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Ale and beer


Elena

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Which is the difference? As a non native English speaker, the dictionary gives to both the same word. If you look an English-French dictionary (which I did), again, "biere" is the equivalent. So... I have the impression English people differentiate them. How?

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-A swashbuckling adventures RPG, set in 1720 in West Indies; winner of Distant Fantasies& RPG-D Member's Choice Award; RPG Conference's Originality Award; 2011 & 2012 Simming Prizes-

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Nowadays, it has to do with where the yeast ferments. In earlier times it was a difference of whether or not hops were added during brewing. Before hops became widespread in Europe, ale was a beer created without the use of hops, while lager (beer) combined hops with the other ingredients. As hops began to pervade breweries, however, this distinction between beer and ale no longer applied. Brewers began to differentiate between beer and ale on the basis of where the yeast fermented in the cask: ale uses yeast that gathers on the top, and lager uses yeast that ferments on the bottom

Red Sea Trade

In days of old when ships were bold just like the men that sailed 'em,

and if they showed us disrespect we tied 'em up and flailed 'em,

often men of low degree and often men of steel,

they'd make you walk the plank alone or haul you 'round the keel.

--Adam and the Ants

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Thank you very much. So it is how I understood it from the beginning, ale is a specific kind of beer. Just like lager, guiness, etc. are different others.

What I had seen written in a few places that confused me was the specification "ale, not beer", and that it would have been incorrect in a period environment to use the word beer.

Edited by Elena

BTMnewad.jpg
-A swashbuckling adventures RPG, set in 1720 in West Indies; winner of Distant Fantasies& RPG-D Member's Choice Award; RPG Conference's Originality Award; 2011 & 2012 Simming Prizes-

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