Unsung Beer Styles

I came across an interesting magazine article that discussed less common beer styles and how they can ward off the hot summer heat. With all of the craft beer experts that we have on the forum, I thought I would throw these offerings out there and get everyone's opinion of them. I'd be interested to see how everyone feels about them.

CALIFORNIA COMMON

Anchor Steam (San Francisco)
Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager (Fredrick, Maryland)
Steamworks Steam Engine Lager (Durango, Colorado)
Flat Earth Brewing Element 115 (St. Paul, Minnesota)

MUNICH HELLES LAGER

Stoudt's Gold Lager (Adamstown, Pennsylvania
Spaten Premium Lager (Munich)
Paulaner Original Munchner Hell (Munich)
Victory Lager (Dowingtown, Pennsylvania)
Thomas Hooker Munich-Style Golden Lager (Boomfied, Connecticut)

SAISON

Boulevard Brewing Saison ( Kansas City)
Brewing Ommegang Hennepin (Cooperstown, New York)
Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere (Dexter, Michigan)
North Coast Brewing Company Le Merle Fort Bragg, California)
Saison Dupont (Tourpes, Belgium)

BERLINER WEISSE

Dogfish Head Festina Peche (Milton, Delaware)
Brauerei Weihenstephan 1809 (Freising, Germany)
The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse (Placentia, California)
Bayerischer Bahnhof Brau & Gaststattenbetreib Berliner-Style Weisse (Leipzig, Germany)

KOLSCH

Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer (Houston, Texas)
Goose Island Summertime (Chicago)
Cape Ann Fisherman's Ale (Glouchester, Massachusetts)
Reissdorf Kolsch (Cologne, Germany)
Gaffel Kolsch (Cologne, Germany)

These are a lot of brews, but I'd value the beer guys appraisal.

Here's my list of local brews:
CALIFORNIA COMMON
NABC Mt. Lee

Kentucky Kommon
NABC Phoenix

MUNICH HELLES LAGER
Browning's St. Hilldegard Helles

WEISSE/Fruit
BBC St. Matthews Frambozen (plus bonus-Peach and Quad Lambics-available in bottles only)
BBC St. Matthews Summer Wheat
BBC Clay & Main Hefe-Weizen


KOLSCH
BBC St. Matthews Kolsch
KY. Ale Kentucky Light Ale
Cumberland Cream Ale

I've probably missed some. Start with this list and I'll post more when you are finished.

There you have it. So you can go check out those styles locally....

I actually don't care for most of the named styles that much. The exception would be the california common....the style is unique and uses lager yeast but is fermented at higher temperatures (without refrigeration). Normally lagers are fermented at low temperatures. But they do still ferment at higher temps, producing more fruity flavors. Of course, Anchor Steam, brewed by Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, is the most famous example of the style. I HIGHLY recommend a tour of the brewery if you're ever in SF (but make sure to reserve a spot weeks in advance - they DO fill up). Nothing like a great tour of an amazing facility, all free, and even free beer at the end!

Kolsch, would be my second pick on the list. Just a bit too light for my tastes, but refreshing.

As for the Berliner Weiss, does anyone local do it authentically, with syrups and all added to the glass??


Kinda sucks, but I was just in Berlin in April, and didn't remember to try an authentic Berliner Weiss! Next time!
Cheers,

Nimbus

The Two Hearted Ale, Hop Slam and Founders RyePA I drank last night were all three da bomb...but after sweating it up in the yard all day today this Rolling Rock I'm drinking now is tasting mighty good.

I don't care how many centuries the monks (etc) have been doing it...I've always felt there is just something fundamentally wrong with brewing fruit in beer. This whole thing with "bourbon barrel" this and that ain't thrillin' me too much either.

I don't care how many centuries the monks (etc) have been doing it...I've always felt there is just something fundamentally wrong with brewing fruit in beer. This whole thing with "bourbon barrel" this and that ain't thrillin' me too much either.

"The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it.", Grandpa Simpson

I don't care how many centuries the monks (etc) have been doing it...I've always felt there is just something fundamentally wrong with brewing fruit in beer. This whole thing with "bourbon barrel" this and that ain't thrillin' me too much either.

"The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it.", Grandpa Simpson

Amen brother.

David, I appreciate including us in the local Kolsch breakdown. It is a constant challenge to convince people that something called "Kentucky Light" is actually a very decent Kolsch-style beer, and not just another lager or lighter version of our Ale.

As for the other categories, Saison has always been my favorite. Especially with a year or two in the cellar. The ones listed are all good examples; I would definitely add the Fantom Saisons to the list.

The Flemish Sour Ale is still one of my favorite thirst quenching style. Examples include Duchesse de Bourgogne, Monk's Flemish Sour Ale, Grotten Sour Ale, the lamented Rodenbach Grand Cru. A great American version is the Ommegang Rouge that is/was on draft at Rich O's.

David, I appreciate including us in the local Kolsch breakdown. It is a constant challenge to convince people that something called "Kentucky Light" is actually a very decent Kolsch-style beer, and not just another lager or lighter version of our Ale.

