Pale ale
Encyclopedia
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
which uses a warm fermentation and predominantly pale malt. It is one of the world's major beer style
Beer style
Beer style is a term used to differentiate and categorize beers by various factors such as colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin....
s.
The higher proportion of pale malts results in a lighter colour. The term "pale ale" was being applied around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Different brewing practices and hop
Hops
Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
levels have resulted in a range of taste and strength within the pale ale family.
History
Pale ale was a term used for beers made from maltMalt
Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...
dried with coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
. Coke had been first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it wasn't until around 1703 that the term "pale ale" was first used. By 1784, advertisements were appearing in the Calcutta Gazette
Hickey's Bengal Gazette
Founded by James Augustus Hicky, a highly eccentric Irishman who had previously spent two years in Jail for debt. Later on, Hicky was jailed because he earned the wrath of the then Governor-General Lord Warren Hastings. He would mostly write articles criticising the activities of Lady Hastings,...
for "light and excellent" pale ale. By 1830, the expressions "bitter" and "pale ale" were synonymous. Breweries would tend to designate beers as pale ale, though customers would commonly refer to the same beers as bitter. It is thought that customers used the term bitter to differentiate these pale ales from other less noticeably hopped beers such as porter
Porter (beer)
Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts...
and mild
Mild ale
Mild ale is a low-gravity beer, or beer with a predominantly malty palate, that originated in Britain in the 17th century or earlier. Modern mild ales are mainly dark coloured with an abv of 3% to 3.6%, though there are lighter hued examples, as well as stronger examples reaching 6% abv and...
. By the mid to late 20th century, while brewers were still labeling bottled beers as pale ale, they had begun identifying cask beers as bitter, except those from Burton on Trent, which tend to be referred to as pale ales regardless of the method of dispatch.
Amber ale
Bière de Garde
Bière de Garde is a strong pale ale or keeping beer traditionally brewed in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. These beers were originally brewed in farmhouses during the winter and spring, to avoid unpredictable problems with the yeast during the summertime...
as in Jenlain Ambrée. In North America, American-variety hops
Hops
Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
are used in varying degrees of bitterness, although very few examples are particularly hoppy. In Australia the most popular Amber Ale is from Malt Shovel Brewery, branded James Squire in honour of Australia's first brewer, who first brewed beer in Sydney in 1794.
American Pale Ale
American Pale Ale (APA), was developed around 1980. The brewery thought to be the first to successfully use significant quantities of American hops in the style of APA and use the name Pale Ale, was the Sierra Nevada Brewing CompanySierra Nevada Brewing Company
The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company was established in 1980 by homebrewers Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi.Located in Chico, California, Sierra Nevada Brewing is one of the top craft breweries currently operating in the United States. Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best-selling craft beer in the...
, who brewed the first experimental batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in November 1980, distributing the finished version in March 1981. Anchor Liberty Ale, a 6% abv ale originally brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Anchor Brewing Company
Anchor Brewing Company is an American alcoholic beverage producer, operating a brewery and distillery on Potrero Hill in San Francisco, California. The brewery was founded in 1896 and was purchased by Frederick Louis Maytag III, in 1965, saving it from closure. It moved to its current location in...
as a special in 1975 to commemorate Paul Revere
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
's midnight ride in 1775 which marked the start of the American War of Independence, was seen by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson (writer)
Michael Jackson was an English writer and journalist. He was the author of several influential books about beer and whisky.-Life:...
as the first modern American ale. Fritz Maytag, the owner of Anchor, visited British breweries in London, Yorkshire and Burton upon Trent, picking up information about robust pale ales, which he used when he made his American version using just malt rather than the malt and sugar combination common in brewing at that time, and making prominent use of the American hop, Cascade
Cascade hops
Cascade is one of the many varieties of hops. Cascade hops are the most widely used hops by craft breweries in the USA.-History:Cascade is a variety of hop developed in the U.S.D.A. breeding program in Oregon at Oregon State University and released as a U.S. aroma variety in 1972...
