When I began researching this article, I found nineteen styles of ale, three of which had three or more subcategories. Since it would take forever to talk about all those ales, I've elected to introduce you to some of the most common styles of ale. First, I'll give you a brief definition of ale. Ale is fermented by top fermenting yeasts (as opposed to lager's bottom fermenting) at relatively warm temperatures, around 45-5F. The result is a more full bodied beer with noticeable sweetness of flavour. Out of the nineteen ale styles I found, I found seven that most people will be familiar with and have no trouble finding bottles of to enjoy for themselves.
1) ENGLISH BROWN ALE: Probably the most famous of the ales, English brown ale enjoys two variations. In the south you'll find an ale similar to English mild with its flavors of malt and caramel. Bitterness is subdued, leaving plenty of room for the malt, a softly rounded mouthfeel and fruit esters in the nose. In the north, brown ales are bigger, clocking in at 5% abv. These ales are light brown in color with a maltier aroma, flavors of nuts and a more bitter finish. Either variant, when done right are the perfect place to start your ale journey. As for which brands to try? Newcastle Brown, Hobgoblin and Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale are the way to go.
2) MILD ALE: England's Midlands is the home of mild ale. An offshoot of London brown, mild ale is lower in alcohol than its relatives, coming in not much more than 3% abv. Mild ales tend to be dark brown in color. designed to be a session ale, mild ales enjoy the slightly sweet, rounded flavor of caramel and chocolate, a clean finish, and subdued hop bitterness. Today, mild ale is the perfect ale to use as a session ale at the end of a busy day. If you can find them, try Highgate Mild or Gale's Festival Mild
3) BITTER: Another low alcohol session beer, bitter is one of Britain's most popular ales, and is traditionally served on tap. Beyond that, English Bitter is very hard to quantify, so we'll settle for the broad strokes. Bitter is an amber colored ale, sometimes slightly reddish. It ranges from 3.5-5.5% abv with noticeable hop aroma. Bitter will usually present a slightly malty sweetness with notes of caramel. It will then finish dry, accentuating a crisp bitterness that could range anywhere from mild to bracing. Bitter can be hard to find here, but Fuller's London Pride is worth the search. As are Old Speckled Hen and Young's Ramrod.
4) INDIA PALE ALE: An ale that amounts to being English Bitter's big brother, India pale ale is the next logical step in our list. And IPA is bigger than bitter in every respect. India pale ale will be amber in color with pronounced flavors of malt and fruit esters. Alcohol will come in at 6-7% abv and bitterness will be pronounced. A good IPA will be made with hard water giving this ale a crisp, minerally profile that marries beautifully into its bitter finish. If you want to enjoy a great IPA, look for Young's London Ale or Samuel Smith's India Ale or Belhaven's Twisted Thistle.
5) BARLEY WINE: Barley wine is the heavy hitter of British ale, its alcohol content ranging anywhere from 8.5-14% abv. Done properly, barley wine is a great big ale with complex flavors rivalling the best fortified wines. Barley wine ranges in color from golden to mahogany. These ales are very full bodied with lots of malt, toffee, dark fruit and sherry-like flavors mingling together in the glass. You'll notice a subdued aroma, some hop bitterness and an alcoholic warmth reminiscent of port or sherry. Let a barley wine age a few years and everything becomes mellow, subdued and even more subtly complex. Fuller's Vintage Ale is widely available here and ages well. Anchor Old Foghorn and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine Style Ale are also worth looking up.
6) PORTER: For an ale of only moderate alcohol, a good porter is amazingly rich, flavorful, and complex. If you pour yourself a porter for the first time it will remind you of stout. Most porters are dark brown with hints of ruby. Porter is amazingly drinkable given its complexity. Drinking it, you'd enjoy a malty, chocolate sweetness balanced by a pronounced bitterness. Unlike other ales, porter gets its bitterness from the roasted coffee flavors contributed by dark, roasted grains. Fuller's London Porter is a great first porter to try. From there you might try Portland Maine's Geary's London Porter.
7) STOUT: Thanks to Guinness, stout is available all over the world. When Guinness started brewing stout, it was marketed as stout porter. Eventually, the porter was dropped and it was marketed as stout. Stout is a remarkably light, drinkable beer for such a sturdy ale. Irish stout comes in under 5% abv and is pitch black with a thick, sweet mouthfeel and a sturdy white head. Stout's bone dry finish combines with hop bitterness and a subtle bitterness from roasted grains, giving it a roasted coffee finish. Today, there are many types of stout in the world ranging from Iriash to Imperial, but we don't have time for them here. Try Guinness, Beamish, or Murphy's Irish stouts. All are excellent examples of the style and are widely available.