Of CAMRA and Casks and Craft

The Green Dragon - Upper Wensleydale

Fellow BOTBer Mike and I and our respective wives took a trip to England this May. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip that started in London, headed South to Poole and Guernsey then back up through Yorkshire and the Dales, visiting Sherwood Forest then all the way up North to Ulverston and finally back to London. We took in a collection of castles, an abundance of abbeys and a plethora of pubs. Along with the history and culture, Mike and I decided this would be a great opportunity to research the state of Craft Beer outside the US.

The Craft Beer Revolution here in the US came about as a reaction to the homogenization of American beers. Through the '50's '60's and '70's American beer became increasingly tasteless and bland as big brewers followed the Anheuser-Busch model of spending on advertising and branding while saving on quality. The American beer market was flooded with watery, bland German-style lagers. And then came Light (or Lite) beers which managed to make the bland even, well, blander (despite Miller Lite's "Tastes Great!" claim). I have in the past compared American mega-brew beer to pre-sliced, pre-packaged American cheese - cheap, inoffensive and boring. While many people like American cheese, wouldn't it be awful if that was the only kind of cheese you could get? That was pretty much the state of affairs before craft beer. If you wanted a beer, your choices were a lager or a light lager.

Random Weirdness:
Found in a kitchen drawer in our
flat in London

The growth of craft beer here in the States,  in large measure, can be traced to England. Many of the early craft beer pioneers have similar stories of traveling to England and finding beer with flavor and variety. So it was interesting to find that there are a couple of competing movements afoot in the UK which are reminiscent to the American Craft Beer Revolution. While Britain has its own craft beer movement, there is also a separate beer-related movement: CAMRA (CAMpaign for Real Ale). If you were to lay out a Venn Diagram of these two movements, the area of overlap would be in their common impetus. Both evolved as a result of a beer landscape more and more dominated by a few large breweries flooding the market with middle-of-the-road brews. However, the similarities end there.

Whereas the craft beer movement there is similar to that in the States - a sort of free floating, experimental what-can-we-do-next approach that often pushes the boundaries of brewing while, simultaneously, honoring its traditions - CAMRA has a narrower focus. CAMRA advocates accept only cask ale - often referred to as "real ale" and cask cider. Nothing bottled, canned or kegged. Only ales poured via the pump system. In fact a beer is not CAMRA  approved if there is both a cask version and a bottled, kegged or canned version (although bottle conditioned may  be becoming more accepted). But the CAMRA movement goes beyond beer. CAMRA is a reactionary movement looking for a return to days of old when the neighborhood pub was a social gathering place. A place for a quiet pint with friends, perhaps a game of darts, but none of that loud music or those big TV sets on the wall. It is a case where one movement is more inclusive vs. one that is more exclusive. CAMRA aficionados would not necessarily approve of many of the pubs serving craft beer, or the beers themselves. Whereas the Craft Beer followers certainly appreciate beer in it's many forms including cask ales.

"Real ale" seemed to be more prevalent than craft beer. Most pubs advertise real ale, and most pubs have at least a couple of cask ales (cask conditioned ales are unfiltered and unpasteurized. They do not leave the cask until the beer is served, and are hand pumped without the use of nitrogen or carbon dioxide to provide pressure). Mike and I generally choose a cask ale, so we had the opportunity to sample a number of them. We had a great many Bitters - Ordinary, Best Bitter, Special Bitter, Extra Special Bitter, Premium Bitter. The names roughly denote strength, though there is nothing set in stone regarding at what point a beer goes from, say, a Special Bitter to an Extra Special Bitter. It's sort of at the discretion of the brewer. Bitters are a sub-class of Pale Ales but it is not always easy to differentiate between the two. Cask ales tend to be less carbonated and, yes, they would be considered warm by US standards, meaning it is not ice cold. The thing is, it doesn't need to be. Malt, yeast, bread are the dominant flavor notes with varying levels of toffee, caramel and hop. We also had a few Stouts and  Porters that were quite tasty.

Most beers clocked in at 5% ABV or less. Many at under 4%. At one pub, The Swan in Ulverston, we spotted an IPA from nearby Hawkshead Brewery. We each ordered a pint. The bartender said, "Now, you realize this is 7%?"
"Yes," we said.
"Are you local then?" he asked.
"Local?" I said, then realizing what he was asking, said, "Oh, yes. We walked here." Which we had.
"Ah, then. That's good," he said and poured us our beers.


The beer, by the way, was excellent. It was by far one of the hoppiest beers we had tasted while in England. It is referred to as a traditional British IPA taken to a new level using new world hops. The "New World" referred to here was the US and New Zealand. The hops they referred to were Cascade and Columbus from the States as well as Motueka hops from New Zealand.