. The beer was popular, and became a regular in 1983. Other pioneers of a hoppy American pale ale were Jack McAuliffe of the New Albion Brewing Company
New Albion Brewing Company
The New Albion Brewing Company is a defunct American brewery. Founded in 1976 by Jack McAuliffe in Sonoma, California, New Albion is acknowledged as the first United States microbrewery of the modern era...
and Bert Grant of Yakima Brewing.
American Pale Ales are generally around 5% abv with significant quantities of American hops, typically Cascade. Although American brewed beers tend to use a cleaner yeast, and American two row malt, it is particularly the American hops that distinguish an APA from British or European pale ales. The style is close to the American India Pale Ale
India Pale Ale
India Pale Ale or IPA is a style of beer within the broader category of pale ale. It was first brewed in England in the 19th century.The first known use of the expression "India pale ale" comes from an advertisement in the Liverpool Mercury newspaper published January 30, 1835...
(IPA), and boundaries blur, though IPAs are stronger and more assertively hopped. The style is also close to Amber Ale, though Amber Ales are darker and maltier due to use of crystal malts.
Bière de Garde
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. These beers were usually brewed by farmhouses in the winter and spring, to avoid unpredictable problems with the yeast during the summertime.
The origins of the name lies in the tradition that it was matured/cellared for a period of time once bottled (and most sealed with a cork), to be consumed later in the year, akin to a Saison.
There are a number of beers named Bière de Garde in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, but some of the better known brands include:Brasserie de Saint-Sylvestre
Brasserie de Saint-Sylvestre
The Brasserie de Saint Sylvestre is a brewery in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northeast France. Brewing in the town of Saint-Sylvestre-Cappel dates back to at least 1600, although the troubled history of Flanders has interrupted business several times in history.-3 Monts:3 Monts is an 8.5% abv ...
, Trois Monts (8.5%abv
Alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
); Brasseurs Duyck, Jenlain
Jenlain (beer)
Jenlain is a beer made in Jenlain, a commune of the Nord department, in far northern France, just to the west of Belgium. It was created in 1922 by the Brasserie Duyck. Originally it was an amber ale. Several other varieties have been created since then, such as Jenlain blonde, Jenlain fraîche,...
(6.5%abv); and Brasserie La Choulette, Ambrée (7.5%abv).
Blonde
Blonde ales are very pale in colour. The term "Blonde" for pale beers is popular in Europe - particularly in France, Belgium and the UK, though the beers may not have much in common, other than colour. Blondes tend to be clear, crisp, and dry, with low-to-medium bitterness and aroma from hopsHops
Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
, and some sweetness from malt
Malt
Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...
. Fruitiness from ester
Ester
Esters are chemical compounds derived by reacting an oxoacid with a hydroxyl compound such as an alcohol or phenol. Esters are usually derived from an inorganic acid or organic acid in which at least one -OH group is replaced by an -O-alkyl group, and most commonly from carboxylic acids and...
s may be perceived. A lighter body from higher carbonation
Carbonation
Carbonation is the process of dissolving carbon dioxide in water. The process usually involves carbon dioxide under high pressure. When the pressure is reduced, the carbon dioxide is released from the solution as small bubbles, which cause the solution to "fizz." This effect is seen in carbonated...
may be noticed. In the United Kingdom, golden or summer ales were developed in the late 20th century by breweries to compete with the pale lager
Pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale to golden-coloured beer with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it...
market. A typical golden ale has an appearance and profile similar to that of a pale lager. Malt character is subdued and the hop profile ranges from spicy to citrus; common hops include Styrian Golding and Cascade. Alcohol is in the 4% to 5% abv range. The UK style is attributed to John Gilbert, owner of Hop Back Brewery
Hop Back Brewery
Hop Back, one of England's award-winning small breweries, brewers of Summer Lightning, Crop Circle, G.F.B. and other beers was founded by John and Julie Gilbert. Beer was first brewed in 1986 at the Wyndham Arms in Salisbury, and moved to larger premises in Downton six years later...
