BEER 101 :: PSA Concerning Lagers and Ales

By: Brad Beneski, Penn State University

[Open on the guy who plays Chandler on Friends sitting informally upon a low-sitting stool:]



With as much misconception surrounding the two most elementary forms of beer, it would be more than worth the time for those interested and concerned to snuggle up to the warmth of their computer screen and hear about what makes an Ale and Ale and a Lager a Lager.

Many a time have I bellied up to a bar or patronized a party in the woods (or does that only happen in Pennsylvania?) and hear somebody who warranted a quick and painless correction of their understanding of beer. “Nah, that beer is too dark,” a thoroughly confused young adult proclaims. “I don’t like Lager, I usually stick to Pale Ales like this,” as the clearly inebriated individual points to their Solo O’ Swill.

There is a global misrepresentation of beer via its consumers and if it’s not Boosh’s duty to amend it— who’s is it?

Beer, the world’s oldest and most celebrated beverage has two main categories of Ale and Lager (well, three if you include Lambic, but we’ll talk about that later). But let’s back up to simply review one of the four elements of beer — yeast. You would pretty much think that all of beer’s flavors are derived from the malted barley and hops. That’s right, the water and yeast are just there to turn those components into something delicious and bongable. Wrong.

Yeast is also broken up into two different categories, top-fermenting and bottom-fermenting. The more obvious difference between the two is that one of them forms its foam at the top and one does so at the bottom of the beer during fermentation; and I’ll let you guess which one. This is simply one distinction between top- and bottom-fermenting yeasts. Another being that top-fermenting yeast strands, which have been designated to create what we call Ale, have the ability to produce a higher alcohol content and robust complexity while bottom-fermenting yeast stands, which we associate with Lager beers, are used to brew crisper and generally lighter flavored beers.


Ale: When top-fermenting yeast stands eat the sugar that has been extracted from the malted barley it generates more complex flavors that can be suggestions of sweeter, fruitier flavors. This is all combined in the perfect arrangement of the malt and hop flavors added to the beer to make up the taste of a balance, finished product. Just a few of the popular styles that are a part of the Ale family include Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts, Hefeweizens, and IPAs. For more on IPAs, read up here.

Lager: Bottom-fermenting yeast strands are added to Lager beers for their ability to suck up more of the natural sugars that are added to the production of beer to leave it smooth and crisp. Another requirement for Lager beers would be that, unlike Ales that are fermented at room temperature, they necessitate temperatures just above freezing to perform a secondary fermentation. In fact, the word Lager comes from the German “lagern”, which means, “to store”. Pale Lager beer is the most consumed type of beer in the world and a few examples for beers of this style are Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon, etc.


Additionally, there are styles of both Ale and Lager beers that transcend any attempt to pigeonhole one or the other as dark or light. German Lagers like Doppelbock, Altbier, and Märzen (A.K.A. Oktoberfest) are shining examples of such diversity just as there are opposite examples as crisp and clean as Golden Ales and Cream Ales.

[“The More You Know” races across the screen and as the music fades, you can feel your heart and brain both grow a little bit.]