Bluffer's Guide to Real Ale

When Benjamin Franklin said “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,” he was surely talking about ale. Warmer of the soul on a cold winter's night, the perfect accompaniment to a homely roast dinner, pure good cheer in a glass. Some of my fondest memories are of times spent supping a hearty pint while in the company of good friends.

Ale is currently enjoying huge popularity with British drinkers. Both sales and the number of breweries in Britain are at their highest in decades. Moreover, ale is the only category of drink whose sales actually increased during the recession. Lager has for a long time been the market leader but sales have dwindled to their lowest since the 1930s, perhaps in part due to its image (we've all heard the phrase “lager lout”), but also because the micro-brewery boom in recent years has made ale a much more diverse thing now.

Many places, even fairly small towns, will usually have at least one pub proudly selling the locally brewed ale, and people seem to enjoy drinking this more than handing over their money to a huge multinational company selling identical-tasting lager the world over. Incidentally, if you were wondering, the technical difference between ale and lager is that ale is a beer produced using top-fermenting yeast, lager is one produced with bottom-fermenting yeast, however as a general rule of thumb you can say that ales are brown and flat, lagers are yellow and fizzy.

Picture a typical ale drinker. You've probably just imagined a middle-aged bearded man wearing sandals, possibly even dressed as a Morris dancer. This is no longer the case, in recent times the demographics with the sharpest increase in ale drinkers have been women and the 18-25s. Why should this great drink only be enjoyed by the bearded middle-aged men? Where some students may drink as many alcopops or generic lagers as possible, ale is something to be savoured, a drink with real depth and variety of flavours. Where wine can be seen as an elitist and pretentious affair, ale is much more affordable and something that one doesn't have to be a connoisseur to enjoy.

Ale comes in a myriad of different types, but here are some basic categories to guide you in your choices:

• Bitter: By far the most common type of ale, mid to dark brown in colour. Usually around 4% in strength and the standard type of ale to be found anywhere. If you enter a pub and they don't even sell a bitter, leave.

• Stout: Extremely dark, an effect created by roasting the barley before it is added to the mix. These tend to be stronger than bitters with a very rich flavour. The most famous example of this type of ale is Guinness.

• Golden ale: Ideal for a warm summer's evening or a refreshing break from a blisteringly hot day's rambling, golden ales are much lighter in colour, with very hoppy and sometimes fruity flavours.

• India Pale Ale (usually shortened to IPA): Gets its name as it was very popular with sailors and Indian traders in the 18th Century, mainly due to the fact that this ale travels well, its flavour undisturbed by the long voyages. Very pale in colour and a mixture of hoppy and bitter flavours.

• Barley Wine: A misleading name for one of the rarer types of ale. Usually only seen around winter, Barley Wines come in all colours from copper to almost black and have a sweet and fruity flavour with a rich bitterness throughout.

In addition to all these, there are many others and brewers like to add interesting things to their ales. In the bottled ale section of Morrisons alone, one can buy beers containing honey, heather or even banana! There is so much good ale out there to be discovered and we are privileged to live in a country with so many choices of delicious ales to try.

In York especially we are spoilt for choice, the vast amount of pubs serving real ale being one of the reasons I chose to study in this city. There are too many good pubs in York to recommend but a few of my favourites are The Rook and Gaskill, Pivní and The Old White Swan. So go out there and sample the sumptuous world of ale awaiting you, you never know, you may just discover your new favourite drink. Laughter may be the best medicine, but I think ale comes in at a close second. Cheers!

If you would like more information about ale in York and the University's Real Ale Society, contact realale@yusu.org

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