Why Do We Brew/Drink Ales?

[Airborneguy]

Anyone can follow what I wrote for ales and make perfectly decent beer. What you are calling wrong is adding a more advanced opinion of brewing into it. The average homebrewer is doing exactly what those 5 bullets entail.

Of course I could have covered things like putting your lager outside... but that is taking into account season/location, which is again something which makes lagers harder to produce.

The simple answer is that lagers are much harder for the average homebrewer to produce. If you don't agree, then you are blinded by the experience you have earned as a homebrewer and don't realize that the average homebrewer cannot lager.

 

[StoutFan]

I just prefer ales to lagers. I have all the necessary equipment for good lager production, I just like more ale styles than lager styles. Bock's are about it for me, but the lagering equipment does make temp control for any beer that much easier.

 

[remilard]

Well, InBev spends mega money on marketing. Now, I know that we are smart enough to not buy into it, but their ads would have you believe that Budweiser is the King of Beers, and MGD 64 is low calorie. And they are having such FUN in the bars! I know name brand loyalty is big- but do you think anyone can really tell the difference between a Coors Light and another "lite" beer if they were blindfolded and it was served super cold?

Coors yeast produces distinct fruity esters and Budweiser leaves acetaldehyde above threshold.

I can tell these apart blind all day.

Never mind the difference in adjuncts, base malt and hop varieties.

If you can't tell these apart (I suspect you can and want to believe that you can't) you should probably avoid beer criticism.

Also, MGD 64 is low in calories, Budweiser is the king of beers by at least one measure and last time I was in a bar people were indeed having fun.

 

[GimmeAles]

ales are easier to make and taste better, period.

Mike Hale, founder of Hale's Ale's here in Seattle said once 'The British use simple processes to make complex beer and Germans use complex processes to make simple beer'. Which I totally agree with. Not that I don't enjoy a fresh lager on occasion, but they just don't offer the flavor profile I most enjoy.

 

[Hound_Dog]

Well, it basically boils down to the fact that out of all of the lagers that I have tried, I can count all of the ones I truly enjoy on my fingers. Brew what you enjoy. That for me means that even though I have all of the equipment necessary to brew lagers, I won't be doing it any time soon.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

And plain and simple, ales are more popular with homebrewers because they are way easier to make, period. If lagers weren't so equipment and time sensitive, no one would be on here ripping lagers. Lagers are by far the most sold and produced beers in the world. What makes us so much better that we apparently notice the superiority of ales? Nothing.

Wait just a second here. I don't see much lager bashing (except a few expected jabs at mass-marketed light beer that add little to the real content of this thread), but rather, some solid reasons for brewing and drinking ales. I don't think the point is that one is superior to the other. With lagers making up the majority of beer sold in the world, it is valid to ask why ales seem to dominate the homebrewing community.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I'd love to do lagers at home, but I live in Texas so it's quite difficult to keep wort cool enough without it becoming a tremendous expense. Being a law student, I brew as my (sole) hobby but also because it's cheaper than buying commercial. Also, I live in an apartment, so my space is limited. I don't have room for a spare fridge, etc.

I love a good lager, but I will happily enjoy a good ale.

 

[beltbuckle]

I don't brew ales because they are easier, period. I can brew lagers with about the same amount of effort. I just prefer ales 90% of the time. I can brew both, and do, but find myself leaning towards ales most of the year. No to oversimplify, but American light lagers are akin to the Ford Escort of beers. They will get you from here to there. Now a good pilsner, that's another story. While I wouldn't want it every day, they sure are great during the summer. Maybe if I lived in a tropical climate I would drink more lagers?

 

[CDbrews]

i think because when people start brewing ales are portrayed as easier to make than lagers. A new brewer can most likely make a closer to expected endproduct ale than a closer to expected end product lager on begginer equipment. it is what most people start with, enjoy the final product, and continue to make. they like the quick turn around majority of ales provide and as a new brewer fermetation temps for ales are a hell of a lot easier to get close to than lager temps. plus who wants to wait 2-3 months for a brew when they can have one in 6 weeks when they are starting out, hell i could barely wait a week with my first batch. i also beleive people tend to stick with what they are comfortable with. Does that mean homebrewers never lager? no, but they tend to make ales more.
people also drink more BMC because they are familar with it.

 

[Grizzlybrew]

The problem is beer snobbery.. and the big brewers are laughing all the way to the bank when they read stuff like this.

I'm not sure they're laughing all the way, especially when they're headed there to take out a loan to purchase smaller micros or start up a new production line to produce ales. Have you not noticed all the "craft ales" the big boys are trying to produce. Unfortunately, most of us can taste the "blood, sweat, soul, and tears" in these beers and these guys are found lacking.

 

[agusus]

You guys talking about ease of brewing one vs the other are all missing the point. The question was "Why do we brew/drink ales?". What if the answer is "because we like ales better!" It's not because they're easier to brew, it's just because they're what we drink the most.

