I thought a good starting place for the series would be to talk about the two major lines of demarcation when speaking of beers.  As far as beers go, there are Lagers and Ales.  Here is a basic breakdown that will help us to be clear about how the terms are being used.

Lager stems from a German word that means “to store.”  This comes from the fact that at certain times of the year the weather was too warm to brew the types of beer that were desirable to Germans.  In order to ensure that they had the necessary provisions to drink, they would store their beers in icy caves.  This cold aging first stemmed from necessity.  However, they soon discovered that the aging and cold conditioning of these beers produced a clean and less fruity taste.  It wasn’t until modern refrigeration that the spread of these beer was possible.  In terms of modern definitions, a Lager is fermented and stored from 32 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  Furthermore, a yeast strain that is specific to Lagers is also utilized in the brewing process.  Beyond this, the yeast is also bottom fermenting (i.e., the yeast rests on the bottom of fermentation vessel).  For these reasons, Pilsners are actually in the Lager family of beers.  At any rate, I would call this a working definition for what a Lager is. 

While Lager is a fairly specific term, Ale, conversely, is a fairly broad term.  An Ale is best defined as a beer that is not usually fermented at Lager temperatures.  Additionally and most importantly, an Ale is a top fermenting beer.  This simply means that the yeast remains in suspension at the top of the brew, and this is where fermentation happens.  When the brew is done, the yeast will fall out of suspension.  Ales tend to be more fruity in quality and not as “clean” on the palate as a Lager.  By the way, producing a good, clean, and good-tasting Lager is actually quite difficult.  There is not much room to hide imperfections, unlike with some Ales.

With the definitions that I’ve given above, I will call bottom fermenting beers by the name Lager.  I will also call all beers that are top fermenting Ales.  Hopefully, it is fairly obvious that most beer styles that I discuss will fit in broad terms under the Ale category.  Hence, we will be spending more time on Ale styles than Lagers.  We will be posting more about styles during the next few weeks.