Lager, Ale, Beer… What Do They Mean? Brakel – 4.6% Pilsner Lager
Brakel is The Hop Shed’s bottled lager. As it’s not also available in cask (more on that later!) it’s brewed less frequently than our core range, which means less opportunity for improvement – we’ve just bottled a new batch however, and I hope you’ll agree it’s a slightly more balanced beer than before!
Making changes to existing beers is a tricky proposition – while I’m always looking to make small improvements, it’s important that it remains as expected every time it’s purchased by a customer. The change to this batch of Brakel is fairly simple but makes a comparatively big difference to the beer; by reducing the bitterness the flavour becomes smoother, and also allows more of the floral & citrus character of the hops to come through. While I liked the old version I think this change makes the beer a little more drinkable – which a lager should be! – so I’m looking forward to seeing what people think.
When it comes to beer categories, the most important thing is the consumer knows what they’ll be getting. When someone sees lager, they’ll probably expect cold and fizzy – you can put lager in a cask, but people may be a bit confused when it’s relatively low carbonated and closer to room temperature. But if it is possible, what do the terms actually mean?
Beer is any drink which has been brewed and fermented, using barley as the primary sugar source. It can be broken down into two broad categories – ale and lager – the difference between which is the type of yeast used. Most beers are ales (whether an IPA, wheat beer or stout) and are brewed using a yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This is actually the same species that’s used for baking! There are a large range of varieties which will produce different characteristics in the final beer, but in general they share the fact that they prefer to ferment warmer (around 18-20oC) and are ‘top fermenting’, meaning they float to the surface of the beer during fermentation.
Lager is a separate category because it is made using a different yeast species, Saccharomyces pastorianus. Even though lager has been made for hundreds of years, it wasn’t actually confirmed as a separate species until 1908! Lager yeast ‘bottom ferments’ (does not rise to the surface) and prefers to work at colder temperatures (10-14oC), so it was historically made by keeping the temperature of the beer low to allow the yeast to outcompete the ale yeast also present. It’s now possible to isolate individual yeast strains so we can just add the one we want, but prior to this it was all about making conditions favourable for creating the character you wanted in the finished product.
But craft beer is all about innovation, so there’s always going to be some blurring of the boundaries. In March our seasonal special was a Cold IPA, which uses a lager base to showcase the hops more usually seen in an IPA. Then there’s Kölsch, which is an ale brewed at lager temperatures, and California Common, a lager brewed at ale temperature…
Anyway, back to Brakel. Pilsner is a traditional lager style so named because it was first brewed in the Czech city of Plzeň; it is characterised by very soft water and a pronounced hop bitterness. The result is an easy drinking lager with noticeable flavour contribution from the hops and a bitter tail that leaves you wanting another sip – I hope Brakel lives up to that description!
