![]() ![]() The differences begin during the brewing process. If I have to give one I’d say lagers have a cleaner profile but with such a vast array of ales, you’ve got some that really resemble lager, and conversely, not every lager is light in color and body like some people might assume.All beer can be classified as either a lager or an ale. Ian Ljungquist, bar Manager at The Well-a popular, 260-brew beer bar situated in a historic brewery in Brooklyn’s Bushwick-tells me “there isn’t really a short answer when describing the difference between ale and lager to a curious guest. Ales allows more room to play around and even if things go slightly off-plan, you’re likely to end up with something interesting and drinkable.” “If a lager ferments too fast, you often end up with diacetyl, an unwanted compound that leaves your lager tasting like buttery movie popcorn, and not in a good way. When asked about the level of difficulty in brewing lagers versus ales, Ferguson tells me that lagers can definitely be trickier and have significantly fewer margins for error. ![]() ![]() Orrefors Beer Taster Glasses (Set of 4), $39 on Gilt Curate your own tasting flight at home. The compounds can be accelerated and altered both by method and ingredients into the many hundreds of sub-varieties that live under the ale umbrella. ![]() These byproducts of the fermentation product give a beer vibrant fruit and spice notes” he tells me, “and when yeast is fermented at a higher temperature, as with most ales, the phenolics and esters are spit out at a higher rate.” This is why ale yeast typically produces more complex and robust beers with punchier profiles and a wider array of notes. “Any time yeast gets a hold of sugar, compounds called esters and phenolics are created and released. So what exactly do these differences in ingredients and processes mean for the final product? I asked Jesse Ferguson, owner and head brewer at Brooklyn’s Interboro Spirits and Ales, a burgeoning indie brewery churning out some of the most in-demand ales and lagers at a time when craft beer popularity has reached critical mass. Related Reading: A Guide to Different Types of Beer Glass & Why They Matter Other Experts Weigh In Jack Andersen / DigitalVision / Getty Images Because of this difference in temperature, a cold-fermenting lager can take as much as twice the time it would take its ale counterpart to produce similar amounts of alcohol. Lager yeast, on the other hand, demands a much cooler environment, between 35 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Related Reading: The Best Beer Clubs & Beer Subscriptions | The Best Low-Carb, Low-Cal BeersĪle yeast, by nature, ferments at a warmer temperature than lager yeast and so is typically kept in tanks heated to a minimum of 60 degrees Fahrenheit during that all-important fermentation. The other part of the puzzle is the temperature at which fermentation occurs and that’s directly related to the type of yeast used. If you don’t know, yeast is a fungus which, when heated to certain temperatures, eats the sugar contained in beer’s other ingredients, malt, barley, and hops, and turns it into alcohol. Most distinguishing is the variety of yeast used in making the beer. Buy Now The Role of Yeastĭefining something as an ale or lager comes from two main qualifiers. PicoBrew C Beer Brewing System, $249.97 A super cool (and money-saving) gift for the beer drinker on your list. ![]()
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