i love Ale
watched a very interesting episode of Hairy Bikers where they found out all about Ale - real ale versus lager
and actually made some ale on an old style press ... very simple technique
apparently ale is our british (or english cant remember which!) drink from hundreds of years ago. It was brewed by peeps at home using simply hops and water and people drank it as it was safer than the water in those days and there was different types, including a light one for children!! and one for mornings and lunchtime!!...people went round to each others houses and drank ale home made.. and the most popular houses became pubs as we now know them
lager came in from abroad and had a longer shelf life due to the addition of something (not sure what tho you may know!!) and our King at the time banned lager from his court saying it was disgusting any any thing brewed with ?? in it was not allowed anywhere near his court or castle etc -
anyhow lager has a longer shelf life and has more chemicals than ale.
so i hope that was of interest pmsl... i have probably missed some bits but it seems that drinkign ale has been a long long tradition in this courntry and long may it continue