Expert: Ed Westemeier - 1/10/2009

Question
The Hops question was answered very well Thanks. I have a question about Beer, Ale and Lager. What are the differences between them? And what are the differences in colour due to content like darker means what? Thanks!

Answer
Probably the most common question from a person looking to understand more about beer!

There are a lot of details and subtle points, but in a nutshell:

It's all beer.
Beers are either lagers or ales.
Lagers are fermented with lager yeasts, that like to work at colder temperatures, roughly refrigerator temperatures.
Ales are fermented with ale yeasts, that like to work at warmer temperatures, closer to what we consider room temperature.
There are many different varieties of both kinds of yeast, which helps make many different beer styles.

Color means nothing except that darker malts were used (dried at a higher temperature in the malting process). It has nothing to do with alcohol content, although the different malts each contribute their own part to the flavour of the beer.