ale - History of ale, Modern ale, Varieties of ale

An alcoholic beverage brewed from barley which has been malted (ie softened in water and allowed to germinate). It was a popular drink prior to the introduction of hops as a flavouring agent, thus creating beer. However, the term ale is still used to describe the hops-flavoured brew, while beer has a broader international interpretation at present, and includes lager and stouts.

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Ale is a beer style brewed from barley malt with a brewers yeast that ferments quickly, giving a sweet, full body and a fruity, and sometimes a butter-like taste.

Ales are very common in Britain, Germany, Canada's eastern provinces, the United States, and Belgium;

History of ale

Before the introduction of hops into England from the Netherlands in the 15th century the name "ale" was exclusively applied to unhopped fermented beverages, the term "beer" being gradually introduced to describe a brew with an infusion of hops.

Modern ale

A modern ale is commonly defined by the strain of yeast used and the fermenting temperature.

Ales are normally brewed with top-fermenting yeasts, though a number of British brewers, including Fullers and Weltons, use ale yeast strains that have less pronounced top-fermentation characteristics.

Ale is typically fermented at temperatures between 15 and 24°C (60 and 75°F). Steam beer, Kölsch and some modern British Golden Summer Beers use elements of both lager and ale production.

Beers classed as ale use predominantly barley malts, though wheat beers and lambics, which also use wheat, are brewed using the ale brewing methods.

In a number of U.S. states, especially in the western United States, "ale" is the term mandated by state law for any beverage fermented from grain with an alcoholic strength above that which can legally be named "beer," without regard to the method of fermentation or the yeast used.

In many countries, particularly Britain, ale has lost popularity somewhat with the introduction of a wider variety of alcoholic beverages, most noteably lagers and alcopops.

Varieties of ale

Pale ale

Pale ales are brewed using a pale barley malt. Amber ale is a slightly darker type of pale ale.

Brown ale

Brown ales are brewed using a somewhat darker barley malt than amber. They are mostly common in English brewing, with Newcastle Brown Ale being the flagship brown ale. There is an American-style brown ale as well, created during the early 1980s by homebrewers, and most prominently commercially represented by Pete's Wicked Ale;

Dark ale

Dark ales are brewed using dark-roasted barley malts.

Belgian ales

Belgium produces a wide variety of specialty ales that elude easy classification. In addition to making a variety of blonde ale, common classifications for these specialty beers may be dubbel (malty-complex with a red hue) and tripel (a high-alcohol, lightly-gold coloured beer).

German ales

German ales tend to be fermented at a somewhat lower temperature, and have more body than British or Belgian ales due to differences in mashing process; The best-known varieties are Köln's Kölsch, a very pale ale, and altbier (most associated with Düsseldorf but made in other parts of western Germany as well);