Hey Jester, Beer questions...

[mjr]

Ok, I know very little about beers.

But here's a few questions:

1. What's the difference between the "light" colored beers, like Ale, Pilsner, and Lager?

2. How do beers get their color, anyway??

3. How does the wheat content affect the properties of the beer? I mean, I know there are Hefe-weissens and such.

4. What the heck is a "bock"?

[wolfie]

Ale is a "top fermented" beer - the yeast works at the top of the vat, and prefers warm temperatures (what would be room temperature in a building without central heating).

Lager is "bottom fermented", and the yeast prefers cold temperatures. If it's too warm, things don't go too well - before mechanical refrigeration, Bavaria prohibited brewing in the heat of summer, so winter/spring beer was stored for summer consumption ("lager" is derived from the German verb "to store"), and there was a festival celebrating the first legal brew when the weather cooled down in the fall (Oktoberfest).

Pilsner is similar to lager (don't know the exact differences), and is named after the town of Pilsen in Chzecoslovakia.