Lagers versus Ales

It's that rapier-like wit that keeps endearing you to all your fans. Just ignore all those hope fields in Kent on your next visit.

 

Fact

 

The only reason why ales are usually described as more flavourful is because the american craft movement has brought bolder/new ways of brewing to the world of beer. American craft is linked mostly with ales for the reasons carteravebrew explained (much less time and capital). New craft breweries in the rest of the world have followed american examples.
If such a huge innovation was born in Germany everyone would be stating that lagers are more flavourful than ales.

 

Jakob's Abby?

 

What were the extra ingredients used?

 

Difference between Ales and Lagers is that you have to drink lagers cold but Ales can drift to being luke warm and remain drinkable.

 

Disagree. Lagers are tasty at warmer temperatures as well. Especially when served by gravity pour.

 

As a AMERICAN it is my place to tell everyone else THEY ARE WRONG! DON'T MESS WITH THE U.S.!!!

 

Not in my experience but each to their own I guess.

 

Before or after insertion in freshly-sliced Tauntaun?

I have been know to drink room temperature canned macro swill to no ill effect. In fact, I might have to try that with a Coors Light some time, just to see if I can coax some flavor out...

 

There are too many lager haters on this site. While it is true that for the most part, with a few exceptions, lagera aren't as full bodied and flavorful as ales. However, in their own right, lagers that are well made are just as good as ales. People need to branch out and at least give some well made lagers a try.

 

I like good lagers as much as I like good ales. I drink more ales than lagers because 1) more craft brewers are able to produce and distribute more ales than lagers, and 2) making a good lager is arguably harder than making a good ale. Mistakes are more noticeable.

Lagers do tend to have a crisper and cleaner taste. The whole lagering process yields a literally cleaner liquid. Less particles (protein, sugars, hop bits, etc etc) remain in suspension in cold liquid. They ferment for a much longer time which allows more particulate to settle out of fermentation, and the yeast, by its nature, ferments while it's settled on the bottom. Ales have a lot of "stuff" floating around, even if they have been filtered or cleared or centrifuged. That "stuff" provides the flavor and body, and can also mask some mistakes in the brewing process. Lagers are more unforgivable. They can absolutely be complex in flavor, but it takes a more masterful brewing process to make a complex and interesting flavor from a very clean liquid.

I admit that I'm most likely to be excited about trying an ale over a lager. But like I said, I enjoy a good lager just as much as a good ale. And I'm trying as many lagers as I can to get better at identifying the more subtle and elegant complexities of well-done lagers.

 

I'm by no means an expert at any of this but I'm pretty sure Kolsh is a style of ale because it is top fermented. A top fermented lager is not a lager. Stouts and porters are also ales, so I have no Idea where you are going with that.

 

On a homebrew scale, in my basement, I have to say that beer made with kolsch yeast is kind of a mess before the lagering period. It's cloudy and muddled and while not bad it's not very distinctive and gets much better after a few weeks at 2 -5 degrees C. Just my experience with the yeast though...

 

Welp, all I know is...

Boston Ale > Boston Lager

 

That just shows how far SABL has fallen. Once upon a time it was reversed, and for a long while after that they were =.

 

Of course there is no ill effect unless the beer is out of date and is completely off. But whether you enjoy it is another matter entirely; that is, as much as you can enjoy a macro beer without having to drink it cold

 

My opinion is just the opposite. I do wish more microbreweries invested the time to make great lagers. There's a lot that could be done in the US with the proper investment. While I'm on a wish list here, I wish more microbreweries were making great English style milds. As it stands, I like both lagers and ales.

 

read his subsequent replies.

 

lol, you want to criticize marquis for being a stickler about language, and yet you want to harp on steveh's grammatical non-agreement?