Ale vs Mead – What’s the difference?

Mead, mead, and ale are all beverages made from fermented honey. While each of these drinks has similar ingredients, they’re different in terms of their taste and how they’re brewed. Here we’ll explain the difference between ales and meads so you can better understand how they’re made:

Ale

Ale is a beer that uses top fermenting yeast, which makes it lighter in color and less bitter than lager. It’s also typically served warmer than lager beers are, since the fermentation process produces more heat.

Ale is generally made from malted grains such as barley or wheat, but some styles use other grains like rye or oats instead of barley. Hops are used for flavor and aroma; they’re what give your ale its bitterness (if you want to learn more about hops, check out our article on How To Taste Beer). Ale yeasts produce fruity flavors during fermentation; these are often described as estery because they remind people of fruit like bananas or strawberries!

There are many different types of ales out there–some examples include Pale Ales (like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale), IPAs (like Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA), Stouts/Porters (like Samuel Smith Chocolate Stout) –but they all share some common characteristics:

Mead

Mead is a fermented beverage that’s made from honey, water and yeast. It’s similar to wine in that it has an alcohol content between 6% and 20%, but unlike wine it doesn’t use grapes or other fruits as its base ingredient.

Mead takes on many different flavors depending on what kind of honey you use–you can find meads made with orange blossom, clover or wildflower honey. The process for making mead involves adding yeast to a mixture of water, sugar and malted grain (or fruit). After fermentation takes place over time–which takes anywhere from one month up to six months–you’ll have yourself some delicious alcoholic nectar!

Ale is a fermented beverage created from malted grain and water, while mead is made from honey.

You might be wondering why we’re even comparing these two beverages, since they have very different ingredients and production processes. But if you’ve ever tried an ale and thought it tasted similar to a mead, there’s actually a good reason why.

Mead is made from honey–a sweet syrup produced by bees that occurs naturally in their hives–while ales are brewed with malted grain (usually barley or wheat) and water. So while mead is technically an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey (and sometimes fruit), ale can also be flavored with fruit juices or spices during the brewing process.

There are many varieties of both beer-type drinks available today; however most fall into one category: either lager style or ale style brews based on how long they age before consumption

We hope this article has given you a better understanding of the differences between ale and mead. If you’re still not sure which one is right for you, we recommend trying both!