Dear Coilers, as the Stout trilogy came to an end it is time to continue with another of the brew styles. Coil’s taproom for subscribers is open, check what is served...
When one hears Ale one thinks about beer. But it wasn’t that way in the past. Ale is very old word, used since the 12th century. It was first referred to any alcoholic beverage brewed from malt, and than over time it referred to beer brewed without hops, then to any strong beer, and then to beer brewed with malt that had not been roasted.
Today Ale is a beer brewed in top fermentation where yeast rises to the surface when fermentation is completed. Fermentation of Ale is fast and in higher, warm temperature...
To put it simple:
ALE: “any beer other than lager, stout, or porter”
In terms of fermentation, Ale yeasts are routinely fermented from 13-21C / 55–70F. The optimal fermenting temperatures of yeast vary considerably.
Some Ale yeasts for example, do not perform well below 18C / 65F. The Chico strain is notorious for this, as well as certain Belgian and wheat beer strains. Common symptoms of fermenting too cold are stuck fermentations, poor attenuation (high finishing gravities) and off-flavors — especially diacetyl which gives buttery taste.
At temperatures above 24C / 75F the yeast can produce significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products (which are produced in all types of fermentation anyway), and the result is often a beer with slightly “fruity” compounds resembling those found in fruits, such as apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, cherry, or prune.
Ale as a brew style has many sub styles under its name. As in Stouts, this series will cover some of them and a beer of style covered will be tested in Coil’s taproom.
I will start with the most common of Ales...
PALE ALE is probably the first beer style on encounters when starts entering the world of craft beers. Those are brews of moderate hoppiness (both in hoppy bitterness and flavour) with balancing malt flavours. Not all Pale Ales are pale in colour as it varies from very pale to light amber.
Pale Ale just has to be well balanced and the enjoyment is guaranteed.
English Pale Ales showcase both the flavors and bitterness of hops (the hard water of Burton-on-Trent, where this beer style was born, helped bring out a slightly hoppier profile), but especially in the English variety, that’s usually tempered by maltiness. You can generally expect a range of faintly caramelly and bready malt notes against the characteristically earthy, floral, herbal, or resiny notes of English hops.
American Pale Ales balance American hops (citrus, pine, fruit, florals, etc.) with varying amounts of malt, which makes sense, since American Pale Ales were inspired by malt-forward English Pale Ales. Once the style reached the United States, it was brewed with local products, which included yeast strains that produced fewer fruity esters, and strong, citrus-forward hops that appeal to the American beer consumers. Balance is still of the high importance here, but it is slightly hoppier than English one. The style is highly popular, and extremely versatile, an American all rounder.
Dear Coilers, Stout trilogy will end with this article, which follows part1 and part2, but the “Brew!” series will continue with other beer styles. In Coil’s taproom I will present you something special, a 20$/liter fortune.
Now let’s continue with Stout sub styles...
OYSTER STOUT – yes, there is oyster sauce so why not oyster beer?! In England is common to slurp oysters in a bar while drinking beer. So brewers came to an idea to start brewing beer with oysters to match the taste. Oyster Stouts are pretty normal thing thou you wont find a selection as big as in other Stouts. Oysters in a brew give a body to the beer and some briny taste. It mostly is just a subtle touch of sea. Next time when you enjoy in oysters ask for a matching beer to accompany your aphrodisiac meal.
RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT was created and brewed in 18 century England for the Russian Imperial Court, that’s where the name came from. Just like Baltic Porter, Russian Imperial Stout is high in alcohol and 10% border is often crossed. It is deep and dark beer with roasty burnt notes, malty flavours of chocolate, coffee, fruits, bitterness from hops, all balanced in rich imperial product. Drink this beer slowly, enjoy it’s full body and complex aromas. Meditate, feel this jewl warming you from the inside with its high alcohol and imagine you are the Tzar himself. Perfect for cold winter days. It is generally perfect thou.
AMERICAN IMPERIAL STOUT is, as you can already guess, American version(s) of the Russian Imperial Stout but as Americans like everything on higher level, they mostly make it with even stronger flavours and even stronger alcohol which can go over 13%! Some American brewers got rid of the name connected to Russia so if you hear about American Double Stout know that it’s just the other name of the same thing. Creamyness and rich body are kept but in American version you can expect much more than coffee and chocolate. Hops for different hoppy tastes, barrel aging, high and strong alcohol with all other dark, roasty, smokey, woody, earthy... you name it... deep feeling.
American crafts are field for experiments. Expect anything but be sure you’ll get high creativity.
There are some other Stout sub styles like Coffee Stout, Pastry Stout and other “Flavoured” Stouts, taste and name of which comes from various additions to the Stout brew. Purists (me included) will never accept this “New World” eccentricity. But if it sells they’ll brew it. Do I have to tell you they make Pumpkin Stout?...
