Beer School: Ales vs. Lagers

One fun fact that I like to share about beer is that there are just two types of beers - ales and lagers. Very impressive tidbit to share until I get the follow up question: “What’s the difference?” And suddenly, I’m not so impressive anymore. So it’s time for some Beer School. These Beer School posts will document my quest to evolve from casual beer drinker to full on beer snob. Ok, maybe not that far. Basically, I’m just trying to get some knowledge, ok?

So, the basic difference between ales and lagers is that ales are top-fermenting and lagers are bottom-fermenting. “WTF does that mean?” you may ask. In the beer brewing process - hey, I should do a post about the beer brewing process - yeast is added to start the fermentation process, which is what converts the sugars into alcohol, so yay yeast! One type of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisia, is more present at the top of the fermentation vessel during the process, and the other, Saccharomyces uvarum, is seen more at the bottom.

The Saccharomyces cerevisia ferments faster and at warmer temperatures, while the Saccharomyces uvarum ferments slower and at colder temps. So really, it’s a technical difference, but it’s good to know that almost every common beer type falls into these two categories. Here’s how they break down:

Ales

  • Stouts
  • Porters
  • Pale ales
  • Belgians - dubbel, tripel, quad
  • Saisons
  • ESBs
  • Witbiers

Lagers

  • Pilsners
  • Bocks
  • Oktoberfests/Marzens
  • Schwarzbier
  • Vienna lagers

The good news is that there are plenty of delicious choices in both categories, so no need to discriminate. Cheers!

Beer School, Most PopularNora NoldenComment