Real Ale is Real Quality

I have always been a lover of real ale – that’s proper beer for those of you who do not know anything about beer and it is also not chilled – shame on you. 

To educate all those that like that kind of thing the main difference between ale and larger is the fermentation process. Ale is top fermented quickly in warmer temperatures whilst lager is bottom fermented using colder temperatures.

There are also a number of other major differences between the 2 styles. Historically ales are also much stronger in flavour, some of them reaching 12% or 13% whilst the strongest lagers seldom get beyond 8% although the Trappist beers of Belgium can equal the strength of some ales.

Dark beers such as porters and stouts are also ales but are normally much more bitter than straight forward ales and are normally now chilled.

Historically ales were never chilled although they would be kept in a cellar at lower temperatures than the ambient temperature of the ale house in an attempt to keep the beers clear as they were often not filtered and easily clouded. Pour a glass of real ale from a lightly chilled wooden barrel or even a small aluminium one, never steel and then place you hands on the top. When you serve another glass after having done this you will see that the slight change in temperature between the top and bottom of the storage container have caused the contents to move and subsequently cloud – something that no true real ale drinker would ever accept

Another fundamental difference between ale and lager is the fizz. It is very rare to find a non gassed lager these days, even in a micro brewery and it is this nature that attracts the younger male drinker and explains the explosion in the last 20 years of internationally recognized brand names.

A true real ale connoisseur is at his happiest at a Real Ale festival, frequently organised by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and can sometimes have as many as 200 different ales to sample and enjoy.

There are still a few remote pubs (public houses) in the UK where you can still purchase beers that are stored in barrels and “broached” by inserting a spigot, or tap, into the barrel and then serving in pint glasses.

Served with a traditional meal of cheese and bread there can be no better meal especially if there are large portions of Bramston pickle and a good portion of pickled onions.

Next week we will look at the explosion of micro breweries around the world and the decline of tied houses.