Enough about Stout, thou I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Next come the Ales.
Dear Coilers, after you’ve learnt basics about Stout beer style in previous article, you will learn about sorts of Stouts in next two. Ive mentioned sweet/milk Stout already and tasted one in Coil’s taproom. This time oatmeal Stout will be presented to the subscribers.
So let’s start with...
ENGLISH STOUT is, like said already, a beer developed as a sort of stronger porter which took off as independent style by use of roasted barley which gives Stout more depth.
English Stout has deep dark roasty flavour which comes from roasted barleys which are used in proportion with malted barley. Heavily roasted barley is intact in fermentation and its sugars don’t turn to alcohol so it can’t be used alone in brews.
In this more full than medium bodied beer hops are used to balance roasty bitterness and sweetness of malts thou some brewers add hops for flavours, to add a bit of hoppiness. Dark flavours of coffee and chocolate are present as expected.
IRISH STOUT is one of the best known beer styles thanks to Arthur Guinness who was the biggest promotor of Porter beer until his monument, Guinness Extra Stout Porter, in 1820, changed the name into Extra Stout and it became a new style.
Irish Stout is dry so don’t expect much of a sweetness of malt but more of a dark roasted malt flavours accompanied with coffee, chocolate and toffee. Also expect rather flat, low carbonated thing.
AMERICAN STOUT as most of the American craft brews is mess and mix of all. Under this style come a bunch of Stout varieties brewed by American breweries. They all stick to the basic rule – roasted barley but the things like alcohol levels, different flavours, hop bitterness and tastes, aromas... are more of a free choice than a rule. They’ll do anything to surprise you and fill your mouth. Add coffee, fruit, vanilla beans and age it in barrels to boost complexity and overall experience of something different.
OATMEAL STOUT as its name says has oatmeal added into a brew which gets this beer smoothness and brings malty sweetness to another level. If you search for a beer to drink for breakfast this one should be the first choice. Flour and bread flavours with some nutty taste combined with coffee and chocolate from the roasted grain can substitute a real breakfast. The best excuse heavy drinker can ask for 🤣
Dear Coilers, in last article I’ve been introducing you to Porter which is older brother of today’s topic...
In Coil’s taproom for subscribers, a double chocolate stout will be presented.
STOUT or Stout Porter as it was originally called is a strong dark beer of rich body and aromas. Most don’t see any difference between Porter and Stout as today’s styles are so mixed that even many of the brewers don’t know it.
But there is one difference which clearly separates the two. It is the kind of malt that should be used to brew each type of beer. Porters use malted barley and stouts are primarily made from unmalted roasted barley, which is where the coffee flavour, most people associate with stout, comes from. But even these rules seem to be somewhat blurry according to brewers.
As craft brewers love to experiment, border between two styles is often crossed so the only thing we can do is to believe the label on the bottle. In last years, following the growth of craft movement the names of Porter ans Stout were used interchangeably to name different of the dark beers. Are you drinking a Porter or a Stout is not much of an importance until you enjoy in every sip.
We are going back to 18th century London where, like mentioned in previous article, it all started. A Porter was born by blending different styles in the pubs, followed by brewers who decided to make beer with qualities similar to those blends: a dark, medium-bodied beer with lots of malty goodness that was balanced by quite a bit of hops.
Brewmasters in their experiments have boosted alcohol content and the Stout was born. As it’s name says it is stronger, stouter version of Porter, named Stout Porter – a Stout.
When Arthur Guinness finalised recipe for his Stout and Guinness as a brand became a household name, the Stout style took off and caught wide public as consumers.
But let’s leave Porter on the side and continue with Stouts, those magnificent dark brown, strong, creamy liquids.
There are plenty of sub styles which I will cover in next few days starting with...
SWEET/MILK STOUT
Sweet Stout is sweeter than average stout. Brewers make a Sweet Stout by brewing it to be low in bitterness to allow us to taste the best from delicious unfermented sugars. In some cases they are adding lactose, a milk sugar, to the fermented beer. That’s where the name “Milk Stout” comes from. Sweet Stout keeps the same roasty, chocolate and coffee notes of a classic dry stout, but the sweetness gives it a new character, beer close to a desert. Don’t expect a creamy cake or strawberry milkshake here but strong, liqueurish coffee drink would be close.
Dear Coilers, after an essay about craft beer movement I will continue “Brew!” series of articles by introducing you to some of the styles of beer. In Coil’s taproom for the subscribers, a beer of the same style will be tested and reviewed.
Today I’m going to introduce you to...
*Porter* is an old style of beer. It originates from the early 18. century London in pubs of which different old styles of beer were poured. A legend says that a barman in one of the pubs blended mild and light hoppy beers with darker aged old ales. The result he got became a hit so brewers decided to make a beer style which will have the qualities of that blend. And Porter was born. Thru time brewers were experimenting with different malts, hops, yeasts... and they’ve made Stout. As a fact Stout is stronger Porter. It is Stout Porter.
