I’ve written here at length about the cream ale style before, and for my latest article for The Bulletin that came out a little over a week ago, I covered the topic again: Need a lawn mower beer? Try an American cream ale. I delve a bit more into the … Continue reading
I’ve always had an affinity for Cream Ale, that oddly-named light American ale style with nineteenth century roots. All too often it seems to be nudged out of the way by the more prosaically-named Blonde or Golden Ale in many a brewery’s lineup however. Admittedly, digging into the style reveals there … Continue reading
Last month we hosted the monthly group brew for the homebrew club for which I brewed ten gallons of an American cream ale. Because I use a batch sparging method, I can only brew five gallons at a time, which when you’re brewing identical recipes back to back, offers some interesting … Continue reading
Today’s Advent beer pick comes from Puyallup in the Seattle-Tacoma area of the state of Washington, Puyallup River Brewing Company and their Imperial Christmas Cream Ale. Cream Ale is not something you normally associate with either “imperial” or Christmas, but Puyallup River has taken their standard Cream Ale and amped it … 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
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