Food, Booze, & Baggage

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Into The Pint Glass: Cream Ale

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Into The Pint Glass Cream Ales

Step right up ladies and gents, to our latest edition of Into The Pint Glass. This week we are exploring Cream Ales, not to be confused with cream soda for those of you not partaking. I’ll let Katie take it away on what is a Cream Ale…

Did you have a hard time finding a cream ale? I’m sure you did. Cream ales are part of the Hybrid category, which means they don’t really fit in anywhere. Which means they are kind of like the Harry Potter of beers*. They could have gone into the Lager category (aka Slytherin) but chose to become Ales (Gryffindor). Unlike Harry Potter, they aren’t always very interesting. They are often referred to as the ale version of American Adjunct Lagers (and you all know how we feel about *that* style) and the BJCP style guide even calls it an “American lawnmower beer.”
 
The reason *we* think they are interesting is because the way they are brewed. Ales commonly, if not exclusively, ferment at the the top of the barrel at warmer temperatures. But Cream Ales traditionally were made in cooler temperatures so that they could be more crisp and less fruity. During Prohibition, or what we like to call The Dark Ages, Canadians favored this beer. When the worst period in American ended, we stole the style back after they had taken much care and refined it and we made it our own, just like we do best. 
 
*My day is complete when I can make a Harry Potter reference.

Well, I certainly had a hard time finding a cream ale when I went searching, only one for me to share today.

Cali’ Creamin’ by Mother Earth, Vista, CA
Cali'-Creamin'-Mother-Earch-Brewing

This is a vanilla cream ale by one of our local breweries right outside of San Diego. I have had this beer before, so I knew it was a good one. Honestly, cream ales are hard to come by and this was the only one BottleCraft was carrying the day I went. ABV is 5.2%.

Smell: Hint of vanilla, pretty much smells like a vanilla cream soda.

Flavor: Vanilla on the front with a creamy mouthfeel a little bit of a bitterness at the finish that cleanses the palette.  The vanilla does not overwhelm, just a hint so not a sweet or dessert-like beer. Very nice beer, that is very drinkable. I like, I like it a lot.

Have you tried a Cream Ale before?

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Don’t miss the last four Into The Pint Glass, next up is Bock on September 17th.
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Into The Pint Glass: Hefeweizen

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Hefeweizen

Well HELLOOOO THERE!! Katie and I are back Into The Pint Glass, that time of the month where we drink and talk about beer, and today we are discussing Hefeweizen. This is one of the styles I’m know, for well, pretty much hating except for a very select few. However, this is also a style that many people are a huge fan of. Let’s talk a little more about the style and then I’ll explain where my dislike comes from (because I know you guys are dying to hear all about it)…

Hefeweizen is a German-style wheat beer, also known as Weissbier. “Hefe” means yeast and “Weizen” means wheat, so Hefeweizen translates as yeast wheat. Unique to Hefeweizen is it’s phenolic character, producing flavors of clove and banana. Other flavors associated with this style is bubblegum or Band-aid. By German law it must contain at least 50% malted wheat. Of course American craft brewers do not have to hold this standard. Hefeweizens are noted for their low to no hop bitterness. Most hefeweizens are cloudy due to their high wheat content and yeast sediment, however they can be filtered, to produce a Krystal version of the style.

Hefeweizen has deep roots in Bavaria, though referred to in Germany as Weissbier (not Hefeweizen). Weissbier means white beer, which you will recall from the Wit post, that Witbier is also referred to as white ale. However, Hefeweizen/Weissbier and Wit are two different sub-styles of wheat beer. They are not the same. Hefeweizen is more malty and has the characteristic yeast flavors, whereas Wit is characterized by the addition of spices. Hefeweizen’s origin is German and Wit’s is Belgian. It can be confusing…so just drink it 🙂

Now back to me and my issues….I do not like the characteristic flavor profile associated with Hefeweizen, that banana, clove, bubblegum flavor profile makes me gag. I do like it, and can generally tell just by smell whether or not it’s a drinkable Hefeweizen for me or not. I don’t think it’s a beer style I’m ever going to adapt to.

Mango Hefeweizen, Garage Brewing, Temecula, CA
Garage Brewing Mango Hefewizen
I decided to grab this one because 1. mango (I like mangos) and 2. I had never tried Garage Brewing.

Smell: Super fruity, definitely mango, but I also picked up orange. This smelled like juice, it is that fruit forward. This one did not turn me off already in the smell department, onto tasting.

