Ales vs. Lagers

 You've heard of ales and you've heard of lagers, but do you know the differences between them? Is one better than another? Lets find out after a little science lesson...

Malted barley is barley grain that has been dampened. The dampness causes the barley to germinate and sprout. The sprouted barley is then quickly dried so it doesn't germinate further. This is called malting because the sprouted barley has created a lot of sugars known as maltose. When hot water and hops are introduced and filtered, the resulting mixture is a sugary liquid know as wort.

Yeasts are single-celled organisms. They grow and reproduce by "budding" which means splitting apart. To do this requires energy which the yeasts get from sugar. Bored yet? It gets better. When yeasts are introduced into the wort, they begin metabolizing the sugars found in the wort and reproduce billions and billions of little yeasts. This is known as fermentation, our favorite part. The act of metabolizing the sugars (fermenting) produces by-products; Ethanol, which is the alcohol in beer, flavors which range in tastes, and carbon dioxide which makes the beer bubbly. Short version: yeast turns sugar water into beer. Yeah! This concludes our science lesson.

If you Google the word Ale, you'll get a number of definitions, some right and some horribly wrong and misleading. Basically an ale is a beer brewed with top-fermenting yeast. Top fermenting means that the yeasts ferment rapidly and they rise to the top, creating a foamy layer before falling to the bottom of the fermenter. These types of yeasts work well in warm environments and produce rich flavors that are very pronounced when tasted. They also produce higher amounts of ethanol in a shorter period of time. So an ale can be thought of as a beer that has richer flavors and higher alcohols.

Types of ales are: Ales (duh), Porters, Stouts, Alts, Kolsch and Wheat Beers. You probably recognize a couple of these styles, and we'll teach you more about them in later articles.

What is a Lager?

The word "lager" comes from an old German word, "lagern", which means to store. Back in the day, the only place to store something was in caves, which were quite cool. The beer stored in these caves fermented much slower than ales because of the cooler temperatures. The yeasts mutated into a strain that fermented on the bottom of the liquid rather than the top. These slow-growing, bottom-fermenting yeasts produced a beer that was lighter in body, more effervescent, and crisper in taste than ales. Beers produced this way were referred to as lagers.

Something to remember: a lager is not a style of beer, it's just a way of making beer. Lager styles include pilsners, dortmunder export, helles, bocks, and malt liquor.

So what's the difference?

The difference is just the way it's made. Although lagers tend to be lighter in taste and color, and crisper in finish, there are exceptions. Bocks and Marzens can be thick and malty, just like some of their ale cousins. And wheat beers, which are typically ales, are very light and refreshing like many of their lager brethren. You can guess whether a beer is a lager or an ale by the richness of flavor and aftertaste, but there are always exceptions.

Bottom line, if you like light flavors of beer, lagers are probably a good fit for you. If you like flavors and complexity, go for the ales. But always be sure to try the many styles of each. There is an adventure of tastes in lagers and ales.

Got more questions about ales and lagers? Contact us for more info. Cheers!