I've never bought a microbrewed lager from the grocery store. I buy ales 99% of the time because they're what I like to drink. Homebrewers make the type of beer they like to drink. It doesn't have anything to do with hard vs easy.

To respond to something YuriRage said,

With lagers making up the majority of beer sold in the world, it is valid to ask why ales seem to dominate the homebrewing community.

Well, ales dominate the majority of the microbrew world. The only reason lagers make up the majority of the beer sold in the world is that the giant brewery conglomerates do like 95% of the beer sales with light lagers. The reason ales dominate the homebrewing community is that we aim to emulate microbreweries, not macrobreweries. Homebrewing roots and goals have much more in common with microbreweries than macro.

And yes, I know there are a number of microbreweries that make lagers - and many of them are quite excellent at it - but my point is that probably 90% of the microbrew beers on the shelf at my local grocery store are ales. I've actually never bought a microbrew lager from a grocery store or beer shop.

 

[agusus]

Oh, and I forgot to add why I brew / drink ales:

To me it seems like there's a much larger diversity of styles and tastes in ales. I can try a porter and a pale ale and easily detect a big difference between them. And there are a ton of variations on ale styles.
Lagers have a pretty good number of styles too, but I don't feel there's as much diversity there. To me the difference between an APA and a RIS is much bigger than the difference between a light lager and a doppelbock.

Also it seems like ale brewers can do more wacky experimental things, like throw in raspberries, or white pepper, or coriander, or make a super high IBU beer (100+). Lager beers can do many of those things too, but it doesn't seem as effective and is less common. I've had lagers with ginger and with pumpkin and I didn't really detect the ginger or pumpkin or think it added anything to improve the beer.

Another reason I like ales is that I love hop monster beers. Fresh hopped, dry hopped, ultra hopped, whatever. Maybe there are hop monster lagers, but I've never found one. If there is, please let me know so I can try it! (fyi, to qualify for my definition of hop monster it needs to be at least 80+ IBUs and dry hopped).

 

[northernlad]

I hate to be a spoiler but you can't take away from what the big breweries do: they make a consistent, clean, perfect product which appeals to the masses. No craft brewer will achieve that with any kind of ale purely because you have to appeal to a lot of taste buds to make a universal product. I'm sorry I just get a little peeved whenever someone uses the word brainwashed because it belittles the people it is directed at. If that is what they like, then that is what they like. It doesn't make them brainwashed.

And plain and simple, ales are more popular with homebrewers because they are way easier to make, period. If lagers weren't so equipment and time sensitive, no one would be on here ripping lagers. Lagers are by far the most sold and produced beers in the world. What makes us so much better that we apparently notice the superiority of ales? Nothing.

I have had my ass kicked by ales, lagers, music, pizza, sandwiches, cheese, coffee, and hamburgers but that does not mean BMC, Nickelback, Dominoes, Subway, Kraft Singles, Starbucks, or McDonalds are anything more than ****e.
It is absolutely about brainwashing and how much money they can spend to make you crave mediocrity. A person makes his/her own choice. People do what they are told.
The only difference between ales and lagers are time and temperature. Neither of which make it appreciably more difficult to brew lagers.
If people rip on lagers it is because they think it means BMC which is a direct result of marketing.
Lagers are awesome. BMC is worth every second spent tryng to get people to stop drinking it.

 

[MeatyPortion]

More interested in ales. Someday, I'll brew a lager too.

 

[quickerNu]

I said most of US (brewers), not most people.

Just reiterating your point. We like 'em, because we appreciate subtleties of flavor, the majority (they, most people, etc) don't.

 

[3 Dog Brew]

I brew (and drink) ales not because I can't make a lager, but because I have an allergic reaction to lager yeast (but not ale yeast). This is what got me started in Home brewing. I didn't understand why some beers like BMC, caused me to have a reaction and others Guinness, Fuller's ESB, Fuller's London Porter didn't.

Now that I know, I make Ales.

There are known-knowns, known-unknowns and unknown-unknowns. The trick is to know the difference and to convert the known-unknowns into known-knowns before they become unknowable.

 

[menschmaschine]

I think ales are brewed more by homebrewers primarily because they are slightly easier to brew. The large majority of brewing books on the market are geared towards ales... and while that could be a 'chicken and the egg' scenario, the fact remains that ales are more forgiving than lagers in terms of screwing up a little.

I love ales... particulary British ales. But because ales are favored among homebrewers, there seems to be some underlying lager-bashing on here. Whether it's because of BMC and the fact that the large majority of homebrewers don't like to be moo-cows or because some brewers are slightly intimidated to brew lagers, it doesn't matter. But I disagree that ales are more "flavorful" than lagers. It is true that ale yeasts produce more esters and other flavor-active compounds, but that doesn't mean lagers aren't flavorful. Forget the mass produced lagers in the world. There are plenty of lagers out there with real flavor.

When I take a first sip of a homebrewed Helles that I worked so diligently to ensure success and has been brewing/lagering for 10+ weeks and taste the dance between delicate malt and hops, I never looked back and said, "I wish I made this batch an ale."