What did we discover in our informal, totally unscientific bit of research? A couple of broad generalizations came to light. We'll give you our take on this and the lowdown on a few of the interesting pubs we hit and beers we drank on our journey next time.

But now, we need to take a look at some of this month's beers.

SAM PLUS TWO

This month Sam Adams had a few brews for us to review. Six to be exact, but that left us one short of our normal seven. Luckily, I had picked up a six pack of Bedlam while in Springfield, Illinois that I thought would make a good one for BOTB. On top of that, Mike arrived with a new beer from Ommegang out of Cooperstown, NY. Let's start with the Sams.

REBEL RIDER IPA

SAMUEL ADAMS - BOSTON 

The Beer Facts:  STYLE: Session IPA; BREWER: Boston Beer Company / Samuel Adams; ABV: 4.5%; IBUs: 45; MALT: Samuel Adams Two-row Pale Malt Blend; HOPS: Cascade, Centennial, Citra, Simcoe, Citra

What the Brewer Says: "Samuel Adams Rebel Rider is a bold yet mellow IPA with the hop character of a West Coast style IPA complemented by the golden crispness and lighter body of a session beer."

Color: Hazy wheat

Pour: Decent head with nice lingering

Aroma: Citrus, sour, piney

Body: Somewhat light

Taste: Balanced in that it is not overly bitter, with notes of grapefruit and understated lemon character

Overall Impression: I Could Drink This!

Comments: "For a session, it has a lot of taste; Nice lawn-mower beer; Not a lot of hoppiness, just a little bitter - way better than a pilsener; Very subtle; A good "gateway" beer - introduction to IPAs."

ESCAPE ROUTE

SAMUEL ADAMS - BOSTON

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Kolsch; BREWER: Boston Beer Company - Samuel Adams; ABV: 5%; IBUs: 30; MALT: Samuel Adams Two-Row Pale Malt Blend, acidulated malt, flaked barley, Carafoam; HOPS: Strisselsplat, Aramis.

What the Brewer Says: "Escape Route is a limited release beer brewed for the spring season. This golden and hazy Kolsch-style brew is bright, fresh and crisp, perfect for the last days of winter and first days of spring."

Color: Cloudy Wheat

Pour: Decent Head

Aroma: Grassy, floral

Body: Light

Taste: Tending toward sweet with with malt-first but some subtle grapefruit hop coming in

Overall Impression: It would do in a pinch for us. If you like Kolsch - Can't Get Enough.

Comments: "Not my favorite style, but for a Kolsch drinker I would think this would be great; Light finish; True to the Kolsch style but a little more body than most; Much more flavorful than I expected; Some nice hop character there - subtle, but definitely there."

COLD SNAP

SAMUEL ADAMS - BOSTON

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Belgian-style White Ale; BREWER: Boston Beer Company - Samuel Adams; ABV: 5.3%; IBUs: 10; MALT: Samuel Adams Two-Row Blend, Malted Wheat; HOPS: Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble.

What the Brewer Says: "Cold Snap is a crisp, refreshing Belgian-style White Ale with a combination of hazy golden wheat and a lively blend of exotic fruits and spring spices."

Color: Cloudy wheat

Pour: Decent Head

Aroma: Sweet with hints of clove, floral

Body: Slightly less than medium

Taste: Sweet with hints of orange and strong coriander presence. Very subtle hop.

Overall Impression: We would Leave It On the Shelf - just not the style for a bunch of hopheads.

Comments: "Wheat beer; Thin, sweet, somewhat watery; A bit spicy; Just not crazy over the taste of coriander, and it is very evident here; If you're a fan of Belgians, you probably would like this, just not my mug of beer, so to speak."

CRYSTAL PALE ALE

SAMUEL ADAMS - BOSTON

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Pale Ale; BREWER: Boston Beer Company - Samuel Adams; ABV: 5.3%; MALT: Pale, Maris Otter, Honey; HOPS: Crystal, Fuggles, East Kent Goldings.

What the Brewer Says: "Crystal Pale Ale is a bright and earthy pale ale named after its signature ingredient - Crystal hops grown in Corvallis, Oregon. Neither a classic American nor classic English Pale Ale, Crystal Pale Ale is inspired by both styles. the distinct bright, citrusy hop character of the American Crystal hops is complemented by the earthiness of English hops and balanced by malt sweetness, a trademark character of English Pale Ales."

Color: Golden

Pour: Better than Decent Head with a nice lasting lacing

Aroma: Grassy, floral, citrus

Body: A bit more than medium

Taste: leans to the bitter end of the scale with nice grapefruit notes balanced by a malty, nutty sweetness to give it a more complex taste than the previous beers.

