beer vs ale
Ryan Dunn
Much to your dismay most beers brewed by today's micro brews are ales.
Technically an ale means that the beer is brewed using top fermenting
yeast that is active around room temperature. Ales can be both light and
dark, pale ale, red ale, porters, stouts are all ales (i.e. use top
fermenting yeast). The difference between those stouts, that you don't
like, and those light bodied ales that you do like is the other
ingredients such as how much the malts are roasted.
Eli
The Virtualbeer Garden
http://www.virtualbeer.com
dmal...@stny.lrun.com wrote:
> Could someone explain to me, in English - my technical knowledge of
> brewing is zip - the difference between beer and ale. generally I
> much prefer ale (I'm having a Molson Export right now), and i dislike
> dark beers (stouts etc) what is in (or not in the one tthat I like and
> not in the other) ?
Samuel Mize
In article <3542E31E...@virtualbeer.com>,
Ryan Dunn <ry...@virtualbeer.com> wrote:
>Technically an ale means that the beer is brewed using top fermenting
>yeast that is active around room temperature.
Absolutely right. However: in some USA states, the labelling laws
require that anything with less than a given percentage of alcohol
be labelled "beer," and anything above that be labelled "ale" or
"malt liquor." So check your state's practices.
Note that top-fermented "ale" and bottom-fermented "lager" are both
"beer."
>> Could someone explain to me, in English - my technical knowledge of
>> brewing is zip - the difference between beer and ale.
In consuming terms, lager beer tends to have a cleaner taste, ale
tends to have more fruity secondary flavors. This is largely
because lager is usually "lagered" (stored) for a while, letting
it clear and settle.
>> much prefer ale (I'm having a Molson Export right now), and i dislike
>> dark beers (stouts etc)
Any dark beer will have more secondary flavors from the roasted malts
(or barley) that give it color. They may also have more hop bitterness.
Best,
Sam Mize
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Samuel Mize -- sm...@imagin.net (home email) -- Team Ada
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Matthew W. Harshman
Ryan Dunn <ry...@virtualbeer.com> wrote:
>Much to your dismay most beers brewed by today's micro brews are ales.
>Technically an ale means that the beer is brewed using top fermenting
>yeast that is active around room temperature. Ales can be both light and
>dark, pale ale, red ale, porters, stouts are all ales (i.e. use top
>fermenting yeast). The difference between those stouts, that you don't
>like, and those light bodied ales that you do like is the other
>ingredients such as how much the malts are roasted.
>
>Eli
>The Virtualbeer Garden
>http://www.virtualbeer.com
>
>dmal...@stny.lrun.com wrote:
>
>> Could someone explain to me, in English - my technical knowledge of
>> brewing is zip - the difference between beer and ale. generally I
>> much prefer ale (I'm having a Molson Export right now), and i dislike
>> dark beers (stouts etc) what is in (or not in the one tthat I like and
>> not in the other) ?
>
>
>
Not totaly true. There are hundreds of different strains of Ale Yeast
and they contribute a whole lot more than just alochol!!
mwharshman Master Brewer
James Tomlinson
Both Lagers and Ales _are_ Beer.
Ales are fermented at room temp (Usually around 68 F/20 C), and many complex
flavors are produced, including esters and other flavors.
Lagers are fermented at lower temperatures (Usually 55 F/13 C and below),
usually with a different strain of yeast (Saccharomyces uvarum) than ales
(Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The lower temperatures and different yeasts leads
to a "cleaner" taste without the esters that higher temperatures produce.
There is definate mixing around, sice some ales yeasts will ferment very
cleanly at low temperatures (Wyeast 1056, for example) and some lager yeasts
are used to produce ale like beers (California Common, ala "Anchor Steam").
In my own brewing, I am beginning to find that I have not given enough thought
in either the type of yeast or the temperature of fermentation. This is my next
main area of improvement.
To quote a tag line: Brewers make wort, yeast makes beer!
Matthew W. Harshman wrote:
--
James Tomlinson
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Give a man a beer, and he wastes an hour.
But teach a man how to brew, and he wastes a lifetime!