The next time you’re strolling down your grocer’s beer aisle, take notice at how many craft beers are billed as “Pale Ale.” Sure, there may be some qualifiers on the label like “English Style Pale Ale” or “India Pale Ale”; but there’s no doubting pale ale’s ubiquity in today’s craft-beer market. But what is pale ale and what the heck’s the difference between English-style or India-style pale ale? I hope this primer will help de-mystify pale ale and hopefully make your next craft-beer purchase a bit easier.

The “Ale” family of beer consists of a wide variety of styles and flavors; many more than its cold-fermented counterpart, lager. Popular styles such as stouts and porters are ales along with the puckeringly sour lambics of Belgium and also the wheat beers of Germany. The yeast strain used for fermentation determines if beer will be a lager or ale.

Given all the varieties within the ale family, how does a consumer make a buying decision based on the name “Pale Ale”? Such a one-dimensional name could describe many styles of ale. There are plenty of ales which are pale in color but aren’t Pale-Ales. Belgian lambic beers are pale, but if you mistakenly threw one of those back thinking it’s going to taste like the pint of ale you drank at an English pub a few years back, you are in for a real sour surprise.
 

It all starts to make sense when you realize that the “Pale Ale” moniker was given to basically any (bottled) English ale that wasn’t as dark as stout or porter. Then there is “India Pale Ale” or IPA, which was originally made as stronger ale that was highly hopped to survive the journey from Britain to India, delivering bitter but non-spoiled beer to the British troops stationed there. These ales are “relatively” pale because they are made with a majority of lighter colored malts as opposed to deeply roasted malts found in stouts, browns and porters.. Most will also have a reddish or orange hue from the use of special crystal malts, which also add body and sweetness. It’s also very common for the Brits to throw in a bit of sugar to keep the ale light in body and color. Something any self-respecting German brewer would never do.

If you want to simplify things a bit, we can broadly classify pale ale in three varieties:

The English style: This is brewed using English hop varieties which generally come across with a tea-like hop flavor (The Brits love their tea!). English ales are usually very balanced, meaning they are not too bitter or too sweet. Many English pales are brewed with hard water which intensifies but rounds out the bitterness.

American pale ale: These beers take it up a notch with the generous usage of hops from the Pacific-Northwest, generally imparting a citrusy or even pine-like flavor and aroma.

India Pale Ale or IPA: Though IPA’s history is very English, American craft brewers are responsible for resurrecting the style and paying homage to it by throwing in more hops per barrel than Corona probably uses in an entire batch. There are many good examples of each style of pale ale available in West Virginia. Here are a few picks…

English Style Pale-Ale: Saranac Pale Ale is a really well-balanced, English style pale ale that is brewed in Utica, NY. It’s good beer at a great price point. St. Peter’s English Ale is also an excellent English thoroughbred version. Both beers deliver a balanced, bready flavor with just enough hop flavor, bitterness and aroma to keep it interesting.

American Style Pale Ale – Sierra-Nevada pale ale is a standard bearer in this category, though I prefer Anchor Liberty ale when I can find it. The goal of these beers is to celebrate American grown hops, namely the Cascade variety grown in the Pacific Northwest. Cascade imparts an almost grapefruit-like citrus flavor. These ales finish crisp and clean, especially when compared to an English counterpart. If you don’t taste the hops in these, your taste buds must be on vacation.

India Pale Ale – I am going to write you an Rx for three different potions here. Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale though labeled as just mere pale ale is pretty close to an IPA in bitterness and hop flavor. Rogue Brutal Bitter is another good one to try — although technically more hoppy than Burning River, its bitterness is balanced out with malty sweetness. My third recommendation is an excellent British beer, but it falls short in the bitterness department when compared to its historical counterparts. Samuel Smith’s India Pale Ale is a wonderfully hoppy beer with a very nice bready character, typical of fine English Ales.

Pale ale generally pairs well with tangy and spicy foods. The hoppier the beer, the more spice you can throw at it. These beers also taste great with a variety of medium to sharp cheddar cheese; in fact, Cabot cheese of Vermont makes a cheddar that is soaked in Harpoon IPA before it is packaged. And lastly, please remember to pour the beer into a glass before quaffing! That’s especially true for these very aromatic ales. I know life is short, but take some time to stop and smell the hops!

Rich’s Note: There are Nuvo ”Uber-Hoppy” varieties of Pale Ale such as Double IPA and Imperial Pale Ale that are a creation of American craft brewers. These beers are generally higher in alcohol thus cannot be sold in the State. But, remember - Mountaineers are Always Free… to go to Ohio or Kentucky to spend our beer dollars!

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