Ale
Ale is a
beer style brewed from
barley malt with a brewers yeast that ferments quickly, giving a sweet, full body and a fruity, and sometimes a
butter-like taste. Most ale contains some herb or spice, usually
hops, which imparts a bitter, herbal flavour which balances the malt sweetness.
Ales are very common in
Britain,
Germany,
Canada's eastern provinces, the
United States, and
Belgium; however,
pale lager is the dominant style of beer in almost all other countries.
Encyclopedia
Ale is a
beer style brewed from
barley malt with a brewers yeast that ferments quickly, giving a sweet, full body and a fruity, and sometimes a
butter-like taste. Most ale contains some herb or spice, usually
hops, which imparts a bitter, herbal flavour which balances the malt sweetness.
Ales are very common in
Britain,
Germany,
Canada's eastern provinces, the
United States, and
Belgium; however,
pale lager is the dominant style of beer in almost all other countries.
History of ale
Before the introduction of hops into England from the
Netherlands in the
15th century the name "ale" was exclusively applied to unhopped fermented beverages, the term "
beer" being gradually introduced to describe a brew with an infusion of hops. This distinction no longer applies.
Modern ale
A modern ale is commonly defined by the strain of yeast used and the fermenting temperature.
Ales are normally brewed with top-fermenting yeasts, though a number of British brewers, including
Fullers and
Weltons, use ale yeast strains that have less pronounced top-fermentation characteristics. The important distinction for ales is that they are fermented at higher temperatures and thus ferment more quickly than lagers.
Ale is typically fermented at temperatures between . At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of
esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling but not limited to
apple,
pear,
pineapple,
banana,
plum, or prune. Typical ales have a sweeter, fuller body than "lagers".
Differences between some ales and lagers can be difficult to categorise. Steam beer, Kölsch and some modern British Golden Summer Beers use elements of both lager and ale production. Baltic Porter and Bičre de Garde may be produced by either lager or ale methods or a combination of both.
However, lager production is perceived to produce cleaner tasting, dryer and lighter beer than ale.
Beers classed as ale use predominantly barley malts, though
wheat beers and
lambics, which also use wheat, are brewed using the ale brewing methods.
In a number of
U.S. states, especially in the
western United States, "ale" is the term mandated by state law for any beverage fermented from grain with an alcoholic strength above that which can legally be named "beer," without regard to the method of fermentation or the yeast used. This distinction is not obsolete, but it is idiosyncratic.
In many countries, particularly
Britain, ale has lost popularity somewhat with the introduction of a wider variety of alcoholic beverages, most noteably Alcopops and
Lagers such as
Carlsberg.
Varieties of ale
Pale ale
Pale ales are brewed using a pale barley malt. Strengths vary from under 3% abv to over 20% in some rare barley wines. Hop levels also vary - ranging from barely noticeable to over 100 IBUs in some examples of the American
India Pale Ale.
Amber ale is a slightly darker type of pale ale.
Brown ale
Brown ales are brewed using a somewhat darker barley malt than amber. They tend to be lightly hopped, and fairly mildly flavoured--generally they are flavourful, but without strong offensive flavours. Many have a nutty taste. They are mostly common in English brewing, with Newcastle being the flagship brown ale.
Dark ale
Dark ales are brewed using dark-roasted barley malts.
Stout,
oud bruin and
mild ale are examples.
Belgian ales
Belgium produces a wide variety of specialty ales that elude easy classification. In addition to making a variety of blonde ale, common classifications for these specialty beers may be dubbel and tripel . Many Belgian ales are high in alcoholic content but light in body due to the addition of large amounts of sucrose, which provides an alcohol boost with an essentially neutral flavour.
Some specialty beers are based on monastic brewing recipes. The best known among them are the
Trappist beers, which are brewed under direct control of the monks themselves. Only six Trappist monasteries in
Belgium brew this beer. Similar styled ales, brewed by commercial breweries are called Abbey beer.
German ales
German ales tend to be fermented at a somewhat lower temperature, and have more body than British or Belgian ales due to differences in mashing process; the traditional German decoction mash tends to create more oligosaccharides to provide body to the beer. The best-known varieties are Köln's Kölsch, a very pale ale, and
altbier ; wheat beers such as hefeweizen and Berliner Weisse are also technically ales, though they may have different flavours, particularly the pronounced banana-like
estery flavour of hefeweizen.
See also
External links
