Lagers versus Ales

ales > lagers.... that is all

 

Ales!!

 

Both!!!!!!

 

Lagers - bottom fermented... crisp taste and clear body (due to the cold "lagering" process where fermentation is done at colder temps than ales... around 35 degrees in some cases).
Ales - top fermented... fermented at higher temperatures anywhere from 55F up to 70F. Taste and body can range anywhere from light to motor oil. Making clearer ales usually takes a centerfuge or chemicals.

In closing: lager = crisp/clean... ales = fuller/flavorful. That said, people are making some DAMN flavorful lagers nowadays and it's a tougher art to master.

 

Lagers are lagered.

Ales are drunk by me in more copious quantities

 

Some lagers are top fermented, such as Kolsch.
I don't understand your reference to using chemicals or centrifuges.Sometimes clearing agents such as isinglass is used. It wasn't found necessary to fine Burton beers.
I enjoy stouts and porters as well as ales.

 

Well done lager > well done ale.
Everytime

 

I been an ale only lover for quite some time. Then I tried Jack's Abby. Now the love is spread around.

 

Color and crispness can range in lagers as well. The only specific difference is bottom fermented/top fermented. Color depends on how much malts have been toasted, no centerfuge or chemicals involved. However, as mentioned, most craft breweries are brewing ales because it's far easier

 

All taste and aesthetic qualities aside, ales and lagers are made with two different species of yeast.

 

Saison Ferments jump into the 90s, but I'd say you're pretty close. I'd also add that you can clear Ales with Irish Moss, Kopper Clear Tablets (based on Irish Moss), Isinglass, Cold Crashing, simply aging, and additionally with ingredient selection and a good cold break.

 

Thumbs up for ALL GOOD beer, whether ale or lager

 

Many lagers are lagered at -1C.

 

Huh. That last Celebration I had was far from crisp and clean, and the last Coniston Bluebird I had was far from full-bodied.

Point being? You can't pin labels on lager and ale.

 

Kolsch is an ale as is Altbier. The yeast used in them ferments on the cool side for an ale, about 60 F. They are then usually cold conditioned for a few weeks after fermentation, much like a lager.

 

It is not, it's a top fermented lager , legally defined in its country of origin as Obergäriges Lagerbier.
Ales and top fermented beers are not the same thing. That's something that has been made up in recent years.
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/is-klsch-ale.html

 

I know this has often come up in discussion about Kölsch and Alt, but I have to wonder how either would taste sans lagering? And does anyone actually brew either without lagering?

I have the feeling, definitions aside, that both would have very ale-like characteristics.

 

They were designed to circumvent laws which prevented bottom fermented beers from containing extra ingredients.The yeast was switched to top fermenting but fermented cool and lagered. The idea was to recreate styles of beer brewed with bottom fermented yeast before Reinheitsgebot.
It's very difficult to deal with the idea which most (but by no means all) US BAs have locked into that ale simply means top fermented beer rather than one family of it.

 

Stouts and porters (non-baltic) are ales, are they not?