Lager Louts

From four simple ingredients, water, barley, hops and yeast a plethora of styles, tastes and types can be brewed. From pale yellow, to dark thick brown there is a type of beer for almost any occasion, or any taste.  There are two different types of yeast that can create alcohol.  A Lager is made from bottom fermenting yeast that ferments slowly at a low temperature. It produces a smoother, mellower beer.

An Ale is made from top rising yeast. It ferments more rapidly and at a higher temperature.  This gives rise (no pun intended) to a fruity more aromatic beer.

Lets investigate ales today.  Originally ale was distinct from beer. Until the 17^th century it was brew of yeast, water and malt without hops. It became beer when hops was added.  Modern ale is now a type of beer made with top fermenting yeast.

There are several varieties of modern ales.  Brown, Pale, Scotch, Mild, Old, and Belgian.

The Brown Ale as its name suggests is a dark amber or brown in colour, generally tastes of caramel or chocolate, strong and malty. Examples are Pete’s Wicked Ale, Newcastle Brown Ale, and Sam Adams Brown Ale

Scotch Ales are a strong pale ale that are sweet,  toffee flavoured and often taste reminiscent of whisky due to the smoked malts. Their alcohol levels is usually about 5.5%.

Mild ale is a type of pale ale that is young or unaged. Surprisingly they are dark amber or near black with lower alcohol content. Okanagan Springs Brewmaster’s Black is a type of Mild.  They were once very popular until the 1960s but have recently had a resurgence.

Pale Ales are generally referenced as the beer that launched the microbrewery explosion.  Less malt, more hops and stronger aromatics define Pale Ale.  It gets its name more from the pale malts than it’s colour.  Pale ales are also separated into many types; Amber, American, Biere de Garde, Burton Pale Ale, English Bitter, Indian Pale Ale and Irish Red Ale.  Pale ales range from light copper to light brown, low to medium maltiness, and medium to prominent use of hops.

One of my favorite beers is an India Pale Ale due its strong hop flavour.  The extra hop was possibly added as a preservative for the long voyage to India.