Colonial history question: Ale

[Widder, SASS #59054]

What was Ale?

 

When Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett walked into the local Pub and ordered an Ale, what

was served?

 

Light beer,  Dark beer, cheap whiskey, etc........

 

 

..........Widder

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Ale!

[Shotgun Willie Nelson]

Beer...

ale (n.)

"intoxicating liquor made by malt fermentation," Old English ealu "ale, beer," from Proto-Germanic *aluth- (source also of Old Saxon alo, Old Norse öl), which is of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a PIE root meaning "bitter" (source also of Latin alumen "alum"), or from PIE *alu-t "ale," from root *alu-, which has connotations of "sorcery, magic, possession, and intoxication" [Watkins]. The word was borrowed from Germanic into Lithuanian (alus) and Old Church Slavonic (olu).

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

In colonial America ale was the choice, because it can be brewed at "room temperature".  When I was brewing, ale was all I brewed.  Lager, on the other hand, requires the beer to be a cooler temperature while fermenting.  German immigrants led to lagers being brewed in the U.S..

 

Miller and Anheuser Busch products are lagers.  I am happy to see more local craft beers becoming available and most of them are ales.     

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Think of the Germans who settled in Frederick, Texas, no cold half the year.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Here are some generalizations:

 

Ale is beer made with top-fermenting yeast. Lager is beer made with a bottom-fermenting yeast, and which uses a cooling phase for secondary fermentation. Historically over the centuries England took the ale route, and German lands the lager route. Most American brewing historically arose out of the German lager tradition.

 

Ales generally are "hoppier", thus more bitter, than lagers, which are "maltier'.

 

Most modern craft brewing is of ales, because they are less expensive, particularly for small operators, because they don't involve the lagering phase and its storage requirements. Lately craft breweries are producing more "lager-like" ales, because many are getting tired of nothing but bitter (like me). Kolsch, a Cologne, Germany specialty has this quality, and has inspired some good stuff in recent times.

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Ale is beer made with top-fermenting yeast. Lager is beer made with a bottom-fermenting yeast,

 

Starts at about 30 seconds in

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Best dressed shoe salesman ever.

[Utah Bob #35998]

It should be served from a Flagon.

[Alpo]

With a dragon?

[Phantom Falcon, SASS # 46139]

Whatever type Coors is, is the best type. I think it's a lager. Just don't imply that Coors light is real Coors or even real beer.

 

PF

[DocWard]

3 hours ago, Alpo said:

 

Starts at about 30 seconds in

 

 

With "Isn't It Romantic" playing in the background.

[Alpo]

She's vamping him. He's rich and she's a con artist.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Ale...ale....the gang’s all here!

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

Red,

 

When I brewed, I normally brewed brown ales that were far more malty and not as hoppy as IPAs.  I like a good IPA, but a number of friends, who seemed to like to visit when a new batch of beer was ready to be sampled, much preferred malty tasting ales.

 

Widder,

 

Here's some beer history for you.