As for the other categories, Saison has always been my favorite. Especially with a year or two in the cellar. The ones listed are all good examples; I would definitely add the Fantom Saisons to the list.

I really wish you didn't call it Kentucky light. Marketing ploy I guess. But it keeps my shop from carrying it. We're a light-free zone. (like Roger's joints)

Cheers

- Nimbus

I don't care how many centuries the monks (etc) have been doing it...I've always felt there is just something fundamentally wrong with brewing fruit in beer.

For the record; Trappist breweries do not fruit their beers, lambic brewers do. I was very happy when the fruit beer craze of the '90's left, seems it has returned. Fruity wheat beers, blah. Fruited Lambics, yes please, providing the beer is sour enough to balance the fruit.

This whole thing with "bourbon barrel" this and that ain't thrillin' me too much either.

You must be one of those Bourbon Snobs . Some BB beers are very nicely done, some are not. It takes a special style of beer for the process to be worth the effort. Big beers (8% ABV+) on the sweetish side work better than smaller ambers, hoppy beers, etc. I sampled an amber barrel-aged beer that had a predominate coconut butter flavor and aroma. I assumed the coconut was unclean draft lines in the bar were I was drinking. Tried three other samples around the city, same thing.

I really wish you didn't call it Kentucky light. Marketing ploy I guess. But it keeps my shop from carrying it. We're a light-free zone. (like Roger's joints)

Cheers

- Nimbus

I have always wondered the same thing.

Some of the following expands on Dave's post above. I wrote last night but neglected to post.

It's a source of joy to me that someone, somewhere looked past wheat-this, wheat-that and wheat-something-else to try and identify a few relevant summer styles. That said, I agree with Nimbus. My personal choice in summer is hops, and second is more hops. I drink Imperial Stout and Barley Wine in summer, too.

The use of wooden barrels to age beer, whether previously used bourbon barrels or otherwise, is a practice of long standing. Its revival is welcome, although skill and forethought are necessary to enhance a beer rather than overcome it.

Meanwhile, the proper use of fruit in beer depends on how you choose to use it – as it really is, or enhanced with sugar. Most of what we see in the marketplace is tantamount to alco-pop for flavor-terrified novices, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t proper uses for fruit.

Authentic lambic from Belgium often is flavored with fresh fruit, primarily cherries and raspberries. Do it right, and cherry lambic (kriek) tastes like cherries really taste. Do it wrong, and you have cherry pie flavor with far too much sweetness.

I heartily second the Flanders Red/sour notion. That Ommegang Rouge was great; not sure if there's any left. My favorites for sourish beer are Jolly Pumpkin (various types) out of Michigan. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em.

And, while I enjoyed Kentucky Ale's Kolsch last week when I visited the brewery, Kolsch is never, ever quite the same outside of Cologne. I, too, wish KA would call it Kolsch and be done with it. It qualifies.

Having heard an alarming rumor of a Stella-themed trolley hop next Friday, or something aesthetically atrocious similar to that (what does Stella have to do with local Louisvile culture?), I should close with a reference to light, mass market swill: Borrowing a line I first heard in Czech Republic in reference to American Budweiser, megaswill actually is perfectly acceptable in summer -- as pet shampoo.

Having heard an alarming rumor of a Stella-themed trolley hop next Friday, or something aesthetically atrocious similar to that (what does Stella have to do with local Louisvile culture?), I should close with a reference to light, mass market swill: Borrowing a line I first heard in Czech Republic in reference to American Budweiser, megaswill actually is perfectly acceptable in summer -- as pet shampoo.

For those of you thinking of heading down to the trolley hop and want to skip the megaswill, Schlafly Beer will be doing a tasting at The Bodega next Friday, July 3rd. I'll be tasting our full line, including our brand new, Kentucky-only, Bourbon Barrel Ale.

I would include my response to this thread, but it looks like most of the bases have been covered. I will say that I too am a fan of Kolsch, especially during the sweltering summer of the Ohio River Valley. We make a mighty tasty version of it too. We get our yeast strain for it from the Gaffel Brewery in Cologne, so it is very much a traditional Kolsch.

While I may have a strong preference for beer styles I can pronounce, I have yet to find a style of beer I couldn't sing about...after drinking enough of it.

I really wish you didn't call it Kentucky light. Marketing ploy I guess. But it keeps my shop from carrying it. We're a light-free zone. (like Roger's joints)

Cheers

- Nimbus

I have always wondered the same thing.[/quote]

There is a logical, if totally obscure reason for calling it Kentucky Light. It is rather interesting , but makes demands well beyond most attention spans. In a nutshell, the beer was formulated by one Dr. Joe Power of the Sieble Institute in Chicago, IL, and formerly of the Peter Hand brewery (later Meister Brau) where the process of brewing "light beer" was invented. As a global leader in yeast technology, we (Alltech) have connections with Siebel and Dr. Power, and the formulation of our Kolsch was a collaborative effort. That's the official reason we call it a "light beer". So it's more of an homage than a simple marketing ploy. But I totally understand why people are dismissive. It's too bad, because it really is a good representation of the Kolsch style and a great summer beer.