# Lager or Ale? What do you prefer and what are your favorite beers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666 "2003-11-22T11:47:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/21 "2003-11-23T18:28:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kferr \* > \*\*Stongbow is to cider what Bud Lite is to German lager! > > For lagers I stick to Budvar, Pilsner Urquell, and similar. > > I’m spoiled for choice at my local pub with Fuller’s London Pride, Young’s Bitter, Ringwood 49er, Hogsback TEA (Traditional English Ale), and Badger’s Tanglefoot always on. Plus there are 5 other guest beers that change regularly. This time of year I usually go for something dark, but during summer you can’t beat a Hop Back Summer Lightning. \*\* I’m hypervenilating at the thought of your local. On second thoughts, no Gale’s HSB ? What a crap pub 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/22 "2003-11-23T19:36:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eva Luna \* > \*\*So what’s the difference between an ale and a lager, particularly in terms of preparation technique? Or does this involve a Venn diagram? \*\* A lager uses a bottom fermenting yeast, usually requiring that it is cold fermented. Lager comes from the german word “To store”, as they were generally tucked away in caves over the winter, pulled out in spring (“Maibocks”, especially), and consumed. Ales use a top fermenting yeast that works best in slightly warmer temperatures. As a general rule of thumb, most (but not all) German/Czech beers are lagers, and most English/Scottish/Irish (Do the Welsh have many beers?) are ales. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/23 "2003-11-23T20:08:32Z")
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, choosing a favorite is nigh impossible because good is good. I can’t really say I like Guinness better than Pilsner Urquell because it depends on the setting. That being said, Porters are my favorite session beers. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/24 "2003-11-23T20:21:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sir Doris \* > \*\*I’m hypervenilating at the thought of your local. > \*\* You and me both. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/25 "2003-11-23T21:22:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sir Doris \* > I’m hypervenilating at the thought of your local. My favorite watering hole, who’s location is affectionately given as “Directly above the center of the Earth” is a wonderful place for beer lovers. They have over thirty beers on tap (unfortunately including some of the mass produced swill that some in America refer to as beer) and a huge assortment of bottled beers as well. I would be surprised - nay, shocked - to find out they have less than 100 different beers at any one time. The selection includes many steady regulars, and a large number of rotating friends, visiting for a short engagement only to be supplanted by a new acquaintance. If only I had the money, I would spend weeks at a time down there in my subterranean slice of heaven slowly sipping the sweet nectar of the gods that goes by the all-too-humble name of beer. ---
**Author:** ![wendyrules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@wendyrules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wendyrules)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/26 "2003-11-23T22:52:04Z")
I’m going to be talking names most of you have probably never heard of. Being from Australia, pretty well most of us enjoy a good beer. Here’s my top 5 Cooper’s Original Ale Cooper’s Pale Ale Hahn Premium Light Heineken West End Draught. Now, I bet most of you are none the wiser?!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/27 "2003-11-23T23:01:10Z")
Hmm, definitely prefer Ales to Lagers, so much so that it’s tough to find 5 great lagers and settle on only 5 ales. But here goes: Lagers Paulaner Salvator Victory Prima Pils Penn Dark Penn Oktoberfest Spaten Oktoberfest Ales Rochefort 10 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout Duvel Stone Ruination IPA Troegs Mad Elf ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/28 "2003-11-24T04:05:07Z")
I learned to appreciate beer in the U.K., so I prefer ales, with the tops going to: 1. Old Peculiar - jeez, 2 pints would put me down 2. Dryborough’s 80 Shilling - 8 pints would put me down 3. Old No. 3 4. Any number of great ales in London - too many to choose As for yellow beers 1. Grolsch - easy and smooth 2. Spaten - it’s Spaten - questions? 3. Anchor Steam - okay, not yellow, but not an ale - wonderful 4. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - again, a standard… ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/29 "2003-11-24T11:20:38Z")
I’m a beer man mostly. If I’m really hot I’ll drink lager, and have no choice out here ☹ Bitters: Fuller’s London Pride Adman’s Broadside Greene King IPA (a crime I know to you real ale buffs) Badger’s Bitter Sam Smith’s Museum Lagers: Budvar Hoegaarden Michelob (when in the USA unless I have a local expert with me) Cristal (Portugese brew imported here - best of a bad bunch) ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/30 "2003-11-24T12:37:41Z")
