Simply put, a beer style is a label given to a beer that describes its overall character and often times its origin. It 's a name badge that has been achieved over many centuries of brewing, trial and error, marketing, and consumer acceptance. There are many different types of beer, each of which is said to belong to a particular style. A beer 's style is a label that describes the overall flavour and often the origin of a beer, according to a system that has evolved by trial and error over many centuries. According to the type of yeast that is used in the beer 's fermentation process, most beer styles fall into one of two large families: ale or lager. Beers that blend the characteristics of ales and lagers are referred to as hybrids.
An ale is any beer that is brewed using only top-fermenting yeasts, and typically at higher temperatures than lager yeast. Because ale yeasts cannot fully ferment some sugars, they produce esters in addition to alcohol, and the result is a more flavourful beer with a slightly "flowery" or "fruity" aroma resembling but not limited to apple, pear, pineapple, grass, hay, plum or prune. Stylistic differences among ales are more varied than those found among lagers, and many ale styles are difficult to categorize. Top-fermented beers, particularly popular in the British Isles, include barley wine, bitter, pale ale, porter, and stout. Stylistic