My friend says the only a pilsner is called a beer. I say lager and ale are beers too, who's right?

Question

It's an on-going debate, and I'm getting a tad tired of not having an answer. Any takers?

Answer 1

hon, they're all beers, generally.

it's all in the classification...  now where you guys are going are in the elemental...  the types of beers.

it's a breakdown.. it keeps progressing down in the element.. but we'll not go into that.

top level class:  BEER, they're all beers.. what type of beer, that's your dissertation after that!

Answer 2

all are beers, ale is from top fermenting yeast and the catagories encompass; pale ,wheat, bitters, and alot of others. lager is bottom fermenting and includes porter and stout

Answer 3

A pilsner is a variation of the lager style. Your friend is not very knowledgeable about beer. The term encompasses not only lagers, ales and pilsners but also lambics and the many variations within each category.  

Answer 4

your friend is an idiot

Answer 5

Sounds like your mates, might wanna stay off of the stuff. If they don't know what they are drinking, maybe they shouldn't be drinking.......

Answer 6

No, you're right.  Your friend is an idiot, since pilsner is a type of lager.

The English try to get all uptight about lager not 'really' being beer, but since the English make beer about as well as they cook, we can safely ignore their comments.

Answer 7

You are indeed correct. After the explanation I provide a couple of sites to help educate your friend. The second one is from the Beer Judge Certification Guidelines and has an extensive list of both Ales & Lagers (Pilsners included).

Pilsner beers originate from Pilsen, Czech Republic and are a style of beer that falls under the type called Lagers.

A good friend of mine and myself tend to use this passage to educate the novice about beer on the subject of Lager Vs Ales both of which are beers of course.

BEER = Ales & Lagers

both of which have many styles.

It has to do with the ingredients and how they are processed into an ale or lager.

Beer styles, whether they are ales or lagers, have been molded by the type and quality of ingredients available to the brewer. The hard water of England for example, was an influence on the beers of that nation. Wheras, the water in continental europe (CE) are generally more soft (less minerals) and lend to the development of the smooth qualiites of lager beers brewed there.

The grain (barley) was also handled in different ways. The ales of England were the beers that all brewers made in an infusion-mash method. Where the barley was steeped at a single temperature(mashing). Later developments in CE in the mash procedures developed smoother beers by reducing protein size. The process called decoction mashing involves the brewer to take a fraction of the steeping mash (barley + water) and boil it. This was added back to the main mash raising its temp. This was repeated until complete protein and carbohydrate degradation was accompolished. {NOTE: Today most all beers use a variety of two-row barley that is very low in protein rendering protein rest (decocotion mashing) obsolete}

Finally, the yeast plays a role in an ale or lager (beers) by its action in fermenting sugar to ethyl alcohol (ethanol) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Although we catagorize yeast by its action upon fermentation as to aggerate to the top or bottom of a vessel. The lager yeast tend to settle to the bottom and the ales yeast to the top. Thus the designation top or bottom fermenting yeast. Yet, the main concern is the volatile chemicals that they produce. In ales the sweet esters are not desirable and it is that these top fermenting yeast do not produce them. In many lagers (bottom ferment) they are welcome and in some lagers their specific yeast strain produce phenolic compounds that are perceived as clove. So the yeast employed by the brewer has a profound effect on the beers flavor as an ale or lager. Also the temperature used to ferment the beer has profound effects on the flavors produced in the final beer. Lager are generally fermented at cool temp. (below 48 F) whereas ales use a warm temp. (52-60 F on average).

In all the styles of ales and lagers (beers) have many characteristics in common. The methods employed in their production are distinct.

Finally-finally, the flavors that define a style are influenced by the above ingredients and methods which vary from country and region.

http://www.4syndication.com/clipper_city...

Style Guidelines

http://www.bjcp.org/2008_Guidelines.pdf