When the British colonized America, they brought their beer with them. Over time, the brewing traditions of the two countries diverged, and GIs stationed in England during World War II were appalled by the warm beer. In recent decades, the two have grown closer again. In the days of the Founding Fathers, the first New England beers had names like Tadcaster Ale and Worcester Ale. But gradually the British tradition lost ground to the Czech and German styles of later settlers. Ales and porters continued to be made in the east, but gradually surrendered character to compete with nationally marketed lagers.
But in 1977, President Carter signed a bill legalizing homebrewing, and craft brewers began to fight a rearguard action. Amongst the well-travelled post-Woodstock generation, British ales became cult brews. Styles such as pale ale and barley wine were embraced by US homebrewers, and the example of breweries such as Anchor encouraged amateurs to turn pro.
The Czech and German traditions and, excitingly, those of Belgium, also influenced new US brewers, but British ale culture was central. Today, it is hard to disentangle British and US styles of ale, except to say that the originals are frequently outstripped in character by their North American “offspring”.
GOLDEN ALES
The complex flavours offered by ale yeast do not have to be accompanied by the nutty textures of the darker malts. Brewers in the northeastern US often made “golden ales” that paired ale yeast with lager malts. But their anaemic appearance presaged a gradual decline in character: American ales such as Genesee 12 Horse and Little Kings Cream Ale eventually became only marginally distinguishable from lagers. It is to be hoped that this fate should not befall characterful English golden ales such as Hopback’s Summer Lightning – delicate but full of the sweetness of Maris Otter barley malt; the fragrance of East Kent Goldings hops; and the banana-like fragrance of the house yeast. Another micro-brewed golden ale, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold, was overall champion at the Great British Beer Festival twice in the mid-2000s.
MILD
One of the attractions of golden ales for novice drinkers is that their pale colour suggests a light body and low alcohol content. By the same token (as valid as a wooden nickel) darker beers are believed to be heavier and stronger. Mild ales may be bronze, but are more usually darkish brown. These are light but maltaccented, sweetish beers that once quenched the thirst of Britain’s manual workers: a coal-miner might drink 10 or 20 pints to get the dust out of his throat. For drinkers who are nervous of bitter flavours and alcohol, then mild, at only 4% ABV and with only the gentlest hop character, is the perfect solution. Sadly, this is now a rare style.
BITTER
The principal style of ale in Britain today, bitter ale is usually amber in colour and hop-accented. Most drinkers know it simply as “bitter” and are confused about the category “ale”. The other types of ale would include pale, brown, and so on. Bitter defines this style only as compared to mild. Drinkers who grew up with bitter may well regard the epithet as indicating an adult taste, but many younger drinkers think it sounds negative. Many breweries avoid the term, preferring just a brand name.
BROWN ALES
These ales were once produced all over Britain, and really were brown. In that incarnation they were also very sweet With the trend to paler colours, the dark brown style of ale has almost vanished and been replaced in part by the amber-brown, nuttier, drier style typically produced in Newcastle and the northeast of England. Taking much of their aroma and flavour from crystal malt, these have a more savoury, grainy character. The Brooklyn Brewery in New York produces excellent beers in this style.
SCOTTISH STYLES
As in England, breweries in Scotland traditionally had a typical range of three draught ales, commonly known as light, heavy, and wee heavy. Scottish ales were generally less bitter than their English counterparts: possibly because the Scots used fewer hops, being so far from the growing regions; or perhaps because Scottish brewers wanted a “warming”, toasty, maltier character. Wee heavy is the style that personifies Scottish ale in the eyes of the world, and many US brewers now make similar beers, in some cases using small amounts of peated malt.
OLD ALE
The original meaning of this designation is probably to suggest an old method or style rather than a long period of ageing. Most beers described as old ales have a colour somewhere between ruby and dark brown. Some, like Old Hooky, from a charming steam-powered brewery in Banbury in Oxfordshire, are little more than stronger versions of a mild ale. Others, like Theakston’s Old Peculier from Yorkshire, are medium-strong beers, with a slightly syrupy mouthfeel and complex sugary notes and fruitiness. The classic, strong Gales Prize Old Ale always had a component of wood-ageing when it was brewed in Hampshire. The beer is now being produced by Fullers in London, where serious efforts are being made to maintain its distinctively Calvados-like aroma and flavour.
BARLEY WINE
If an ale brewery has an especially strong product, it will typically be called a barley wine. The name implies that it is as strong, and perhaps as noble, as a wine. US brewer Garrett Oliver, whose barley wine is called Monster, has suggested that the grapey designation was adopted when the Napoleonic Wars threatened a supply of Bordeaux wine to Britain. The style has been in severe decline in its native country of late, but some wonderful barley wines are being produced in the USA, especially on the West Coast. While the original British barley wines were very malty, the US style is much hoppier.
INDIA PALE ALE
The British Raj in India needed a steady supply of beer. How else could you run the world’s biggest empire? The problem was that beer exported from England degraded during its long, hot sea journey round the Cape. The solution was to brew beer to a slightly higher density than a normal pale ale and hop it much more heavily. The hops really came into their own in this style as an anti-infectant. British brewers have never stopped producing IPAs, but most of their current efforts are barely distinguishable from an ordinary pale ale or bitter. The Meantime Brewery of Greenwich is a rare exception. Another is Fuller’s IPA, now hard to find.
In "Beer", Michael Jackson Editor-in-chief, Eyewitness Companions DK, London/New York, 2007, excerts pp. 50-54. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.