Overall Impression: Beyond "I Could Drink This" and heading toward "Can't Get Enough!"

Comments: "Nice, big finish; A darn good beer; It's got some taste and body to it; The more I taste it, the more I like it; Solid malt backing with hops on top of it, makes for a nice tasting beer; Would love to see it out there more; Crisp, clean taste; I'm a fan; A very nice beer, one of the better Pale Ales I've had."

REBEL IPA

SAMUEL ADAMS - BOSTON

The Beer Facts: STYLE: India Pale Ale; BREWER: Boston Brewing Company - Samuel Adams; ABV: 6.5%; IBUs: 45; MALTS: Samuel Adams Two-Row Pale Malt Blend, Caramel 60; HOPS: American Cascade, Simcoe, Chinook, Centennial, Amarillo

What the Brewer Says: "Rebel IPA - the first West Coast style IPA from the same brewers that started the craft beer revolution in 1984."

Color: Cloudy honey golden

Pour: Better than Decent Head

Aroma: Straw, grass

Body: Medium

Taste: Beyond balanced toward bitter with citrus, grapefruit, pine and hints of caramel.

Overall Impression: Well toward Can't Get Enough

Comments: "More complex taste, many flavors attack the tongue (in a good way); Bitter finish; Always glad to see this on tap; A really nice beer; Nice lacing; Kind of a classic IPA taste though a little sweeter than some; 45 IBUs is lower than many, but it still delivers a nice hop punch."

REBEL ROUSER DOUBLE IPA

SAMUEL ADAMS - BOSTON

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Double IPA; BREWER: Boston Beer Company - Samuel Adams; ABV: 8.4%; IBUs: 85; MALTS: Samuel Adams Two-Row Pale Malt Blend; HOPS: Bravo, Galaxy, Zeus, Simcoe, Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo.

What the Brewer Says: "Rebel Rouser IPA is a Double IPA, brewed to showcase a wide variety of hop characteristics, rather than just hop bitterness. To drive the hop impact of this beer, our brewers didn't just take our Rebel IPA and double the hops. Our Double IPA is brewed with more than 5 lbs. of hops per barrel and dry-hopped with five american hop varieties from the Pacific Northwest. At 85 IBUs, Rebel Rouser Double IPA was brewed to showcase bold hop character, not palate-scraping
bitterness."

Color: Amber

Pour: Much better than Decent Head, with lingering lace.

Aroma: More acidic than hoppy, alcohol, some pine, floral.

Body: Full

Taste: Grapefruit, pine, alcohol warmth, malty base, citrusy hints of orange

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough!

Comments: "Very complex; Alcohol jumps out at you; A lot of stuff going on here; Clean beginning with a bitter and strong finish; Nice step up from the Rebel; Contrary opinion - I liked the Rebel better; Overall I really like this whole Rebel family of beers, I wonder where they might go from here - a Belgian-style Rebel? A Red Rebel?"

BEDLAM BELGIAN IPA

ALE ASYLUM 

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Belgian-style IPA; BREWER: Ale Asylum, Madison, Wisconsin; ABV: 7.4%;

What the Brewer Says: "This beast is a beauty. It is heavily hopped and fiercely aggressive, with an unmistakable aroma and flavor profile in a sea of India Pale Ales. What started as an experiment in our original brewery has gone on to become one of the highest rated Belgian-style India Pale Ales in

the world."

Color: Unfiltered amber

Pour: Decent Head

Aroma: Grapefruit / piney

Body: Between Medium and Full

Taste: Balanced with a wonderful malty, yeasty background combined with a citrusy spiciness.

Overall Impression: Pretty near "Can't Get Enough!"

Comments: "Easy finish; Balanced; Big taste - filled the mouth; I like it a lot - delicious; The Belgian characteristics meld well with the IPA characteristics; They seem to bring out the best in each other; Not a real Belgian fan, but I like this."

NIRVANA IPA

OMMEGANG BREWERY - COOPERSTOWN, NY

The Beer Facts: STYLE: American IPA; BREWERY: Ommegang - produced by sister brewery Boulevard in Kansas City, MO; ABV: 6.5%; IBUs: 60; HOPS: Bravo, Simcoe, Centennial, Topaz, Citra  and Mosaic.

What the Brewer Says: "Tri-State hop-heads are about to discover an entirely new state of being!..our first ever American-style India Pale Ale will be available across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut...The flavor is hoppy, juicy and citrusy goodness - without harsh bitterness."

Color: Wheat

Pour: Better than Decent Head

Aroma: West Coast big aroma of grapefruit and pine

Body: Near Full

Taste: Toward the bitter end with tastes of grapefruit, citrus, pine, and hints of lemon

Overall Impression: Very near "Can't Get Enough!"

