Gourt Home::Gourt :: Pale ale
Pale ale is a term used to describe a variety of beers which use ale yeast and predominantly pale malts. It is widely considered to be one of the major beer style groups. All of the major ale producing countries have a version of Pale Ale: Britain has Bitter, 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 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 adverts 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
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% abv), Best or Regular Bitter (between 4.1% and 4.7% abv) and Premium or Strong Bitter (4.8% abv and over). 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.
Burton Ale
Later in the second half of the nineteenth century, the recipe was copied by the Burton upon Trent brewers, who got a different version of ale because of the particular water they were using.
This is the reason why Burton upon Trent became the best place to brew Pale Ale; it kept the leadership until a chemist, C. W. Vincent discovered a way to reproduce the chemical composition of the water from Burton-upon-Trent, thus giving anybody the possibility to brew good Pale Ale all over England.
Saison
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 style, there has been a worldwide rise in interest in this style in recent years, with Saison Dupont actually being named “the Best Beer in the World” by the magazine Men’s Journal in July 2005.
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, unlike the porters and other dark, mildly hopped beers which were common at that time, which helped to preserve the beer on the long voyage.
American Pale Ale
In the USA, the Association of Brewers (*) has defined an American-style pale ale as ranging in color from deep golden to copper, with a bitterness, flavor, and aroma dominated by hops. Pale ales have medium body, and low-to-medium maltiness. Among many other brewers, the American Pale Ale, or "Extra Pale Ale", is the signature brew of the Summit Brewing Company in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Strong Pale Ale
Strong Pale Ale is a strong version of pale ale. 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%. (*)
Examples of pale ales
- Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale (CAN)
- Bass (UK)
- Cascade Pale Ale (Australia)
- Coopers (Australia)
- Frankenheim Alt (Germany)
- Jenlain Ambrée (France)
- Moosehead Pale Ale (CAN)
- Old Speckled Hen (UK)
- Orval (Belgium)
- Sierra Nevada (USA)
See also
"Pale ale"