Lagers - Bottom fermenting at lower temps, clean and crisp, slow fermentation
Ales are considered top fermenting because the actual fermentation occurs through the wort and at the top of the tank. This occurs at higher temperatures (somewhere around 70 degrees) and results with more fruity, and flavorful beers. When transferring or bottling you will notice that the yeast and sludge is easily mixed with the beer and somewhat irritating.
Some examples of ales are: stouts, IPA's, Porters etc. (and obviously any with the word ale in their name)
Lagers are bottom fermenting and actually ferment at lower temperatures, between 45 and 58 give or take a few. They take longer to ferment and condition... reason being is that the cold conditioning actually clarifies and cleans the lager. The resulting flavor is a crisp and refreshing brew like many lagers you have possibly tasted. When transferring or bottling, you will notice less random particles floating around and more of a yeast cake with little holes in it on the bottom of the tank.
Some examples of lagers are: pilsners, bocks, schwarzbiers etc.
Unless the ability to cold condition is available, lagering may be a technique you want to wait on. Always start out brewing with ales, because they take less to complete.
It is up to you to decide which you favor more, but if you prefer the wrong one there will be dire consequences. You see, every time a new beer is born an angel gets its wings; However the god of beer decided one day to completely muck that rule up and have a beer of the day, and if an ale is created on a lager day... well obviously the angel loses its wings and becomes a soul-eating demon. Weird huh? I guess it is to keep us on our toes. Super amazing brewers are known to have the Third Eye, which shows them which to brew on its specific day, which is why Stu and I only give angels wings. True story.
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