Comments: "Drinkable - I can definitely have more than one; Really, really nice tasting beer; Farming it out right now because Boulevard is better set up for hop-forward beers and six packs - Ommegang has only 4-packs and bombers; Ommegang is such a highly respected Belgian-style brewery, glad to see them get into IPAs; Really good beer, very complex mix of flavors."

THE RESULTS

So what's the skinny on this octet of ales? Keeping in mind that hoppy is our happy place it's not surprising that the IPAs took top honors, though there was no clear consensus among the top three, leaving us with a three-way at the top spot. Anyway, the results were as follows:

#1 - Rebel Rouser Double IPA - The most complex of the Rebel family, also the highest IBUs - although at least one of us preferred the regular Rebel in part because they felt the alcohol presence was too much.

#1 - Ommegang's Nirvana IPA - For us it was great to see one of New York State's most respected Belgian-style breweries dip their feet into the American IPA pool. This is the third Ommegang brew I've had recently that scored well with hop-heads like us (the other two were Hop House Dry Hopped Pale Ale and Hopstate NY American Pale Ale, a terrific beer I just had last night.)

#1 - Ale Asylum's Bedlam Belgian IPA - I am finding that Belgian style IPAs seem to bring out the best of both styles, and this one was a delicious melding of the two. 

#2 - Samuel Adams Rebel IPA - We found this to be another solid IPA from Samuel Adams to go along with Latitude 48, Whitewater IPA, Third Voyage, Tasmen Red and Dark Depths Baltic IPA to name a few.

#3 - Samuel Adams Crystal Pale Ale - A tasty, hoppy Pale Ale that scored well with us.

#4 - Samuel Adams Rebel Rider Session IPA - Sam's entry into the session IPA realm. Easy drinking. A nice beer particularly if you intend to have a few. They put a lot of flavor into a 4.5% ABV beer.

#5 - Samuel Adams Escape Route - Kolsch would admittedly not be our beer of choice, but this would be our Kolsch of choice. It was tastier than we had expected, given the style.

#6 - Samuel Adams Cold Snap - This was by far our least favorite beer. If you're a fan of hops, you won't care for this. If you're a fan of White Ales spiced with coriander, this is your beer.

Next Month,
The latest Boat Beers - Canned Brews for the Summer

Sláinte,

The BOTB Guys

Road Pubs

Road Pubs

There was no BOTB meeting in March, alas. Members were scattered to the four winds (mostly those that blew South). We headed West for a final trip to Springfield, Illinois. We meandered our way there, hitting a few brew pubs along the way. Thought I'd give you the highlights, just in case you happen to be in these various areas.

LAVERY BREWING COMPANY

ERIE, PA

It's a rustic Irish-themed room with a bar at one end and a few tables around a fireplace.  They have a small but interesting pub-style menu and an intriguing line-up of beers. Unfortunately, no wine which made it a no-go for dinner as far as my wife was concerned. We grabbed an appetizer and I ordered their Dulachan India Pale Ale. It was delicious. I picked up a six-pack to go. "Dulachan," by the way, is the Celtic Grim Reaper.

The Brewerie at Union Station

Erie, PA

The Brewerie at Union Station,which opened in 2006, was Erie's first brewpub. They have five "regulars" on tap all the time: Railway Hefeweizen, Uncle Jackson's Blonde Ale, Hopness Monster IPA, Apparition American Ale, and Major McNair's Nut Brown Ale. They combine this with rotating seasonals. The seasonal selection the night we were there included: Koehler Pre-Prohibition Lager, Big Easy, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter. Along with their own brews, they have a nice selection of  bottled beers all from Pennsylvania breweries. On the bottled beer menu is a caveat: "Sorry...no Bud, Miller or Coors here! Just bottled beer from Pennsylvania's finest microbreweries." You gotta love that!

 Those breweries included: Erie, Lavery, Penn, Stoudt's, Troeg's, Lancaster, Yards, Victory, Voodoo, Otto's, Weyerbacher, and Fox. If you couldn't find a beer you liked here, then you just don't like beer. Not surprisingly, I had their Hopness Monster IPA. Very good.

Front Street Brewery

Davenport, Iowa

This place is easy to miss. We parked at a small community park along the Mississippi River and followed a path that ran between some railroad tracks and the Mississippi. Not the most picturesque of areas and particularly not in early March. But we spotted this place and made our way over to it. It's a cozy little room dominated by the bar on the right, some booths lining the left wall and some high-top tables scattered between. Apparently there is a larger basement room for receptions etc. We ordered their spinach artichoke dip as an app and I had their IPA which was sort of an easy-drinking IPA without a huge hop bite to it.

