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

[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