoning beer lover. That said, don't let some stuffy, alleged "beer expert" tell you that imports are the only "real beers" available. While it's true that Europeans did invent beer making, we've taken it and made it our own and, in many cases, damn tasty.