Bent River Brewing Company

Moline, Iowa

We were looking for a brewpub for supper and this place looked promising. When we arrived, however, we found they didn't serve food other than limited bar snacks. I mentioned to the bartender that we were under the impression that they were a brewpub and he pointed out that this place was strictly the brewery and bar. The brewpub was a few blocks away. As it turned out, our mistake was fortuitous as I ordered an Undercurrent IPA. I mentioned to the bartender that I'd love to sample their Jalepeno Pepper Ale. He poured me a sample and it was a very unique beer. The jalepenos give it a nice bite without being too hot to enjoy. The bartender then handed me a half and half - half Jalepeno Pepper Ale and half Undercurrent IPA. He said, "You like hoppy beers and you like the pepper ale, you're going to love this." And he was right. It was a great combination where the hops complimented the pepper and the pepper complimented the hops. 

We then went to the other Bent River for dinner where I was able to get an Undercurrent IPA in a seriously large mug (pictured at the right) because we happened to be there on a night when they ran a special on 24 oz "pints." Pretty awesome.

Below is a shot of their beer lineup. Definitely a place to visit if you ever happen to be in Moline, Il.

We`ll be back soon with a look at some of Sam Adams latest brews.

Slante,

The BOTB Guys

A Taste of the Highlands

SHERMAN ON THE MOUNT

Bud Anti-Craft Beer Ad Smells of Desperation

There is an old adage in advertising that says if you happen to be number one, you don't acknowledge the competition. You sit regally above the riffraff and let the underlings fight it out for the number two spot. For years Coke never mentioned Pepsi in their ads, for example. So how bizarre was it to see Budweiser roll out a nasty little ad during the Super Bowl which took goofy cheap shots at craft beer drinkers. Nestled in there among their tear-jerk cute puppy/Clydesdale and uber patriotic spots, the ad had the distinctive stench of desperation to it. If you haven't seen it, you can find it at YouTube or a hundred other places online. I will not sully this blog with it. Suffice it to say they portray craft beer drinkers as a bunch of lefty, sissified hipsters who are out of touch with the real world of macho blue-collar beer drinkers, and who, for some strange reason, prefer beer with actual flavor. Bud proudly brands itself as a "macro brew" in a rather clumsy "bigger-is-better-if-you-know-what-I-mean (wink, wink)" message that is probably lost on much of their intended audience. Their tag-line is that they brew beer "the hard way" just in case you missed the point. Besides the Freudian reference, the implication is that they don't cut corners. Yet anyone who knows anything about the beer business knows that the Anheuser-Busch business model for years has been just that: cutting corners on quality and spending big bucks on advertising.

Consider this: Budweiser is by far the largest-selling beer in the country. While craft beer has been growing steadily over the years, the entire industry can't match the sales of Bud. So why the snarky ad? It's like the spoiled rich brat who has everything but can't stand the thought that some other kid has something they don't. What exactly did they hope to accomplish with this ad? Did they think they were going to embarrass craft beer drinkers into switching to Bud? Or was it an attempt to make Bud drinkers feel somehow superior so they wouldn't try a beer with taste and be drawn over to the dark side?

And, really, is this not just the height of hypocrisy? Here's Bud, which wraps itself in the flag at every opportunity, yet is owned by a foreign company (InBev) taking pot shots at the real all-American breweries. Further, the Bud ad denigrates craft beer drinkers and breweries while its parent company, Anheuser-Busch/InBev, busily runs around buying up craft breweries, or invents pseudo-craft brews, so that they can get a piece of the craft beer pie for themselves. In the ad they blast craft brewers for producing such abominations as Pumpkin Peach Ale, yet A-B just bought Elysian Brewery which in fact makes a pumpkin peach beer called Goardia on My Mind (great name, haven't tried the beer).

Look, we here at BOTB have had some fun at times with some of the fruity beers - the raspberry wheats, the blueberry and apricot beers that sometimes stray too far from their beer roots and taste more like a soft drink than they do an ale. But kudos to craft brewers for experimenting with different flavors. After all, a lot of people like those fruity beers even though it's not our mug of ale, so to speak. And some people love their Budweiser, and good for them. No one's trying to take that away. The key here is choice. In my lifetime never have there been so many wonderful options when it comes to beer and that's a great thing. AB/InBev I'm sure would love to see the US go back to the bad old days where the only choice was lager, lager or light lager.

For a great no-holds-barred interview with Dogfish Head's founder Sam Calagione, check out this article, Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione Squares Off Against Budweiser  from Men's Journal on-line mag.

Since the ad aired, a number of craft brewers have come up with their own ads bashing the Bud ad. This one from Ninkasi is particularly pointed and dripping with irony. 

