Craft beer has taken the world by storm, but what exactly is it, and how does it differ from real ale?
When it comes to categorising beer, there’s a sea of competing opinions out there. So let’s bring the issue to a frothy head, ditch the dictionary and get the advice of experts on the difference between the two types of brew.
Real Ale
What is it?
Real ale is a term coined by the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) in the early 1970s. It’s generally considered to be a beer brewed from traditional ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and yeast. It’s fermented twice, once at the brewery and once in the cask, typically in the cellar of a pub from where it is dispensed and served without the use of carbon dioxide. Its popularity comes from its fulsome flavour – without any of its natural character lost to filtration, carbonation or pasteurisation.
What else is it called?
The real ale experts at CAMRA will often refer to real ale as cask-conditioned beer, real cask ale, real beer and naturally conditioned beer.
Stouts, porters, bitters and pale ales can all be defined as real ale, so long as the brewing process follows these guidelines. No filters, no pasteurisation and no treatments – real ale is a live product.
Where can you find it?
The history of ale dates back to medieval Europe and the consumption of cask-conditioned beer remains a largely European pursuit today, especially in the UK, Ireland and Western Europe.
In the UK, CAMRA’s online database WhatPub lists more than 35,000 pubs serving real ale.
Looking for a beery city break in the UK? York, Derby and Sheffield all lay claim to the title of “beer capital of the UK”. Norwich also runs an annual “City of Ale” festival to celebrate its many pubs and breweries.
CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year in 2017 was the George & Dragon in Hudswell, Yorkshire. It was on the brink of closure in 2008, before it was bought out by the local community and now acts as their local village shop and library – when pints aren’t being poured.
Other recent award-winners include the Grade II listed pub The Scottish Stores in London and Sandford Park Alehouse in Cheltenham.
Three of the best real ales:
Jaipur by Thornbridge
Packed full of American hops, this Indian Pale Ale bursts to life with powerful citrus and sweet honey flavours, leaving a remarkably smooth finish.
Trooper by Robinsons
Cheshire-based Robinsons Brewery (established in 1838) worked with heavy metal icons and real ale enthusiasts Iron Maiden to produce this feisty beer. Malt flavours and citric notes combine to give this deep golden ale its unique taste.
Vanilla Stout by Binghams
Named CAMRA Supreme Champion Beer of Britain in 2016, this dark stout is brewed using dark malts and infused with vanilla pods. It’s the perfect blend for anyone new to stout, looking to try for the first time.
Craft Beer
What is it?
There’s no universally recognised definition for what makes a craft beer. For most brewers, the craft comes down to what many brewers refer to as “the three i’s”: individualism, innovation and integrity. The Brewers Association in the US defines the American craft brewer as small, independent and traditional. The Association has a rather loose definition of the word small and consider a craft brewery one that produces less than six million barrels a year. That equates to some 1,700 million pints of beer, which might seem a lot: to put it in perspective, the brewery that owns Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch, brewed 351m barrels in 2015.
What else is it called?
Craft beer doesn’t go under other names. However brewers do have a talent for creating off-the-wall names for their beers, like Ruckus’ Hoptimus Prime, Stoudts’ Smooth Hoperator and AleSmith’s Java the Nut.
Where can you find it?
The giants of the craft brewing game have become an ubiquitous presence in bars and public houses around the world. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, BrewDog, New Belgium Brewing Company, and Innis & Gunn are now international brands, producing millions of barrels of beer between them each year.
Portland, Oregon has long been considered the craft beer capital of the US. It’s reputedly home to more breweries and independent microbreweries than any other city in the world. In Canada, the city of Montreal is a beer lover’s paradise and Dieu du Ciel, which translates as ‘God in Heaven!’, is one of the city’s most popular brewpubs. It has been brewing its own craft beer recipes for nearly 20 years.
In Europe, Belgium is world-renowned for its breweries and pubs. The port city of Antwerp has become a mecca for beer drinkers and The Kulminator its star brewpub. It stocks more than 800 beers from around the world.
Three of the best craft beers:
Punk IPA by BrewDog
There are few brands more synonymous with craft beer than BrewDog. The Scottish brewery has been spearheading the craft beer revolution for a decade now and their flagship India Pale Ale is stocked in bars across six continents. Made from six different hops and delivering a dry, crisp finish, Punk is a sophisticated beer with fans the world over.
Southpaw by Gipsy Hill Brewing Company
A four-star beer at The Beer Awards 2016, Southpaw is made with all-American hops and has “whispers of toffee and lightly toasted malt flavours”.
Racer 5 by Bear Republic
California is home to more craft breweries than any other state in the US, according to Brewers Association figures for 2016. The state’s emblematic grizzly adorns every bottle of this award-winning IPA, which bursts to life with a rich blend of American hops. As the Bear Republic Brewing Company puts it, “there’s a trophy in every glass”.