Taste: Crisp, a little tart/mango/orange flavor, well carbonated, and overall quite refreshing. This had none of the banana/clove flavor profile, or it is well masked. It was not that fruity in taste, despite the smell. Yay, I picked a winner! This would certainly be a hefeweizen I would drink again. This has an ABV of 5.5%, so a good middle of the road beer for sipping.

Do you have a beer style that you identify as one you know you dislike? Don’t say all of them, because my response is you just haven’t tried enough 🙂 


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Into The Pint Glass: IPA

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IPA

Aww the IPA, it’s usually a love it, or hate it kind of beer. For me it’s love, I think part of the reason is that no two are the same. It’s such a broad but popular beer style. Also, the IPA played a role on my first date with P. So, let me introduce you…

IPA stands for India Pale Ale. This style of beer was developed in England with a higher hop content, in order for the beer to survive longer ship voyages…like to India. Hops act as a preservative thus resulting in a beer better suited for the long journeys. Other research suggest that beer makers at the time just thought hoppier beers were more suited for drinking in warmer climates. Either way it was a popular export and we now have three main styles:

English-style IPA: Has the lowest level of hoppiness of the three styles. While more pronounced hoppiness is evident than most other English-style beers, it has much lower hoppiness characteristics than the Americanized version. English IPA hold onto their maltiness and have a more pronounced late hop character.

American-style IPA: American-style IPA are distinguished by their strong hop bitterness, with plenty of hop character up front. This style should be clean with low malt characteristics.

Imperial or Double IPA: Usually higher in ABV with a very strong bitter hop flavors. Generally the ABV is over 7% and it is a heavier beer in taste than a regular IPA.

IPAs can further be broken down into subcategories, mostly branching from the American-style IPA. Of course we have the classic East Coast vs West Coast rivalry. East coast being slightly more malt forward and utilizing more European varieties of hops imparting more spicey or floral notes as opposed to the piney, stinky hop favored by the West Coast. West Coast IPAs crown themselves the hop kings and are more hop forward. Other styles include black IPAs, which utilize a roasted malt for the base, belgian IPAs, wheat IPAs, and rye IPAs.

We can’t talk about IPAs and not bring up IBUs; IBUs and IPAs go hand in hand. IBU stands for International Bitterness Unit, this number can indicate the bitterness level of your beer. The higher the number the more bitter the beer…of course there are a lot of factors that impact the final product, so it is only a basic guide. Generally speaking an IBU of less than 20 has little hop presence, 20 to 45 has mild to pronounced hop and bitterness characteristics, and more than 45 is heavily hopped and more bitter.

IPA flavor characteristics can vary widely. The hop is the flavor focus on this style of beer and hops impart so many different flavor characteristics to a beer. I think this is part of the reason there is so many strong reactions to IPAs. Flavor profiles can include: citrus, pine, earthy, grassy, tropical fruits, spicy, cedar, tobacco, fruity, floral, herbal, garlic, onion, even stinky socks. If you can find a few single hopped IPAs to sample, that is a great way to learn more about the flavors particular hops can impart.

What I sampled…it was a hard decision on what to feature for this style.
IPAs for Into The Pint Glass

Philosophy Brewing San Diego Rye IPA, San Diego, CA; est. Raleigh, NC

San Diego Rye IPA

Haven’t heard of Philosophy Brewing,  that is because it is our little homebrew operation. This beer was brewed by the amazingly talented and handsome P :), and was the first beer we brewed here in San Diego. A similar beer would be the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye. Our version is drier (because I love the dry beers) and less sweet. We dubbed it San Diego Rye, because, of course location, but also because White Labs San Diego Super Yeast was used.

Smell: Floral, fruity with a slight sweetness
Taste: A hint of the rye in the front end, clean, dry, finishes with the bitterness of the hop and a hint of spice.

Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin IPA, San Diego, CA

Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin

This is a take on their standard Sculpin IPA. I like this version better because I feel that the grapefruit actually helps to balance the bitterness and it comes across more refreshing to me. We really enjoy Ballast Point, P and I have always had good experiences at their Little Italy tasting room. They almost always have a few R&D beers on draft, so you get to try something you can’t find anywhere else. P and I were lucky enough to stumble in on our house hunting trip when they were doing all R&D beers, it was wonderful. We also happened to pick the right seats at the bar, and got to discuss said beers with their head brewer and meet their label artist, it was very awesome. So basically, Ballast Point has won us over 🙂

Smell: Grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit 🙂 It smells like you cut into a grapefruit.
Taste: Very clean and light with a distinctive grapefruit and bitter finish. Refreshing is the only adjective to apply to this beer.

