Huuumm...definitions, please. Is this a case of transoceanic language usage? In the US, ale and lager refer to different types of brewing. That is, lager is a type of beer that is normally bottom-fermented and cold-cured and ale (sometimes claimed not to really be beer at all) is top-fermented. We usually don't use the term "real ale" at all, but generally understand it to be equivalent to what we call "craft-brewed," without such nasty additives as sugar, rice, preservatives and rat droppings.