Until the mid 1800's, beer in England was made with malt that been roasted over peat or wood, creating a dark, smoky black or brown beer. Their invention of coke as a fuel source allowed more control over the malting process but the Brits didn't figure out the cleaner and lighter product that led way for the English Pale Ale. That credit goes to the Austrian Brewer Dreher who invented Vienna lager. As this beer was made with lighter malts, it created a lighter color beer than what was standard for the time and therefore was referred to as 'pale'.
Pale Ale is a general term that includes several styles of beer, but mostly encompasses copper coloured, hop forward and bitter beers.
If one were to think of English Pale Ale as a main trunk of a tree, its branches would include IPA, American Pale Ale, Blondes, Biere De Garde, Irish Reds and Bitters to name but a few.
When it comes to judging a Pale Ale, one would have to first decide which category the beer should be in from many areas of the BJCP guidelines such as Belgian Ales, Pale American Ales, British Bitters, Pale Commonwealth Beer, IPAs, Strong British, Strong American and more.
The first 'Pale Ale' brewed in North America is believed to be San Francisco's Anchor Brewing "Liberty Ale" in 1975. Although Pale Ale was brewed in North America prior to this by settlers that had travelled with their recipes, prohibition essentially wiped out any brewing operations until 1933. After that, lagers were the most popular beer style as they were cheap to make.
To learn more about beer and where to find Pale Ale in Calgary, (read our Village Brewery Review here) be sure to join one of YYCTOURS' Calgary Brewery Tours which are packed full of great beer and information.
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