SCOTTISH ALE OR SCOTCH ALE?

One could be forgiven for assuming that the two styles - Scottish Ale and Scotch Ale - were simply alternate names for the same kind of beer. But the truth is, while they both have their roots in Scotland and use essentially the same ingredients, they are distinctively different styles of beer. 

Scottish Ales are more session ales. They tend to be more subtle as far as flavor is concerned and are considerably lower in alcohol than their big brother, Scotch Ale. They usually clock in anywhere from 2.5% to 5% ABV.

Scotch Ales, on the other hand, tend to be big, robust brews. The flavors are more aggressive and the ABV can be anywhere from 6.5% to 10%. 

Yet both styles share a similar baseline taste profile. Both are malty and tend toward the sweet end of the spectrum. Often notes of caramel and toffee are present in both. Scotch Ales sometimes add a roasted malt to the mix, giving it a fuller, richer, deeper, more complex flavor. Scotch Ales also can have a bit more of a hop  presence to balance out the sweetness.

This month we checked out a few Highland brews and found them quite guid.

PUNK IPA

BREW DOG BREWING

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Brew Dog Brewing, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; STYLE: Scottish IPA; ABV: 5.6%; IBUs: 35; MALTS: Maris Otter Extra Pale Malt; HOPS: Chinook, Athanum, Amarillo, Cascade, Simcoe, Nelson Sauvin.

What the Brewer Says: "Welcome to a post Punk apocalyptic mother of an ale. A beer that spent its formative years Blitzkrieg Bopping around India and the sub-continent.This light, golden classic has been subverted with New World hops to create a devastating explosion of flavor. Steel yourself for Kalashnikov bursts of caramel, incendiary tropical fruit and an all-out riot of grapefruit, pineapple and lychee, before a spiky bitter finish. This is quintessential Empire with an anarchic twist. Turn up the volume. Pay the man. Embrace the punked up, pimped up Maharajah of Pale Ales. Nothing will ever be the same again."

Color: Cloudy, light honey

Pour: Better than decent, thick and white head

Aroma: Grass, a bit of pine.

Body: Medium

Taste: Unbalanced, more IPA than classic Scottish ale, resinous.

Overall Impression: Near "Can't Get Enough"

Comments: "A tasty beer; Classic IPA profile; Great session IPA; Tastes just like another one; Nice solid taste of citrus, grapefruit-y; Very nice beer - bit of cheat as it's an IPA, but it did come from Scotland, so that's fine with me."

NEWCASTLE-CALEDONIAN SCOTCH ALE
NEWCASTLE BREWING + CALEDONIAN BREWING
(LIMITED EDITION)

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Newcastle Brewing, Tadcaster, UK and Caledonian Brewing, Edinburgh, Scotland; STYLE: Scotch Ale; ABV: 6.4%; IBUs: 40

What the Brewer Says: "Newcastle Scotch Ale is a well-balanced, malt-forward brew with a delightful velvety finish...Newcastle and Caledonian made a kick-ass beer that does not suck."

Color: Amber

Pour: Decent head

Aroma: UK yeast

Body: Medium

Taste: Malt, initial sweetness with notes of banana, cloves though not overpowering

Overall Impression: I Could Drink This

Comments: "Not a bad tasting beer; Nice taste; Leans toward the malt; Creamy aftertaste; For a malty beer, has a little bitterness toward the end; Has a Newcastle mouthfeel; Enjoyable; Got that hint of toffee going for it along with that bit of banana and clove."

SHIRE ALE

HOPSHIRE FARM AND BREWERY

 

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Hopshire Farm and Brewery, Freeville, NY; STYLE: Scottish Ale ABV: 7.8%; IBUs: 30; MALTS: Flaked oats, Chocolate Malt, Dark Crystal, Amber.

What the Brewer Says: "A malty brown ale fermented with Scottish Edinburgh yeast. Flaked oats and six different barley malts...are used in this rich tasting ale. Lightly hopped to let out the sweetness of the malt. A fun beer to make and a fun beer to drink."

Color: Brown

Pour: Decent head

Aroma: Yeast typical of British Isle beers (bit of banana aroma)

Body: Between medium and full

Taste: Sweet / malt with notes of toffee

Overall Impression: I could drink that

Comments: "Creamy malt; Smooth; I like this; Similar in taste to Newcastle, but fuller body; A little sweet, but boy it's good; Water aftertaste; Funny, they refer to it as a Scottish ale but the ABV is up there in the Scotch ale range. Doesn't taste that big, though; A well-made beer; It's a sweetie."

