Ale vs Lager: A Standoff
I learned from a young age that lager & ales were very different things. How, you may ask? From good ol’ 90s television, of course! If you recognize the clip from below, then you know that you (or perhaps your kids) grew up in the 90s.
While that episode was extraordinarily awkward and funny, it wasn’t too informative. So, what is the difference between a lager and an ale? Are both and/or either not considered a beer?
Let’s learn! …without the awkward conversation.
That which we call a beer, by any other word would taste as good.
To quote the Bard, “what’s in a name?”
First - shocker - but the FRIENDS clip above actually got this one wrong. Both lagers and ales are considered beer; they both fall under the overarching category. So there is no difference between beer and lager, they are one and the same.
Though I do suppose the phrasing, “a lager is a beer and a beer could be a lager (but also other things)” is most accurate.
And what constitutes a beer? (Didn’t think we were going to go that deep, did you?)
As we know from our last few weeks of exploration all the different definitions of distilled spirits, there are many different aspects that can be used to define a specific beverage. For beer, it appears to focus on ingredients used and process of making it.
The dictionary definition is: an alcoholic drink made from yeast-fermented malt flavored with hops.
Encyclopedia Britanica expands a bit more: alcoholic beverage produced by extracting raw materials with water, boiling (usually with hops), and fermenting. In some countries beer is defined by law—as in Germany, where the standard ingredients, besides water, are malt (kiln-dried germinated barley), hops, and yeast.
So then, what separates the lagers from the ales?
Lager
It seems there are several large differences, the first being the fermentation process. Lagers are bottom fermented, and at a much lower temperature, usually between 45-55 degrees F.
“Bottom fermented” means the yeasts strains used to ferment and produce alcohol coalesce at the bottom of the tank. The yeast works less vigorously and it thus creates carbon dioxide much more slowly. The fermentation time for a lager is between 10-14 days.
The lower temperature leads to less by-products from the fermentation in the final product, which results in a clean, crisp style beer.
The methods of fermenting which differ lagers and ales were also discovered at vastly different points in time.
In the vast scheme of alcoholic drink history, lagers are actually fairly new to the scene. This method was discovered in Bavaria in the 15th century, about 1500 years after hops were first used in brewed alcoholic drinks.
While they are technically the younger beer, they have become definitely the more widely drank. When you think of all the “classic” beers in near history, most of those have been lagers: Budweiser, Miller, Coors Light, Bud Light, Corona Extra, Stella Artois, Michelob ULTRA … all lagers.
Ale
However, with the craft beer boom, ales have been back on the scene. Many of the well-known craft beer types are actually ales: pale ales, stouts, wheat beers, IPAs, etc.
In direct contrast with lagers, ales are top fermented beers and go through this process at warmer temperatures (60-72 degress). The warmer temperatures bring out the esters and phenols which can give a sweet, full-bodied, and/or fruiter flavor.
This fermentation process takes much less time (think: just a few days) and ales don’t need to go through any aging.
To me, one of the most interesting things about ales is that, historically, it’s definition included “un-hopped”. While ales are the oldest type of beer we still brew, it wasn’t until the 17th century that ales used hops as their bittering agent. Until that time, they used a mixture of herbs and spices boiled directly with the wort.
I’m sure this is just a fantasy, but to me that sounds like one of those Christmas beers, with warm mulling spices thrown in. Sounds good! Though not what I think of when I consider the modern ale.
Further Breakdown
After the big heading of “BEER”, the breakdown starts with just the two categories of ales vs lagers. But inside each of those, the type and style breakdown of beer goes deep.
While there are more different types of ales than lagers, either can be light, amber, or dark.
Here are some of the more well-known under each category:
Lagers:
- Helles
- Dunkel
- Schwarzbier
- Pilsner
- Amber Lager
- Czech Lager
- Bock
Ales:
- Pale Ale
- India Pale Ale (IPA) --> Obviously, this includes DIPAs, TIPAs, Imperial IPAs, West Coast IPAs, New England IPAs
- Stout
- Porter
- Brown Ales
- Scotch Ales
- Barley Wine
Weekly Adventure
Everyone grab your favorite beer stein - your task this week is to have (at least) one of each type of beer. Even if you know you prefer pilsners, or IPAs, or whatehaveyou, try one of each and consider what you learned while sipping a good brew.
Cheers,
Molly
References
https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/2Kudv5620R/
https://www.thespruceeats.com/definition-of-lager-353244
https://www.britannica.com/topic/lager-beer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ale