, who developed "Summer Lightning" in 1989, which then won several awards and inspired numerous imitators. Belgian blondes are often made with pilsner malt. Some beer writers regard blonde and golden ales as distinct styles, while others do not. Duvel is a typical Belgian blonde ale, and one of the most popular bottled beers in the country as well as being well-known internationally.
Burton Pale Ale
Later in the second half of the nineteenth century, the recipe for pale ale was put into use by the Burton upon TrentBurton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. Its associated adjective is "Burtonian"....
brewers, notably Bass; ales from Burton were considered of a particularly high quality due to synergy between the malt and hops in use and local water chemistry, especially the presence of gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
. Burton retained absolute dominance in pale ale brewing until a chemist, C. W. Vincent discovered the process of Burtonisation to reproduce the chemical composition of the water from Burton-upon-Trent, thus giving any brewery the capability to brew pale ale.
English Bitter
The expression first appeared in the early 19th century as part of the development and spread of Pale Ale. Breweries would tend to designate beers as "pale ale", though customers would commonly refer to the same beers as "bitter". It is thought that customers used the term bitter to differentiate these pale ales from other less noticeably hopped beers such as porterPorter (beer)
Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts...
and mild
Mild ale
Mild ale is a low-gravity beer, or beer with a predominantly malty palate, that originated in Britain in the 17th century or earlier. Modern mild ales are mainly dark coloured with an abv of 3% to 3.6%, though there are lighter hued examples, as well as stronger examples reaching 6% abv and...
. Drinkers tend to loosely group modern bitter into "session" or "ordinary" bitter (up to 4.1% abv), "best" or "regular" bitter (between 4.2% and 4.7% abv) and "special" or "strong" bitter (4.8% abv and over).
Golden or summer ales have an appearance and profile similar to that of a pale lager
Pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale to golden-coloured beer with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it...
. Hop Back Brewery
Hop Back Brewery
Hop Back, one of England's award-winning small breweries, brewers of Summer Lightning, Crop Circle, G.F.B. and other beers was founded by John and Julie Gilbert. Beer was first brewed in 1986 at the Wyndham Arms in Salisbury, and moved to larger premises in Downton six years later...
brewed one of the first, called "Summer Lightning", in 1989.
India Pale Ale was a British October pale ale or keeping beer bought for export to India. Worthington White Shield, originating in Burton-upon-Trent, is a beer considered to be part of the development of India Pale Ale.
Irish Red ale
Irish red ale, red ale, or Irish ale is a name used by brewers in IrelandIrish beer
Though Ireland is better known for stout, 63% of the beer sold in the country is lager. Stout makes up 32% of the market, with ale the remaining 5%....
; Smithwick's
Smithwick's
Smithwick's is an Irish red ale style beer from Kilkenny in Ireland. Smithwick's is listed in the top five best tasting beers by the McHale beer rating club of Ireland. As of Autumn 2010, Smithwicks continues to be brewed in Dundalk and Kilkenny but tankers are sent to Dublin to be kegged for the...
is a typical Irish red ale.
There is some dispute as to whether Irish Red Ale is a genuine style or the same as English keg Bitter.
In the United States, the name can describe a darker amber ale or a "red" beer that is a lager
Lager
Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
with caramel colouring.
India Pale Ale (IPA)
India Pale Ale or IPA is a style of beer first brewed in England in the 18th century, though the expression "India pale ale" was first used (in an advertisement) in the Liverpool Mercury of January 30, 1835. For much further detail, see this reference.Strong pale ale
Strong pale ales are ales made predominantly with pale malts and have an alcohol strength that may start around 5%, though typically starts a bit higher at 7 or 8% by volume and may go up to 12%, though brewers have been pushing the alcohol strength higher. In 1994 the Hair of the Dog Brewing Company produced a Strong Pale Ale with an abv of 29%. Brewdog recently released "Sink the Bismark", a 41% alcohol volume pale ale. OrvalOrval Brewery
Orval Brewery is a Belgian trappist brewery located within the walls of the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval in the Gaume region of Belgium.The brewery produces two beers, which are marketed as trappist beer, Orval and Petite Orval.- History :...