Stillwater Why Can’t IBU, Baltimore, MD

Why Can't IBU

This is one of my favorite IPAs. Seriously, if we find it, we usually buy it, and I don’t buy repeats often. Try this IPA, and then tell me if you like IPAs or not. This is labeled as a Belgian IPA, which general means that Belgian yeast was used and European hops. This IPA is highly carbonated, and the most carbonated out of the three. This is definitely a different take on the IPA. Stillwater is one of my favorite breweries, and we have found almost all of the beers from them to be exceptional.

Smell: Earthy, fruity, yeasty
Taste: Light, crisp, with a pronounced bitter finish that is slightly earthy and spicy. This is such a unique and interesting beer.

When was the last time you tried an IPA? 

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Got a post on an IPA? Link it up below!! 


The next Into The Pint Glass is March 19th featuring Belgian Triples!!
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Beer 101: 5 Beer Styles for the Beer Novice

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Beer 101 5 Beer Styles for the Beer Novice via Food, Booze, & Baggage

Welcome back for another Beer 101 post…no, I’m not going to do this every Sunday 🙂 To be honest, I started to write this post a few weeks ago,  but I realized that someone just starting to learn about beer needed a bit more background information, hence my post last Sunday, “Beer Is…”. There are so many different styles of beer out there; a great resource to learn more about beer  styles is the BJCP guidebook  (probably more information than you ever wanted to know). While I highly encourage you to taste any and all types of beers, below are a few styles I would recommend to the non-beer drinker to get started:

  1. Kolsch: is a lighter beer both in taste and color. I find Kolsch style beers to be light and crisp, sometimes with of hint of bitterness, fruitness, or herby notes.  A Kolsch is usually a very easy to drink beer that will not feel heavy on the palate and has a lower alcohol content. A Kolsch is a perfect summer beer.
  2. Pilsner: is another beer considered to be light and easy drinking, and is very light in color. It often has a lower to mid alcohol content and is a bit hoppier than a Kolsch (but not bitter). A Pilsner is also another beer that I think of as a good beer to enjoy in summer.
  3. Saison: is considered a European style beer and derives most of it flavoring through the yeast used, as opposed to the hops or grains. Saisons are often more dry than sweet with a slight spiciness or herby flavor. Saisons are usually more carbonated as well.
  4. Porter: is a dark in color beer and it’s flavor/body profile can range widely. Some porters are heavy, full bodied where others are lighter with a clean finish. I personally do not like porters that are too roasty. I typically avoid porters with a coffee descriptor as well. If you are into coffee, a coffee porter might be right up your alley.
  5. Pale Ale: is a broad style. Some pale ales are light and crisp with a little hop flavor, but I’ve also experienced some I could have sworn was an IPA. If I’m looking for something lighter, stay away from descriptors like hoppy or bitter, unless you like those of course 🙂 Then you might want to take a step up to an IPA.

Most people hate the taste of beer via Food, Booze, & Baggage

Again, I think beer is an acquired taste and it just takes lots of trial and error to find what style fits your taste. You will also learn, the more you drink, the more your taste changes. I use to not like very many dark beers, thinking all of them were like Guinness–heavy. This just is not true – the color does not necessarily translate to the taste or body of a beer. Some beers labeled Pale Ale can taste like an IPA, some dark colored beers can taste lighter than an English Ale. If you are new to beers, I encourage you to look in your area for local breweries. Breweries are a great place to sample a range of beers, and learn a little more about them. Most brewery people LOVE to geek out about educate others on beer. When you visit a brewery, ask them if they do “flights”. Flights or tasters are a great way to sample a wide range of beers; most breweries do 2 to 3 oz samples of 4 to 5 beers. Don’t give up; beer flavors range dramatically so you can’t really say you don’t like a certain style unless you have tried a few different ones, from different breweries. There IS such a thing as a bad brewery or bad batch of beer, don’t let a single try ruin a whole style for you. Now, go forth and sample!!

If you want to see what I’ve been sampling lately, you can follow me on Untappd at mariah13g.

Are you a beer drinker? If so, what is your go to style? Any other beer related questions for me?

That concludes my lesson for today.