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TYPES OF ALES
Brewed with top fermenting yeast at cellar temperature, ales are fuller-bodied, with nuances of fruit or spice and a pleasantly hoppy finish.
Ales are often darker than lagers, ranging from rich gold to reddish amber. Serve with stronger-flavoured foods such as red meat, sausage, fish & chips.
Top fermenting, and the inclusion of more hops in the wort, gives these beers a distinctive fruitfulness, acidity and pleasantly bitter seasoning. Ales have a more assertive, individual personality than lager, though their alcoholic strength is the same.
In Germany, ales are the traditional accompaniment to sausage, cheese and red meats, with more strongly flavoured brews complementing fuller flavoured dishes.
A pale, golden ale is the perfect partner for a good hamburger, while one with a more pronounced acidity or a tart, hoppy flavour, offsets the fatty taste of deep-fried foods, spare ribs or duck.
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So a rich ale, fragrant with hops, is a fine mate for steak or roast beef, while a lighter, sweeter brew might be better suited to pork.
Here are some of the most popular types of ales:
• Bitter Ale
A British-style dry ale, with a rich, copper colour, a mellow balance of bittersweet hops for aroma and a full, smooth flavour, often served on draught. Some breweries have two degrees of Bitter: the "ordinary" may be simply called "Bitter" and the premium "Best Bitter".
• Cream Ale
A very mild, sweetish, golden style of ale.
• Dark Ale
A British type combining hops and yeast and a blend of malts to produce a medium chestnut brown colour, delicate fruity bouquet and a robust, malty character.
• Pale Ale
A fruity copper-coloured style of ale with origins in England.
• Wheat Beer
A blend of malted barley, water and wheat, which produces a characteristically light and delicately flavoured summer beer.
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