Fear of Clowns: Lager vs. Ale

Fear of Clowns

"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable."
- H. L. Mencken
gozz@gozz.com

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Lager vs. Ale

Within the last year, I became aware of the differences between lagers and ales: since my enlightenment, my enjoyment of beers has greatly increased: I only buy ales. Mostly only.

The difference 'tween ales and lagers in a nutshell: lagers are brewed with bottom fermenting yeasts, ales are brewed with top fermenting yeasts. Ales tend to have more hops which in all beers serves as a preservative; India Pale Ale is an invention designed to withstand long trips from England to colonial India, thus a lot of hops and is brewed for a high alcohol content - 2-3% greater than typical lagers.

You know how you can pick up a glass of milk thinking it's orange juice and second later need to gasp upon realizing it's not OJ in your mouth? I believe my broadened knowledge and awareness of what I'm drinking has similarly made me a keener, more appreciative beer drinker.

While I'm on the personal here, I'd like to say I believe and can argue to no end that Yes' Close to the Edge must be among the greatest human creative works.

Seasons will pass you by - I get up, I get down.

// posted by Erik @ 4/26/2006 09:17:00 PM
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Comments:

If you find a place that has a lot of good beers I would highly recommend Unibroue, out of Canada. They have a variety of great beers but the best is their triple, La Fin Du Monde. The owner of the roofing company I worked for back in MI brews the best triple I have ever had, La Fin Du Monde is the second best. Both are better than any Belgian Abby triples available in the US. Though my old boss did say that if you go to Belgium you can get better ones at the abbies that brew them.

I have always had a distaste for lagers. They leave a dull and long lasting aftertaste that I find pervasive and foul. IPA's are generaly pretty good but I love a good oatmeal stout or a good solid porter - in fact I think I shall have one now. Deuschutz brewery in Bend, OR makes a great one, Black Butte Porter. . .

DuWayne Brayton, at 4/29/2006 9:22 PM

Oh, and one can use juniper berries for a bittering agent instead of hops. Wormwood and other herbs have been used as well, but the earliest jnown bittering agent used in beer was juniper.

DuWayne Brayton, at 4/29/2006 10:33 PM

> I'd tend towards Dark Side of the Moon vs Close to the Edge.

> My tender palate seems to be leaning towards Hefeweizens these days.