Porter was popularized by Arthur Guinness, who brewed it until experimenting with recipe gave a stronger, Stout Porter, a Guinness!
English Porters come in two styles, Brown and Robust. Brown Porter is more malty than hoppy, with flavors of bittersweet chocolate, caramel, or toffee, without any or at least not much of roasted barley (which gives stout its coffee feeling). Brown Porter is a kind of heftier Brown Ale. Robust Porter is a more intense, thanks to use of roasted and black malt, sometimes with accompanying substantial hops and it is much closer to Stout.
Baltic Porter was basically an English one but with higher alcohol content to be able to withstand a journey across the Baltic Sea. The style continued to evolve by the influence of the Russian Imperial Stout. It has complex flavours and high alcohol to put it in between Porter and Stout.
American Porter is craft brewed beer inspired by English older brother. It doesn’t stick to the basics of one style; using smoked malts for deepness it pays tribute to Robust Porter but with higher alcohol it is closer to Baltic one. American Imperial Porters can hit 10% alcohol level and even cross it. As it is a craft beer style, there are many varieties but what one can always expect are malty complexity and possibly aggressive hops. As well, one can expect brewmasters freedom to give it his personal touch.
Dear Coilers here is the final, 5th part of my “Ceaft Beer” essay which you can read whole starting with part 1.
For Coil subscribers there is a review of a hoppy lager in the Coil’s taproom...
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Micro breweries don’t promote their products in media nor would be allowed to even if they wanted to. They do it thru the quality of their beer. Their walking commercials are their fans which support them and adore them like they are rock stars. Micros do not fight against each other. They often work together and craft breweries’ collaborate both locally and internationally.
They have to fight with quality as they can’t fight big players with prices. Craft beers are mostly 100% more expensive than average industrial lagers. Some special styles cost even more. American hops, special malts and high production costs per unit are the cause for the higher price.
I have heard many complaints by commons that breweries try to rip-off hipsters who follow that new trend. But tru beer lover, follower of the craft scene and homebrewers above all, know what it takes to make perfect beer and that higher price has to be payed to get a product made of highest quality ingredients.
Will the price of craft beer drop in future depends mostly on prices of hops, malts and other inputs. The past taught us that the prices never drop thou.
So let me conclude this craft beer story...
Craft definitely is a trend but thru the time it became a subculture as well. From the small movement of people who were brewing their beer in old pots craft has grown into a mainstream term known by the whole world. The movement itself hasn’t lost its initial value, it has just grown in number and in quality.
Those with good quality and sustainable business model will survive on the rough beer market. Others will dissapear but it is the same in every business.
They have chosen to make their hobby be a business. Now they have to play by the market rules...
Dear Coilers, after the review of Barba pale ale in pt. 3 article, subscribers will taste Voodoo FES. But first lets continue with the craft beer essay...
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As craft beer subculture grows it becomes more important niche in each state’s economy and is strongly connected to tourism. Homebrewers and craft beer geeks oftenly travel to places where they can visit beer festivals, taprooms, craft bars and local breweries to taste products of the local craftsmen. Checking in in those places at some of the beer apps are their trophies. My city, Zagreb, Croatia, got a few serious beer geek pubs last few years. Many of their foreign visitors say they’ve chosen the destination exclusively to visit those places and have local crafts. Gastro – craft tourism was recognized by local tourist associations which started participating in the promotion of local beer happenings.
Craft breweries promote their products thru visual identity. They’ve gone a step forward with engagement of freelance designers and street artists to make a fusion of brewers and artists craftsmanship and get visually appealing combination which will make consumers take their bottle instead of others’. Quality of beer will make them buy again so if both, quality and visual identity, are top, the product will be a top seller.
Big breweries do not sell the product but commercial only. The only weapon they fight with are commercials on all sorts of media. Marketing campaigns are what they care about most, the beer itself is secondary thing.
In Croatia, craft breweries took 1% of the market and that was the trigger for the big players. They started a war with attacks and sabotaging. They’ve started lines of “simulated” craft beers which, no matter they were made in top production lines with the best technology, haven’t been able to compare with the products of the local micro brewing world. Consumers just didnt buy them. I myself tried few of their “pale ales” and they were bigger crap than their standard crap. They also started overtaking small breweries, opening their own bars and signing contracts with owners of local big bars to stop them serve any beers but their company’s.
Those moves were very counterproductive for the micros as their market exposure was limited and the law prohibits madia marketing of alcoholic beverages with over 5,0% of alc. do I have to say that big players have cut alcohol to 5,0% in their leading lines to be able to promote them? Hundered yeary old recipes were reformulated. Quality and tradition is only important in TV commercial. In real life what counts are numbers made from those commercials.
