The yeast used in fermentatin of lagers works at a much cooler temperature, in the low '70s F. The yeast used in ales works at a much higher temperature, closer to 80 degrees F.
Ale would be considered a subcategory of beer, actually. I'm going to ignore various legal definitions because they're silly and arbitrary.Beer is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grains. You can split beer into many subcategories, but two common ones are ale and lager. What differentiates these two is the temperature of fermentation- ales are fermented at roughly room temperature, and lagers are fermented at much lower temperatures.What makes this difference is the yeast, and in fact we recognize two different species of yeast- ale yeast is saccharomyces cerevisiae, and lager yeast is saccharomyces pastorianus aka saccharomyces carlsbergensis.Stout is often noted as separate from ale and lager, but if we're using temperature of fermentation as a basis for categorizing, it fits in ale category.Nothing is black and white of course, so there are things which blur the lines. A style called California Common, best known by the beer Anchor Steam, is fermented with a lager yeast at warmer temperatures. The converse is a cream ale- an ale yeast fermented at low temperatures (though not always... shades of grey).
Lager is a type of beer that has been fermented using yeast that prefers a cooler temperature than ale yeast. It is made of the same ingredients as beer, namely barley, water, hops, and yeast. The only difference between Lager and Ale is the type of yeast used and the temperatures that it is fermented at. Lagers are a "bottom fermenting" beer that prefers cooler temperatures. Ales are "top fermenting" beers that prefer warmer temperatures.
What's normal beer? There are ales and lagers, but not "normal."
Wheat is more often found in ales, than lagers. Small amounts of wheat can be added to ales to add head-retention to a beer. Some ales, like German-style Hefeweizens, can be over 50% malted wheat.
Lagers and ales are the two families of beer, distinguished by the type of yeast and the temperature of fermentation. Lagers are fermented at cooler temperatures by so-called "bottom fermenting" yeast. Beers in the lager family need to be conditioned-or "lagered"-somewhere cool for a number of weeks before they are ready to drink. Ales are fermented at warmer temperature by top-fermenting yeast strains, and are ready to drink sooner.There are many distinct styles of beer within the lager and ale families: for example, pilsner is one of the most popular lager styles; and porter and stout are examples of ale styles. And in both families, beers can run the gamut from light to dark-colored, and from weak to strong alcohol.
A Lager is one of the major categories of beer. The major differences in Lager and Ale production is that Lagers use bottom fermenting yeast, are fermented at lower temperatures (around 0-5 degrees C), and take roughly twice as long to ferment as ales. Most of the best known American macro beers (Budweiser, Miller, Coors) are lagers. The lagering process also leads to a more clear appearance in the beer.
Yes. While most beers and ales use barley as the basis of fermentation. Barley is a member of the wheat family. Hefenwiesen beer is specifically made with wheat and barley, and other beers and ales may also use wheat in varying quantities to bring out different qualities of the brew. Generally all beers and ales contain gluten from either wheat, barley or oats.
No, nucleated glasses are typically not used for cask ales. Nucleated glasses, which have small etchings to create bubbles and promote carbonation, are more commonly used for carbonated beers and lagers to enhance the drinking experience. Cask ales, on the other hand, are usually served in standard pint glasses or non-nucleated glassware.
Wheat grain is used with barley grain to make wheaten ales and lagers. Paulaner and Widmer are two popular brewers that use wheat to make beer.
Beer is usually made by fermenting malted barley. This is the barley seeds which have just sprouted, and are high in a sugar called maltose. Yeast take this sugar and convert it to alcohol in a zero oxygen environment. If oxygen were present, they would instead make vinegar instead. Different yeasts are used to make different beers, such as ales, lagers, stouts, etc. Yeast is also used to make other alcoholic beverages such as wine and liquor. Without yeast, no alcohol would be made, and no one would get drunk.
Ale would be considered a subcategory of beer, actually. I'm going to ignore various legal definitions because they're silly and arbitrary.Beer is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grains. You can split beer into many subcategories, but two common ones are ale and lager. What differentiates these two is the temperature of fermentation- ales are fermented at roughly room temperature, and lagers are fermented at much lower temperatures.What makes this difference is the yeast, and in fact we recognize two different species of yeast- ale yeast is saccharomyces cerevisiae, and lager yeast is saccharomyces pastorianus aka saccharomyces carlsbergensis.Stout is often noted as separate from ale and lager, but if we're using temperature of fermentation as a basis for categorizing, it fits in ale category.Nothing is black and white of course, so there are things which blur the lines. A style called California Common, best known by the beer Anchor Steam, is fermented with a lager yeast at warmer temperatures. The converse is a cream ale- an ale yeast fermented at low temperatures (though not always... shades of grey).
Bottom fermenting yeast, which produce Lager beers, are fermented at lower temperatures (around 0-5 degrees C), and take roughly twice as long to ferment as ales, which are procuced with top fermenting yeast Top fermenting yeast produce Ales and are fermented at higher temperatures (around 10-15 degrees C), and have a shorter fermentation time.