 

[EvilGnome6]

I have always loved Belgian ales so that's what I brew. It has nothing to do with which is easier. If I loved lagers, that's what I would be brewing.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I don't care for ales or lagers. I just like beer!

I like lager. I'll have myslef a pint of lager everynight.

I didn't make lagers early on because of temp control but, now I generally brew ales and lagers in succession.

 

[humann_brewing]

I just simply like Ales more for their complexity

 

[Doc Robinson]

I know name brand loyalty is big- but do you think anyone can really tell the difference between a Coors Light and another "lite" beer if they were blindfolded and it was served super cold?

I don't really care about that, though...

Just as a moot point, I can any day of the week. Blindfold me and put a Miller Lite, Coors Light, & Bud Light in front of me and I will knock 'em dead.

Although I LOVE my ales, BMC light has its place. For me, it's Miller Lite. I always have a case on hand. On a 90 degree summer's day working in the yard or out on the Lake, there is absolutely NOTHING better than an ice cold American style lager.

 

[RDWHAHB]

I don't buy commercial lagers. Pretty much prefer 99.9% ales. So I brew ales. If I didn't like ales then I likely would not homebrew. It would be too much trouble ($$) to start lagering right off the bat.

Airborne- brainwashed might be more appropriate than you think. Consider inBEV's marketing budget. That's brainwashing money.

 

[humann_brewing]

Just as a moot point, I can any day of the week. Blindfold me and put a Miller Lite, Coors Light, & Bud Light in front of me and I will knock 'em dead.

Although I LOVE my ales, BMC light has its place. For me, it's Miller Lite. I always have a case on hand. On a 90 degree summer's day working in the yard or out on the Lake, there is absolutely NOTHING better than an ice cold American style lager.

But you like beer, I has seen a blind taste test done on just normal bar people that said they had a favorite and always drink it, when they tried to pick theirs out of the 3 (bud, miller, coors) they were wrong about 75% of the time.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Just as a moot point, I can any day of the week. Blindfold me and put a Miller Lite, Coors Light, & Bud Light in front of me and I will knock 'em dead.

Although I LOVE my ales, BMC light has its place. For me, it's Miller Lite. I always have a case on hand. On a 90 degree summer's day working in the yard or out on the Lake, there is absolutely NOTHING better than an ice cold American style lager.

For me, my goto Lawnmower beer is a case of Genesee Cream ale.

 

[Tonedef131]

I have an allergic reaction to lager yeast (but not ale yeast). This is what got me started in Home brewing. I didn't understand why some beers like BMC, caused me to have a reaction and others Guinness, Fuller's ESB, Fuller's London Porter didn't.

Excuse my scepticism, but do you have documentation on this condition that you could link us to as a source? Yeast allergies are incredibly rare (most people who have them don't live very long because it's one of the most abundant organisms in our atmosphere) and I have never heard of one that only reacts to one isolated strain of yeast. Even if you were allergic to this one specific brewing strain that doesn't occur in nature...BMC is sterile filtered to remove 100% of the yeast, so you shouldn't be having a reaction from them anyway.

 

[Talloak]

Generally, people who drink BMC don't know what the heck a lager is. They don't care.

I brew ales because I don't have proper temp control. However, I have a cold room in my house and may try a lager this winter. If I do, it will be something more forgiving. I think there is a more wide variety of ales than lagers.

 

[Windigstadt]

For those of you who like ales because "they're more complex," I challenge you to broaden your horizons. Ideally I'd tell you to spend a week in Bamberg, in which case you'd come home with your tail between your legs, ashamed that you ever suggested that lagers are simple. But since that's out of most folks' budget, I'll throw out some lagers that you can get around Chicago that should change your mind as to the "simplicity" of lagers. Check out: Schlenkerla Ur-Bock, Capital Blonde Doppelbock, Laguintas Pils, Möhnschof Schwarzbier, Korbinian Doppelbock, Mahr's Ungespundet, Fort Collins Barrel-licked Bock, Samichlaus, Weihenstephaner Helles. Diverse? Simple? I think not.

 

[Airborneguy]

Wow... seems a lot of posts agree with exactly what I said about lagers being harder and more equipment intensive to homebrew... thanks

 

[EoinMag]

Having lived in Germany for a few years, I can safely say that Lager/Pils is the pinnacle of brewing. You guys are all mentioning BMC piss, but hey Lager can be so much more. I was reminded again at the weekend of just how amazingly good it can be when I drank a Tannen Zaepfle which a German friend had given me from the few cases he brought back, man it was good, so so so good. The summit of the art of brewing in my opinion.

My favourite style is definitely a good lager, but it's rare to get in the commercial world and I brew ales because they are easier and more forgiving, and I didn't go all grain nor buy my control fridge yet, they're coming Then I'll report back with some Lager reports

 

[gabeweisz]

I've always liked ales better, even before I started brewing - I like the extra flavors in them.

They also do not require a fermentation cabinet, which makes it easier for me at least.