i know i should probably google this but ill take yalls answers...what is the difference between porters, ales, lagers, etc..? sorry and thanks!
There are two different classes of term you're asking about. Let's compare to cars. On one hand you can talk about whether a car is gas-powered, electric, diesel or hybrid. These terms say something technical about how the car is built and how it works.
On the other hand, you can describe a car as a sedan, a sports car, a van, tractor-trailer, pickup truck, SUV and so forth. These are styles of car. Some styles are almost universally associated with a certain kind type, like a tractor-trailer is always a diesel. Others styles can be based on more than one basic technique.
In the beer world, there are two major classes of beer: ales and lagers. A third type, lambics, are less common and exclusively Belgian. These terms refer to a technical difference in the fermentation process used to make the beer.
Worldwide, lagers are the most popular type of beer. Once upon a time, the lager process made it easier to produce beer in large quantities, and produced a beer with a longer shelf life than an ale, but with the tradeoff that it took longer to produce. Modern production methods have minimized these tradeoffs, allowing for faster production of lagers and long-lived ales, but the distinction remains.
The other terms you refer to are styles, and mostly refer to the balance of flavoring ingredients in the beer, darkness, bitterness and so forth. There is an enormous number of styles. Some styles are almost always lagers, others always ales. Others, though, can technically be brewed using either technique. A Pilsner is typically a lager, for instance, but there are Pilsner-style ales out there. The only way to really get the difference among styles is really to dive in and try them out.