Well **Sir Doris** and **Angua** , my local is [here](http://www.beerguide.co.uk/towns/farnborough.htm), you’re welcome any time! ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/31 "2003-11-24T14:31:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wendyrules \* > \*\*I’m going to be talking names most of you have probably never heard of. Being from Australia, pretty well most of us enjoy a good beer. > > Here’s my top 5 > > Cooper’s Original Ale > Cooper’s Pale Ale > Hahn Premium Light > Heineken > West End Draught. > > Now, I bet most of you are none the wiser?!! 🙂 \*\* You can get at least one of the Cooper’s beers in the UK (can’t remember which, or it may be both). Hahn is quite common in the Aussie chain pubs too. Heineken is pretty ubiquitous. Haven’t tried West End though - that’s going on my list… ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/32 "2003-11-24T14:58:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wendyrules \* > \*\*I’m going to be talking names most of you have probably never heard of. Being from Australia, pretty well most of us enjoy a good beer. > > Here’s my top 5 > > Cooper’s Original Ale > Cooper’s Pale Ale > Hahn Premium Light > Heineken > West End Draught. > > Now, I bet most of you are none the wiser?!! 🙂 \*\* Actually, I’ve had the Coopers Sparkling Ale, Pale Ale, and Bext Extra Stout. The stout was actually quite good, and though the Sparkling and Pale Ales weren’t world-beaters, they had a very nice citrus character to them that I definitely appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/33 "2003-11-24T16:10:26Z")
I was going to mention the same as **Rugby Man** – Cooper’s is available at select locations in the U.S. Most folks will have to hunt around quite a bit, though. … **notquitekarpov** , my understanding is that the usual Hoegaarden varieties are all ales. Let me do a check on that. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/34 "2003-11-24T16:20:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rubystreak \* > \*\*I used to work in a brew pub and fell in love with Watney’s. It seems impossible to get a hold of it anymore in the US. Anyone know why? We used to put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a pint of Watney’s… heavenly. \*\* I sure don’t know. In the New Orleans area, Watney’s CS was available on tap at a handful of places through 1994. After that, it was just bottles – and those ran dry eventually as well. I had seen Watney’s CS at [a specialty store in New Orleans](http://www.martinwine.com/hours-location.htm) as recently as about 1998. Haven’t turned any up since then, though. [Cooter Brown’s, a New Orleans beers-of-the-world pub](http://www.cooterbrowns.com/beers.html), used to carry Watney’s Cream Stout. Now they sell only Watney’s Red Barrel and Watney’s regular Stout. ---
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/35 "2003-11-24T20:59:32Z")
Here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, we’re blessed with an abundance of incredibly fine microbreweries. My faves: MacTarnahan’s Amber Ale Mirror Pond Pale Ale ( DesChutes Brewery) Rogue Brewery Dead Man Ale Obsidian Stout (DesChutes) MacTarnahan’s Black Watch Cream Porter Lagers: Widmer Hefeweizen Widmer Sommerbrau That’s really about it for lagers…I much prefer ales, and this time of year, porter and stout. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/36 "2003-11-24T21:13:42Z")
Okay, my favorite beer is like having sex in a canoe…You know the joke. I’m a big fan of the cheap american beer. Rolling Rock Michelob Leinenkuegals Honey Weiss Micholob Golden Draft If I’m feeling rich and I can find it, Fischer LaBalle ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/37 "2003-11-24T21:26:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > **notquitekarpov** , my understanding is that the usual Hoegaarden varieties are all ales. Let me do a check on that. A quick Google on “Hoegaarden” confirms this – Hoegaarden’s varieties are top-fermented. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/38 "2003-11-24T21:54:26Z")
Who’s making Watney’s beers these days? It’s not something I’ve seen in a British pub as far back as I can remember. I’d like to have tried something reputedly so awful that: > [@](#): > > The beer was reviled to the point that a clearly hurt Grand Metropolitan (Watney’s parent company) chairman grumbled in the company’s annual report about a ‘virulent word of mouth campaign’ against the brand. After spending £2 million advertising Red [Barrel] between 1971 and 1974, spending was abruptly pulled from the brand the following year. They quietly killed it off altogether in 1979. (from _Man Walks Into A Pub: A Sociable History Of Beer_, Pete Brown) Is is still the same beer? And how bad is it, really? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/39 "2003-11-24T22:39:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*Who’s making Watney’s beers these days? … > Is is still the same beer? And how bad is it, really? \*\* From what I can Google, Sleeman Brewing in Guelph, Ontario was brewing “Watney’s Cream Stout” after the original Watney Truman brewers of London, UK went belly-up. Apparently, they just went ahead and used the name “Watney’s”. I don’t know if Sleeman still brews this or not. Do any Ontario Dopers have the info? ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666/40 "2003-11-24T23:48:36Z")
My favorites are all ales, but a good pilsner ( **Victory Prima Pils** or **Pilsner Urquell** ) does crop up on occasion. My favorite ales are:[list=1][li]Victory Hop Devil IPA[/li][li]Guiness Stout[/li][li]Bass[/li][li]Sierra Nevada Pale Ale[/li][li]Weyerbacher Hops Infusion[/li][/list=1] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lager-or-ale-what-do-you-prefer-and-what-are-your-favorite-beers/214666.md?page=3)