Beer Explorer

Ale is a type of beer that’s been making people slightly wobbly and significantly happier since time immemorial. Crafted with the loving embrace of warm fermentation and a generous helping of malted barley, ale is the extroverted cousin in the beer family, refusing to chill in cold temperatures like its lager relatives. This warm and cozy fermentation process gives ales their signature sweet, full-bodied embrace, and a fruitiness that whispers sweet nothings to your taste buds.

The ale family is a boisterous gathering, boasting a wide array of characters from the hoppy hipster India Pale Ale (IPA) to the dark and mysterious stout, the sophisticated Belgian ale, and the laid-back brown ale, just to name a few. Each style brings its own party tricks to the table, varying in flavor, color, and how tipsy you’re planning to get.

Historically, ale is the beer that wrote history. It’s been around since at least the 5th millennium BC, and possibly even enjoying a cold one with the Sumerians in 3000 BC. Ales were the LinkedIn of medieval Europe, facilitating countless business deals and probably a few questionable decisions in taverns and alehouses across the continent. Before hops were introduced to the brewing process around the 15th century, ales were often more about the malt and less about the bitter flavors that hops contribute, making them the go-to drink for anyone from peasants to kings. So, the next time you sip on a pint of ale, remember you’re literally drinking a piece of history – cheers to that!