McEWAN SCOTCH ALE

McEWAN BREWING

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: McEwan's, Edinburgh, Scotland; STYLE: Scotch Ale (export only); ABV: 8.0%;

What the Brewer Says: "McEwan's Scotch Ale has a lot of loyal followers, especially in North America, and its rebirth is a direct result of customer demand."

Color: Mahogany

Pour: Decent head

Aroma: Reminiscent of maple syrup

Body: Full

Taste: Malty and sweet with a bitter bite. Notes of caramel, toffee, maple, raisins and brown sugar.

Overall Impression: Close to "Can't Get Enough"

Comments: "Nice finish; Full; attacks the side of your tongue; Not as roasted a malt as some others; sneaky beer - they've hidden the alcohol well; 50 shades of black; Could pour it on your pancakes; Not just for breakfast anymore; You really get a taste that reminds you of raisins and molasses, but there's enough hop bite to ensure it's not cloyingly sweet; Nice beer."

SCOT SCOTCH ALE

DAVIDSON BROTHERS

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Davidson Brothers, Glens Falls, NY; STYLE: Scotch Ale; ABV: 8.3%

What the Brewer Says: "Our Scotch Ale is more technically called a Strong Scotch Ale, and it doesn't fail to live up to its name...This is a favorite among wine drinkers, with its sweet profile and high alcohol content."

Color: Mahogany

Pour: Better than Decent.

Aroma: Not a strong aroma - a touch of smoke, molasses.

Body: Full

Taste: Alcohol, sweet with notes of molasses, toffee, caramel.

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough

Comments: "Tastes like a big beer; Tastes a lot bigger than the last beer; A bit fuller than the last beer; Residuals are not sweet; End that leaves a bit of a bitter finish; Very impressed with this beer; The alcohol cuts the sweetness."

DIRTY BASTARD

FOUNDERS BREWING

The Beer Facts: BREWERY: Founders Brewing, Grand Rapids, MI; STYLE: Scotch Ale; ABV: 8.5%; IBUs: 50.

What the Brewer Says: "So good it's almost wrong. Dark ruby in color and brewed with seven varieties of imported malts. Complex in finish, with hints of smoke and peat, paired with a malty richness and a right hook of hop power to give it the bad attitude that a beer named Dirty Bastard  has to live up to. Ain't for the wee lads."

Color: Ruby

Pour: Decent

Aroma: Malty sugar, grassy but not a big aroma

Body: Full

Taste: Strong and bitter on the front, mellows on the back with notes of caramel, toffee and some balancing bitterness.

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough

Comments: "Founders never disappoints; could almost chew this; A different approach to a Scotch Ale; More hops than in most today; In your face brew; A great beer; it's a Scotch Ale with hops; Great beer for a cold winter night."

THE BOTTOM LINE

Straying from our normal regimen of hoppy IPAs can be a dicey proposition. It's not like we suddenly decided to review a bunch of lite beers or Strawberry Wheats, but Scotch/Scottish Ales are big on malt and tend to be sweeter than the IPA/Pale Ale camp. Despite this, we found this bunch of beers to be very good, any of which we would be happy to see on tap.

Our two favorites were Founder's Dirty Bastard and Davidson Brothers Scot. Both were big, full-bodied, full-flavored beers. Both landed squarely in our "Can't Get Enough" camp. Dirty Bastard had strong toffee/caramel maltiness balanced with a nice hop kick. Scot had a similar profile though sweeter, with hints of molasses and brown sugar.

McEwan's Scotch Ale and Brew Dog's Punk IPA both were very near "Can't Get Enough." We found McEwan's delicious with strong taste of raisins, molasses, brown sugar and maple complementing the expected caramel/toffee. Good for a pint or two, but a bit on the sweet side for too many more. Punk IPA is an interesting hybrid of Old World UK style IPA and New World US style IPA. With a base of English Maris Otter Extra Pale Malt paired with US hops (Chinook, Athanum, Amarillo, Cascade, Simcoe) with some New Zealand Nelson Sauvin thrown in for good measure, Punk IPA has a distinctive American IPA vibe with a hint of its UK roots.

We gave both Newcastle-Caledonian Scotch Ale and Hopshire Farms Shire Ale a solid "I Could Drink This!" rating. The Newcastle brew maintained the sort of classic Newcastle taste as a base with a little more of a hop kick and classic Scotch Ale elements, though a bit more muted than some of the other Scotch Ales. One of the most pleasing aspect several of us commented on was its creamy mouthfeel. Shire Ale is a bit on the sweet side, but very tasty. Strong toffee malt taste with little hop presence. It's a solid Scottish Ale taste profile with a Scotch Ale ABV. Tastes like a session but it's too strong to fit that category.

