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A room first. Draft hardware later.

Orlando drinks in rooms. Ivanhoe Park names a Golden Pilsner and an American IPA on its homepage. Ten10 lists Subtropic Saint as a Kölsch and First Flight as an IPA. Deviant Wolfe publishes Iron Bend as a light American lager. Those are tap-list words from the hosts, then draft hardware if you pour at home.

Beer taps on a bar rail
A rail in a room. Yeast family is on the board, not in the tower.

Lager versus ale

The split is yeast and temperature. BJCP’s yeast study page: ale yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, typically 55 to 75 °F. Lager yeast is Saccharomyces pastorianus, typically 46 to 56 °F. Color does not tell you the family. A dark beer can be a lager. A pale beer can be an ale. The American Homebrewers Association uses the same species names and flags Kölsch as a gray area: an ale fermented cooler than many ales. Ten10’s Subtropic Saint sits in that gray area on a local board.

Yeast family sits on Lager vs ale. For how to read name, style, and ABV on a chalkboard, see How to read a tap list.

A room versus a fridge at home

A tasting room has a board, a host, and a last-call. A kegerator is a fridge with a tower. Both can pour a pilsner. Only one of them is a Tuesday in a cited room. Draft hardware stays on Shop and Kegerator vs bottles if you already decided to pour at home. A kegerator kit is the last door, not the first.

Central Florida afternoons are hot. Alcohol by volume is still the number on the board. A lower printed ABV is less alcohol in the glass. That is arithmetic. It is not an argument that lagers are better in the heat. Both families include lower-ABV beers. Iron Bend at 4.5% and First Flight at 5.5% are numbers those hosts print.

Search a home kegerator only if the room is not tonight's job. Get this. A handle only if the tower already pours. Get this.

Sources

  1. BJCP Yeast and Fermentation
  2. American Homebrewers Association, ale vs lager
  3. Ivanhoe Park Brewing
  4. Ten10 brews
  5. Deviant Wolfe