Well Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s that time again. See, anyone who knows me knows how much I love beer. I love beer and appreciate beer. But not everyone knows what it is they’re drinking, only that they like some beers over others. And no matter how much we switch brands and how many times we experiment, many of us return back to that favorite beer. Like a first love, you never forget that first, good beer. But since so many people email me to ask me why i like some beers over others, i thought i’d break it down for yall n stuff. When it comes to beer, there are serious differences between American, German and British beer. Canadian is somewhere between American and British beer but for the most part it’s Germany, the UK and the USA.

Now the ALE is world renown but probably more popular in the UK and Ireland than anywhere else. And Ale is ‘top fermented’ (the yeast, that is) and that’s what kinda makes it ‘fruity’ and distinctive. Ales come in a lot of ways ( i prefer the Pale Ale) and are usually light brown in colour. In England they call them BITTERS. Americans INCORRECTLY refer to Ales by the Alcohol content (by volume), which is actually law in some states. I love a good Ale though, and I think my fave may be either Red Hook or Sierra Neveda.

Now, what separates a good Ale from a proper BITTER is the Bitter has more ‘hops’ and thus more hops depth and bitterness. There’s usually some acidity to it and funny thing but Bitters tend to have a lower alcohol level, which makes em good for those long pub nights. BEST BITTERS have more alcohol by volume and SPECIAL BITTERS and EXTRA SPECIAL BITTERS (ESB) have even more (like 5.5%) The Pale Ale tends to mean a PREMIUM Bitter Ale and the INDIAN PALE ALE (IPA) is the strong Bitter that was made specially for those long British trips to the Indian Empire, which means it had to have extra strength and more hops to protect them. I love the bite IPA’s tend to have. I think STONE makes the best IPA. Mike Harrison’s brother, Paul Harrison, says it stands for “I’m Pissed Again.”

ok. tomorrow we’ll cover more beers. I’m tired and sleepy or are those the same thing?

Mike Randle