Information AboutPale Ale |
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Pale ale is a term used to describe a variety of , America has American Pale Ale , France has Bière De Garde , Germany has Altbier , etc. Pale ales generally over 6% ABV tend to be grouped as Strong Pale Ales under such names as Barley Wine , Scotch Ale , Saison , American Pale Ale and Tripel . BRIEF HISTORY ''Pale ale'' was a term used for beers made from Malt dried with Coke . 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'' for "light and excellent" pale ale. By 1830 onward 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 '' and '' Mild ''. 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''. While the two terms are still used interchangeably in the UK, the preference is for the term ''bitter'' to be used for both bottled and cask beer, and use of the term ''pale ale'' has declined. ENGLISH BITTER See Also: Bitter (beer) The expression first appears in the UK in the early 19th century as part of the development and spread of Pale Ale. All the pale ales are bitter but the opposite is not always true: there are Bitter Ales that are not pale ales. Drinkers tend to loosely group the beers into Session or Ordinary Bitter (up to 4.1% ABV), Best or Regular Bitter (between 4.2% and 4.7% ABV) and Premium or Strong Bitter (4.8% ABV and over); it should be noted that these are the modern day strengths since these beers were considerably higher in alchohol content originally. Hop levels will vary within each sub group, though there is a tendency for the hops in the Session Bitter group to be more noticeable. But again, there is a wide variation in hopping rates for modern beers calling themselves "bitter". 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 Trent 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 . 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. BIèRE DE GARDE Bière de Garde, or "keeping beer", is a pale ale traditionally brewed in the Pas-de-Calais region of 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 , but some of the better known brands include:
SAISON See Also: Saison (ale) Saison is the name given to pale ales brewed in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. Saisons are considered to be a farmhouse ale, because saisons were originally brewed in farmhouses for farm workers who were entitled to a half dozen pints of ale or more throughout the workday during harvest season. Saisons are generally bottle conditioned ales, with an average alcohol by volume range of 5 to 8%. Although saison has been described as an endangered beer, there has been a rise in interest in this pale ale in recent years, with Saison Dupont being named “the Best Beer in the World” by the magazine Men’s Journal in July 2005. INDIA PALE ALE See Also: India Pale Ale India Pale Ale was a British October pale ale beer bought for export to India. This beer made prominent use of Hops , which helped to preserve the beer on the long voyage. AMERICAN PALE ALE See Also: American Pale Ale In the USA, the Association of Brewers has defined an American-style pale ale as ranging in colour from deep golden to copper, with a bitterness, flavour, and aroma dominated by hops. Pale ales have medium body, and low-to-medium maltiness.http://www.beertown.org/ AMBER ALE Amber ale is the term sometimes used in North America for pale ales which range from light copper to light brown in colourhttp://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-001393.html are used in varying degrees of bitternesshttp://www.bjcp.org/styles04/Category10.html#style10B, though few examples are particularly hoppy. The term is not used much outside France and North America, apart from North American-style brewpubshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewpub. Commercial examples include: '' Ambrée'' and ''Fischer Amber''http://www.brasseriefischer.com/brasserie-fischer.htm. STRONG PALE ALES Strong Pale Ale Strong Pale Ale is a strong version of pale ale. This is a modern designation which ironically is used to describe pale ales brewed in modern times to traditional pale ale strengths which were typical 150 years ago. The alcohol strength typically starts around 7 or 8% by volume and generally 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%. http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hair-of-the-dog-dave/23897/ Such efforts seem to play fast and loose with style guidelines. Technically, it could be argued that beers of such strength are not really part of the pale ale style, but rather a style unto themselves. American Strong Ale American strong ale is a broad category used in America to describe Ale s of 7.0% ABV or higher. Beers in this category may also be classified as Double India Pale Ale s, Barley Wine s, or Old Ale depending on the style. Scotch ale Scotch Ale is the name given to a strong pale ale believed to have originated in Edinburgh Scotch Ale is sold from the cask in Scotland as Edinburgh Strong Ale or as Edinburgh Tattoohttp://www.ratebeer.com/beer/caledonian-edinburgh-tattoo-strong-ale/2812/. 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 's Wee Heavy, are typically between 5.5% and 6.5% ABV. As with other examples of strong pale ales, such as Barley Wine , these beers tend toward sweetness and a full body, with a low hop flavour. Examples from the Caledonian brewery would have toffee notes from the caramelising of the malt from the direct fired copper. This caramelising 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. |
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