Someone of the Yankee persausion asked me the difference between lager and real ale

[Luis Anaconda]

t'other day.

I was unable to answer definitively. I think I said something like 'lager is brewed under pressure and is carbonated while real ale is not and is flat'. And 'I prefer real ale in the pub especially in the colder months, while lager is great on a hot sunny day'.

Neither of which really answers the question properly nor is necessarily correct, I think. Anyone know the answer?

Different yeasts (lager, uses bottom-feeding, I mean fermenting, yeast; ale, top);
ale is fermented at warmer temps and for a shorter time
Purity - you can throw any old **** into an ale to give it flavour. Lager - the proper stuff - should limit itself to the main ingredients, Reinheitsgebot and all that

[redgunamo]

t'other day.

I was unable to answer definitively. I think I said something like 'lager is brewed under pressure and is carbonated while real ale is not and is flat'. And 'I prefer real ale in the pub especially in the colder months, while lager is great on a hot sunny day'.

Neither of which really answers the question properly nor is necessarily correct, I think. Anyone know the answer?

I understand the correct answer is "Stop being a homo and get your round in." All the nibs seem to agree on this.

[redgunamo]

Different yeasts (lager, uses bottom-feeding, I mean fermenting, yeast; ale, top);
ale is fermented at warmer temps and for a shorter time
Purity - you can throw any old **** into an ale to give it flavour. Lager - the proper stuff - should limit itself to the main ingredients, Reinheitsgebot and all that

Right. And apparently, "Lager" also means "store, or "to store" in German. Whatever that has to do with anything

[Luis Anaconda]

Right. And apparently, "Lager" also means "store, or "to store" in German. Whatever that has to do with anything

Winter is coming

[World's End Stella]

Different yeasts (lager, uses bottom-feeding, I mean fermenting, yeast; ale, top);
ale is fermented at warmer temps and for a shorter time
Purity - you can throw any old **** into an ale to give it flavour. Lager - the proper stuff - should limit itself to the main ingredients, Reinheitsgebot and all that

Hmmm wot about carbonation? All lager is carbonated but real ale never is, true?

[SWv2]

Hmmm wot about carbonation? All lager is carbonated but real ale never is, true?

Carbonation of any beer occurs naturally during the fermentation stage.

I may be wrong but is not all ale (real ale if you like) not normally served from a cask as opposed to keg. The cask itself plays some part in taste of the end product.

[Luis Anaconda]

Hmmm wot about carbonation? All lager is carbonated but real ale never is, true?

As SW says the fizz is formed as part of the fermentation process but it can be "forced" too - there's actually several different ways. Reminds me of the time I was given a private tour of the Budweiser brewery in České Budějovice and was given a sample of the Budvar part way through the process - it was absolutely gorgeous but the stuff you get in the bottles is a bit sharper fizzier as they need to make it like that for longevity/allow it to travel. And I think I could have organised a piss-up in that brewery

[SWv2]

As SW says the fizz is formed as part of the fermentation process but it can be "forced" too - there's actually several different ways. Reminds me of the time I was given a private tour of the Budweiser brewery in České Budějovice and was given a sample of the Budvar part way through the process - it was absolutely gorgeous but the stuff you get in the bottles is a bit sharper fizzier as they need to make it like that for longevity/allow it to travel. And I think I could have organised a piss-up in that brewery

They had to ask you to leave didn't they?

[eastgermanautos]

Different yeasts (lager, uses bottom-feeding, I mean fermenting, yeast; ale, top);
ale is fermented at warmer temps and for a shorter time
Purity - you can throw any old **** into an ale to give it flavour. Lager - the proper stuff - should limit itself to the main ingredients, Reinheitsgebot and all that

In fairness to us Yanks this is not a lack of knowledge which people on the West Coast would have. We have the microbrewing craze out here, so we know our lagers and ales.

[Luis Anaconda]

In fairness to us Yanks this is not a lack of knowledge which people on the West Coast would have. We have the microbrewing craze out here, so we know our lagers and ales.

Very true sir. No need to know about it to drink it though