I saw this news last week but hadn’t really had time to fully process or address it: online beer retailer Liquid Solutions is closings its doors. It is with a heavy heart that I am closing the business down after nine years of operation. We are shutting down the website … Continue reading
In case you missed it yesterday, my Hop Press articles is a meditation on the aging of beer. When does the aging end and the drinking begin? Do you follow the Pliny school of thought, or the Reserve Series? Lately I’ve been drifting a bit from the Reserve Series column … Continue reading
Even though they call it “Golden Ale,” Terrapin Beer‘s Golden Ale does in fact fit the Cream Ale style bill—and the ratings sites both classify it as such. Intrigued, I contacted Terrapin to find out if they would provide a sample for review; they generously sent two bottles to me. … Continue reading
The most-rated beer for the Cream Ale category on both BeerAdvocate and RateBeer comes from Wisconsin, specifically the town of New Glarus: Spotted Cow, from (fittingly enough) New Glarus Brewing. As it happens, it may also be Wisconsin’s best-known beer—it’s certainly the flagship beer for the brewery. At 4.8% alcohol … Continue reading
It would be hard to talk about Cream Ales on the West Coast and not mention Anderson Valley’s Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema. It’s a Cream Ale that actually achieves a creamy flavor (and aroma)—though it’s through the addition of a mystery spice. So it’s sort of a hybrid of a … Continue reading
Laughing Dog Brewing is one of those Pacific Northwest microbreweries you may or may not have heard of; located in the Idaho panhandle (way up north) in the town of Ponderay, the brewery has been making something of a splash in the PNW for their Alpha Dog Imperial IPA. This … Continue reading
This Reserve Series ale was last bottled in the year 2000 Deschutes Brewery, the sixth largest craft brewery in the nation, announces the release of its first Reserve Series beer for the New Year and decade, Jubel 2010. Jubel 2010 is a deeply dynamic presentation of the flavors found in … Continue reading
Cream Ale is classified by the BJCP as a “Hybrid Beer”: category 6A. It’s classified as a hybrid because it was originally developed as an ale version of the American light lager that was popular in the latter half of the nineteenth century: An ale version of the American lager … Continue reading
The first Cream Ale I picked up to review this week is an award-winning beer from (big surprise) Oregon: Pelican Pub & Brewery‘s Kiwanda Cream Ale. Pelican is one of the top brewers in Oregon right now, and it’s not much of a stretch to say Kiwanda Cream Ale is … Continue reading
Welcome to Cream Ale Week! All this week I’ll be reviewing and writing about Cream Ales, the light “hybrid” style of American golden or blonde beers (why it’s considered something of a hybrid style is something I’ll cover this week as well). Why Cream Ales in the middle of winter? … Continue reading