typifies the Belgian pale ale style, and is fermented with some Brettanomyces
Brettanomyces
Brettanomyces is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name Dekkera is used interchangeably with Brettanomyces, as it describes the teleomorph or spore forming form of the yeast. The cellular morphology of...
in addition to Saccharomyces
Saccharomyces
Saccharomyces is a genus in the kingdom of fungi that includes many species of yeast. Saccharomyces is from Greek σάκχαρ and μύκης and means sugar fungus. Many members of this genus are considered very important in food production. One example is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is used in making...
yeast.
American Strong Ale
American strong ale is a broad category used in America to describe aleAle
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
s of 7.0% abv or higher. Beers in this category may also be classified as double India Pale Ales, barley wine
Barley wine
Barley wine or Barleywine is a beer style of strong ale originating in England. The first beer to be marketed as Barley Wine was Bass No. 1 Ale, around 1870...
s, or old ale
Old ale
Old ale is a term commonly applied to dark, malty beers in England, generally above 5% abv, also to dark ales of any strength in Australia. Sometimes associated with stock ale or, archaically, keeping ale, in which the beer is held at the brewery....
depending on the style.
Strong Ale
Strong Ale is the name given to strong pale ale brewed in England above the strength of 5% abv.Scotch ale
Scotch Ale is the name given to a strong ale believed to have originated in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in the 18th century. Beers using the designation Scotch Ale are popular in the USA where most examples are brewed locally. Examples of Scotch Ale brewed in Scotland are exported to the USA, though may be available in Scotland under a different name. For example, Caledonian's
Caledonian Brewery
Caledonian Brewery is a Scottish brewery founded in 1869 in the Shandon area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The Caley, as it is known locally, is the only survivor of over 40 breweries that operated in Edinburgh during the 19th century, although a number of independent breweries have opened in recent...
Edinburgh Scotch Ale is sold from the cask in Scotland as Edinburgh Strong Ale or as Edinburgh Tattoo.
Strong Scotch Ale is also known as "Wee Heavy". Examples of beers brewed in the USA under the name Wee Heavy tend to be 7% abv and higher, while Scottish-brewed examples, such as Belhaven
Belhaven Brewery
Belhaven brewery is a brewery near Dunbar in Scotland owned by Greene King.-History:Belhaven claims to have begun brewing in 1719. In that year the burgh of Dunbar levied a local tax on brewers to fund civic improvements...
's Wee Heavy, can be found between 5.5% and 6.5% abv. On the other hand, Scottish brewed exceptions include Traquair House Ale which is brewed to a strength of 7.2% abv, and Traquair Jacobite Ale which is 8% abv. McEwan's Scotch Ale is also 8% abv.
As with other examples of strong Ales, such as Barley Wine
Barley wine
Barley wine or Barleywine is a beer style of strong ale originating in England. The first beer to be marketed as Barley Wine was Bass No. 1 Ale, around 1870...
, these beers tend toward sweetness and a full body, with a low hop flavour and aroma. Historical hop levels are debated. Examples from the Caledonian brewery would have toffee notes from the caramelizing of the malt from the direct fired copper. This caramelizing of Caledonian's beers is popular in America and has led many American brewers to produce toffee sweet beers which they would label as a Scotch Ale.
Even though the malt used by brewers in Scotland is not generally or traditionally dried by peat burning, some Scottish whisky distilleries use low nitrogen barley dried by peat burning. The distinctive flavour of these smoked malts when used in beers is reminiscent of whisky, and such beers are popular in France, Belgium and America. These beers are often named Whiskey Ale or Scotch Ale by the brewers. The brewer Douglas Ross of the Bridge of Allan brewery made the first Scottish example of one of these Whiskey Ales for the Tullibardine Distillery in 2006.
In North East England, Best Scotch refers to a beer similar to Mild Ale but with a drier, more burnt palate.