What’s the difference between beer and ale?
The answer is simple - ale IS beer. Both ale and lager are beer. Beer is a blanket term for any alcoholic beverage made from fermented grains. It is broken up into two basic categories: ale and lager. The term lager is often interchanged with ‘beer’, which is why people make a distinction between beer and ale, rather than lager and ale.
Therefore, what’s the difference between ale and lager?
The process of brewing lager and ale both begin the same way. Barley grains are malted, a process in which the grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then quickly dried. Yeast is then added to it to start the fermentation. It is during this stage that alcohol is produced. Other ingredients such as hops are also added throughout the process. The difference between lager and ale has to do with the way in which is it brewed - the type of yeast used, the ingredients added, the temperature at which fermentation takes place and how the yeast ferments:
1. Ales are fermented using a yeast which prefers to ferment at a higher temperature, usually around 20°C. Lager is fermented using a yeast which prefers to ferment at much lower temperatures, around 12°C.
2. Ale fermentation uses top-fermenting yeasts, so-called because they tend to ferment on top of the beer. This creates a foam on the surface of the fermenting beer. Lager uses bottom-fermenting yeasts, so-called because they tend to sink to the bottom of the beer as its fermenting.
3. The dominant type of yeast used to make ale is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The dominant type of yeast used to make lager is Saccharomyces uvarum.
4. Ale is fermented at a higher temperature causing it to mature more quickly. Because lager is brewed at a lower temperature it ferments more slowly, and the yeast settles to the bottom as the beer matures.
5. Ale malt is kilned at higher temperatures around 100-105°C. Lager malt is kilned at lower temperatures around 90°C.
6. After the brewing process ales are matured for two or three days at 4°C, whereas lager is stored for two or three weeks at temperatures close to freezing point. This is part of the maturation process.
Beer and ale can usually be separated by taste as well as brewing process. The long cold storage of lagers is important for flavour development. Ales draw their flavour pretty equally from the malt, hops and yeast whereas lagers draw a lot less flavour from the malt and so rely more on flavour derived from the yeast. This is why the long cold contact with the yeast is so important with lager. Hops have a similar importance in lager as they have in ales. Generally, ales are higher in alcohol and more full-bodied than lagers. Lager tends to be paler, drier and less alcoholic than ales. The warmer brewing temperature gives ale a richer, fruitier flavour. The long storage in lower temperatures in lager production gives lager a smoother, milder, crisper flavour than you would get from ale.