Dear Coilers, let’s continue with a craft beer saga, continued from part2. For the subscribers I bring a review of a Barba pale ale.
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So what is considered a craft brewery? An American craft brewery, defined by the Brewers Association, has an annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less, and no more than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not a craft brewer.
Here we come to a paradox that craft breweries try to stay small yet the logic tells that constant growth should be their path to business sustainability.
Best example is Scottish Brewdog which started as a small crowfunded startup. Today it is a brewery which sets standards in the European craft industry and is an inspiration to thousands of the small brewers. Their beers can be found on flights of several airliners, many clubs and bars, in their beer hotels and beer spa...
I would say that precondition for a good and creative beer is not a size of a brewery but independence, quality, consistency and passion. Simply, a different approach from commercial mega breweries.
Those big players will always produce a “healthy” and clean beer. Their technology and way they condition beer makes it easy but in most cases it’ll end in tasteless and monotone side. Micro breweries make fresh beer and often have a problem keeping beer in that condition as it is “alive” and prone to refermentation in a bottle so it has to be kept in low temperatures in cold room.
Again, I’d stick to quality and innovation. To be fair I must say that there are big breweries which can produce special lines of beer where knowledge and creativity of their master brewers is shown at its best. In the same time there are many of the micro breweries which lack in the most important things: innovation, quality and even a basic knowledge of making drinkable healthy fresh beer.
Dear Coilers, lets continue with Craft Beer essay Of which Part 1 was the first article in 14 days series for Coil Blogging Blitz.
The United States is the country which invests in inovation and development of hops more than any other country. There are several institutes which develop and cross breed different hops sorts to get new sorts with specific aromas, bitterness and taste. America has over 100 sorts of hop which made APA (American pale ale) and IPA (India pale ale) so recognizable and were protagonists styles which made craft beers popular throughout the world.
While pale ale can be traced to the 17th century Britain, IPA was first mentioned in the 19th century when British ships were loaded with beer to take it to colonial India. As the trip took long days in various weather conditions, brewers started making beer with higher alcohol percentage and were additionaly hopping it to preserve it bring fresh and “healthy” beer to the destination. Today’s synonym of IPA is American IPA as it is hopped with american hop sorts.
Beer drinking culture is nothing new but in last 5-10 years many of the consumers have learnt more than the basics they knew before the craft movement became strong. Some of the beer lovers can get bachelor degree in brewing and many are on the masters course. There are those who avoid bars which don’t serve crafts and it became normal thing within the subculture. When they go for a beer they go for craft, nothing else. Craft revolution has raised new generation of consumers who are well informed and are demanding even more.
Every beer noob thinks that craft beer has to be bitter and heavy and that brewers put fruit in them. The most widespread misunderstanding is that lager beer can’t be craft beer as big breweries made it to common and commercial. The truth is that any style of beer can come under craft label but lagers are less brewed as crafts.
is there any of you who hasn’t heard of “craft beer”? These days the word CRAFT is more connected to beer than to any other of the crafts. Trendy term known to all, from teenagers to grannies in senior citizens homes.
But is it just a trend which will pass or we can talk about new subculture which is growing each day? Or perhaps it’s both?!
In the next 14 days (during which BlueBloggersBrigade will secure its place on the throne of the ultimate content makers for Coil) I will cover craft beer theme with an essay and will review craft beers giving my honest opinion. Opinion from a “lager guy”...
Beer market is in big expansion. In my (small) country, Croatia, there are a dozen new products every month as well as one new brewery opened. Over 50 in last 6 years. In the United States in the year 2000 there were around 1200 breweries, with over 6000 today.
American styles of Pale ale and IPA have conquered the world in last 5 years thanks to their hops varieties. In the same time German export of traditional beer styles dropped 20%.
Craft beer lovers are insatiable. They mostly don’t have one type of beer or brand they consume but are constantly in search for something new. That way they dictate breweries to inovate and do different styles which became proviso of sustainability.
Important model of craft beer promotion are beer festivals which, these days, one can find in almost every town. During festivals, many different styles can be tested and brand awareness improved so brewers take part in many of them to catch new consumers of the liquid gold they make and bond their old customers even stronger to their line of beers.
Just like in many stories of business success, craft brewing started in garages of home brewers. Croatian beer scene revolution was started by enthusiasts who were brewing their first beer in draught beer tanks on which they’ve cut tops to make pots big enough for their beer making attempts. At first they were laughed at but now some of them run craft breweries and set standards of the local scene. Today, even if successful business owners, they are still active in their breweries both in production and in communication with their brand fans. American and European beer culture functions the same way, every town has at least one small brewery where members of this subculture can gather and discuss their “religion”.
Brew! – ALE pt.1