IN MY FRIDGE

LAGUANITAS NIGHT TIME ALE: Described as Day Time's "big, dark, scary sidekick" this is nice full-bodied black IPA. Big malt taste with a strong hop bite. A delicious beer that will please both hopheads and stout lovers.

Sláinte,

The BOTB Guys

In the Bleak Midwinter

Message in a window in Glasgow, Scotland - Thanks to
Rosemary Jordal

Alas, winter is upon us. The snow piles high while the mercury sinks low. The glorious green of summer gave way to a brilliant burst of fall colors followed by the inevitable monochromatic melancholy of midwinter.

And to make matters worse, the Bills didn't make the playoffs. Again. Nor did the Jets nor the Giants nor the Browns nor the Vikings - a pathetic clean sweep for the BOTB Guys.

Thank God there's beer!

For our January beer club, we came upon a dilemma. Gerry proposed what, at first blush, sounded like a great idea. To wit: imagine you have a brother-in-law who drinks only mass produced mega brews and you would like to ease him into craft beers. What beer would you choose to nudge him toward more flavorful ales? And why would you choose that beer? It made for an interesting academic question. Something that would make for a lively discussion. Possibly over a delicious IPA. But would it necessarily make for good drinking? 

Upon further review, we began to realize that if we were to be true to the premise, it would necessitate an evening of fairly middle-of-the-road brews. I mean, let's face it, you're not going to ease someone into craft beers with, say, Heady Topper or Arrogant Bastard. Yet those are the kinds of beers we look forward to each month. Instead we would be bringing some fairly tame pale ales, perhaps even lagers. And where's the fun in that?

Gerry, savvy ex-administrator that he is, sensing the way the wind was blowing on this question, readjusted the sails and suggested we just bring a favorite beer with which we'd choose to celebrate the new year. 

In the end, we had a mixed bag of 12 different beers because nearly everyone tried to adhere to both precepts.

The brother-in-law beers were: Long Trail Ale, Left Hand Brewery's Sawtooth Ale, Middle Ages Boxing Day Bitter, Ballantine IPA, and Harpoon IPA.

The beers we brought as our New Year's celebration beer were: Long Trail Limbo IPA, Southern Tier 2X, Commodore Perry IPA, Up Top IPA, Circus City IPA, Elysian Space Dust, Apocalypse from Middle Ages, and Grindstone Brewery's Holiday Hopped Ale.

Because there were so many beers, some of which we had reviewed in the past, we once again did not do a thorough analysis. Instead I'll give you a quick group consensus on each and why this particular beer was chosen to entice a non-craft beer drinker to the dark side. 

Try-It-You'll-Like-It Beers

Long Trail Ale - Reason: "It's one of those beers from my early days of craft beer. It's one of the ones that got me into good beer." Group: A nice balanced pale ale. Easy drinking malt first with some nice hoppiness to it. I Could Drink This.

Sawtooth Ale from Left Hand Brewery - Reason: "A real nice pale ale that isn't over the top so it shouldn't scare him off but enough flavor so I like it too." Group: Another nicely balanced pale ale. Very tasty but nothing overpowering. I Could Drink This."

Middle Ages Boxing Day Bitter - Reason: "I just think it's a good beer and if he doesn't like it I'm sure he can find a Bud someplace." Group: Terrific beer. Nice piney hop presence with a solid malt backing and a bit of toffee at the finish. Can't Get Enough!

Ballantine IPA - Reason: "I figured the old familiar name of Ballantine might assuage his trepidation a bit as opposed to, say, Caged Alpha Monkey for instance. It's a real flavorful IPA though, so ultimately I'd be tossing him into the deep end." Group: Great beer. Good to see a name from the past resurface as a really tasty IPA. Impressive. Can't Get Enough!

Harpoon IPA - Reason: "If you're going to get him to an IPA, Harpoon would be a good one because while it's definitely an IPA, it's a fairly balanced one, without a real high IBU so there's no overload on the senses." Group: A good, solid, dependable IPA that skews toward the English IPA. Strong malt with a nice hop bite. Can't Get Enough!

New Year's Kick-Back Beers

The rest of the beers we did not really review, we merely enjoyed them as per our hosts instructions. Some of them we've had before (Soutern Tier 2X, Commodore Perry IPA) while others we'll take a closer look at down the road.


Next Month we zero in on Scotch Ales and Scottish Ales (they aren't the same). We'll explain the difference and give our unbiased opinion of several from both here and abroad.




Coming this spring: Live updates from the pubs of England - where a couple of BOTBers check out craft beer British style. Join us on a virtual pub-crawl through the English countryside and London. How does British craft beer stack up with American craft beer?

Sláinte,
The BOTB Guys