Can anybody tell me what the difference is between bitter, ale and lager? Are they all different??

Answer 1

yep,

bitter is ale.

Lager and ale are beers ( the family name for hop brewed drinks )

Bitter(ale) is top fermented.
Lager is bottom fermented.

I don't entirely agree with some of the answers below, i brew my own lagers and beers. Both are brewed ( in my house anyway ) at 18-24 degrees C. Its the hops and barley and yeast that makes them different.

and they both taste like lager or bitter so i must be doing something right

...just finishing the christmas stock

Answer 2

Ale is fermented using a top fermenting yeast at about 18-22ºC, this gives it a fruity flavour. They are often quick to mature and can be drunk within a few weeks of being made if of normal strength 3.5-5% ABV.

Lager is fermented cold using a bottom fermenting yeast, then conditioned at about freezing to mellow the beer and create the clean crisp flavour you associate with lager. These typically take about 6 weeks to 3 months for a 5% lager.

Bitter is a type of ale typically in the 3-5-5% ABV bracket which has a generous dose of hops added to it when made, hops are what gives beer its bitter taste, but also contributes a myriad of flavours depending on the type of hop used, these range from earthy, flowery, citrus, piney, minty even grassy flavours and aromas.

There are many types of lagers and ales, in the ales category are bitters, IPA's, old ales, Strong ales, winter warmers, Barley WInes, Porters, Stouts etc

Lagers - Pilsner, vienna, Bock, CAP, Double Bock, Munich Helles, Dunkle, SchwarzBier, Eisbock etc

Hope this has not just added to the confusion.

Answer 3

the basic difference is between ale and lager and is where the yeast fermentation occurs - on the top or the bottom. bitter is a type of ale.

Answer 4

All beer (that's bitter and lager and ale) is brewed from hops, barley or other grains. Different yeasts and processes make them taste different.

In the nineteenth century Bavarian brewers used to store their beer in cool places such as caves to mature it. They called the beer they obtained "Lagerbier", from the German lagern ("to store"). During the centuries Bavarian brewers developed a special kind of yeast in order to mature their cold-matured beer. The most apparent difference between ales and lagers is that lagers use bottom-fermenting yeast. As the name implies the yeast settles to the base of the fermentation vessel. However, the most common modern fermentation system is the cylindro-conical tank where the distinction between the different flotation characteristics of the yeasts becomes less clear.

Pale ale was a term used for beers made from malt dried with coke. Coke (not cocaine!) 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, except in the case of India pale ale.


Bitter belongs in the pale ale style grouping, though bitter does have a greater variety of strength, flavour and appearance than mainstream pale ale. A bitter can be dark amber, approaching a stout, or be very golden and delicate like a golden summer ale. It can also go under 3% abv as with Boys Bitter and as high as 7% with some premium or strong bitters. During the early to mid 20th century there were some regional preferences noted which may still be detected in the beers of some of the more established breweries. In Cornwall, Wales, North England and Scotland the preference was for sweeter, less hopped beer. In other areas, particularly Southeast England, the preference was for hoppy beers.

Answer 5

bitter is just British slang for pale ale

ale is a style of beer made with top fermenting yeast, often hearty, robust, and fruity taste.
kinds of ales: stout, abbey ale, pale ale, brown ale, porter

lager is a style of beer made from bottom fermenting yeast, often smooth, crisp and clean taste
kinds of lagers: pilsner, bock, malt liquor

Answer 6

yup lager is like horse pi.s full of chemicals, bitter and ale is natural hops and all that

Answer 7

yes they are all different the web page I listed has a lot of info on the different types of beer you can get you answers there. I hope I was helpful

Answer 8

Hi Trig -- check out this site..... http://ask.yahoo.com/20010209.html

Answer 9

A great many different types, or styles, of beer are brewed across the globe. The traditional European brewing nations - the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, The Netherlands and Austria - all have their own beer styles. These form the basis of the vast majority of beer brewed around the world. In some countries - notably the USA, Canada and Australia - brewers have adapted European styles to such an extent that they have effectively created their own indigenous types.

The greatest diversity of flavors and types of beer can be found in Belgium, as demonstrated by its trappist, lambic and other beer styles. Germany too has a history of regional beer types, however, over time, some of these beers have disappeared.

In tasting a beer for the first time, you might begin by asking: do I like this beer and why? Rather than concerning yourself with the beer's style, you might consider some of the physical attributes of the beer: aroma, appearance, mouthfeel (does it feel thin, creamy, syrupy in your mouth?), taste (sour, sweet, bitter, etc.) and the lack or presence of discernible alcohol. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers -- it's all a matter of taste.

A common method of categorising beer is by the behaviour of the yeast used in the fermentation process. In this method of categorising, those beers which use a fast acting yeast which leaves behind residual sugars are termed ales, while those beers which use a slower and longer acting yeast which removes most of the sugars leaving a clean and dry beer are termed lagers.

A modern ale is commonly defined by the strain of yeast used and the fermenting temperature.

Ales are normally brewed with top-fermenting yeasts, though a number of British brewers, including Fullers and Weltons, use ale yeast strains that have less pronounced top-fermentation characteristics. The important distinction for ales is that they are fermented at higher temperatures and thus ferment more quickly than lagers.

Ale is typically fermented at temperatures between 15 and 24 °C (60 and 75 °F). At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling but not limited to apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, or prune. Typical ales have a sweeter, fuller body than lagers.

Differences between some ales and lagers can be difficult to categorise. Steam beer, Kölsch, Alt and some modern British Golden Summer Beers use elements of both lager and ale production. Baltic Porter and Bière de Garde may be produced by either lager or ale methods or a combination of both. However, lager production is perceived to produce cleaner tasting, dryer and lighter beer than ale.

Lager is the English name for bottom-fermenting beers of Central European origin. They are the most commonly-consumed beer in the world. The name comes from the German lagern ("to store"). Lager yeast is a bottom-fermenting yeast, and typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7-12 °C (45-55 °F) (the "fermentation phase"), and then is given a long secondary fermentation at 0-4 °C (32-40 °F) (the "lagering phase"). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "crisper" tasting beer.

Modern methods of producing lager were pioneered by Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger, who perfected dark brown lagers at the Spaten Brewery in Bavaria, and Anton Dreher, who began brewing a lager, probably of amber-red color, in Vienna in 1840–1841. With modern improved yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks.

The lagering phase is not restricted to lager beers. In Germany, all beers are stored at low temperatures before consumption; in the British tradition, the practice of Cold Conditioning is similar in nature.

Lambic beers: spontaneous fermentation

Lambic beers use wild yeasts, rather than cultivated ones. Many of these are not related to brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces), and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness.

Pale and dark beer

The most common color is a pale amber produced from using pale malts. Pale lager is 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. In terms of volume, most of today's beer is based on the pale lager brewed in 1842 in the town of Pilsen, in the Czech Republic. The modern Pilsner lager is light in colour and high in carbonation, with a strong hop flavour and an alcohol by volume content of around 5%. The Pilsner Urquell and Heineken brands of beer are typical examples of pale lager, as are the American brands Budweiser, Coors, and Miller.

Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or pils malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade. Other colourants - such as caramel - are also widely used to darken beers. Very dark beers, such as stout, use dark or patent malts. These have been roasted longer.

Answer 10

Not after six or seven of them, no.