Beer Styles: American Pale Lager

Much maligned, the American pale lager was (and based on sales, still is) the most popular beer style in the United States and perhaps the world. There are several different reasons for this. One is the fact that in the late 1800's, early 1900's there was a large influx of German immigrants, and many of them had been brewers back home. There had been beer brewing from the earliest days of North American colonization, but that had been mostly by small local brewers. Frederick Pabst, Adolphus Busch, and immigrant brewers with names like Stroh, Miller and Schlitz turned it into a serious business. At the time of this "German Invasion", the pilsener style was the cool new thing in Europe. A hoppy, pale lager that was crisp and clear, pilseners had nudged out many of the local varieties of beer in the European beer-drinking regions, so it was natural that the newly American beer producers would seek to emulate this style. A second influence on what would become classic American beer styles was the difference between European (2 row) barley and American (6 row) barley. The American variety had several characteristics which negatively influenced the taste of American-brewed beer, so corn was added to the grain mix. Later, during a period of grain  rationing, rice was also added - this practice continued after rationing ended.

The big influence on how beer developed in the United States was Prohibition. For thirteen years it was illegal to brew or consume beer. Most of the smaller brewers went out of business, with only the largest able to weather the storm by producing root beer, ginger beer and other items. When beer production geared up after the 21st Amendment was passed, it was no longer a predominantly local affair. The surviving brewers now had to appeal to a wide clientele, not just the tastes of the drinkers in their city, so the beers post-Prohibition were geared to theoretically appeal to everyone. A style that we now refer to as Vienna Lager may have been representative of the pre-Prohibition beers. Vienna, now in Austria, was home to many German-speaking brewers who emigrated to North America, including Mexico. Representatives of this style include Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Yuengling, Negra Modelo and Bohemía. Post-Prohibition lagers were brewed with a lower hop profile and what many refer to as a least-common-denominator flavor, not only to appeal to the largest segment of the population, but to appeal to women as well.

None if this is to suggest that mass-produced beers taste bad, it's just that they don't vary much from  one to another and the flavor is overly processed - think your run-of-the-mill white bread or a McDonald's hamburger - okay, but nothing special. Until recent years there wasn't much to choose from outside of the giants: Budweiser, Miller, Coors etc were all pretty similar, the only variety one might find in most markets came from the imports: Guinness Stout (for the adventurous), Heinekin and Lowenbrau were the ones that I recall from my youth. In the next installment, we'll look at those "classic" imports

Beer Styles: Lager Origins

Even though lagers are the more recent type of beer, most mass-produced beers today are lagers in one form or another. Let's examine why.

Beer has been produced for millennia. However for most of that time, brewing was a seasonal activity, confined to the cold months. Before pasteurization, before refrigeration, before anyone even knew about microorganisms like yeast, let alone understood what they did, beer had to be brewed during the time of year when the heat wouldn't cause it to spoil quickly. Local water and local strains of yeast determined in large part how a beer would turn out. Beer makers in Germany discovered the process of lagering fortuitously. In order to be able to have some beer available in the warmer months, some German brewers stored some of the beer brewed at the tail end of winter in mountain caves (Ger. lager), packed in snow and ice. What they didn't realize was that the beer would continue to mature while stored in this manner. And although they didn't know about the role of yeast in brewing, they were in effect breeding hardier, bottom-fermenting yeast that eventually made for more stable beers. This style of beer became known as a lager, typified by the use of bottom-fermenting yeast that was able to ferment at lower temperatures. Despite most modern lagers being light-colored, lagers of this era tended to be darker, probably as a result of the high heat used in the malting processing. Several different styles of lager emerged from this new method of brewing. One is the style that we now know as Oktoberfest. In keeping with the habit of summer lagering, the last beer of the winter batch was set aside in March to be cracked open again in October, these Märzens are the backbone of the yearly Munich Oktoberfest. Bocks are beers that, rather than being laid down in March, are generally consumed in March, brewed with a higher alcohol contact, their ostensible purpose was to provide sustenance throughout the Lenten season. Bocks generally are a bit hoppier than average, and are charecterized by a robust malt profile and tend to be a little sweeter. In my opinion there's a dearth of bocks these days. The mainstream, run-of-the-mill lagers were divided up into two main varieties: helles (light or pale) and dunkel (dark), although the helles came along later, after the advent of the pilsener.

In 1842, in the town of Plzen in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic) the first golden lager was produced. Since most beers, both lagers and ales, of that time tended to be dark brown in hue, the appearance of a pale, clear beer was quite unique. The golden color was in large part due to a new method of heating the malt - indirect heat, which prevented a darkening  and smokiness of the brew that direct heat caused. The water was unusually mineral-free (soft) which contributed to the clarity of the beer. The brewers in Plzen and surrounding areas also were very free with hops, giving the new style a bitter edge. This style became so popular that many of the brewers who eventually emigrated to America specialized in it once they set up their own breweries in The States. The Plzen style, or Pilsener became the dominant style of the major brewers and was what most Americans thought of as "beer" through most of the 1900's, although the mass producers eventually modified their beers to be less hoppy and added adjuncts (grains other than barley) to produce a more consistant product.

Boulevard Tasting Room Series: Belgian Style IPA

The hue of an over-ripe pineapple, or perhaps an apricot of a certain age, with a cumulus-inspired three-finger head that coquette-ishly recedes to a thin lacy coverlet, this Belgian style ale is the real deal. Wheat, bananas, clove, a hint of bubble gum and a melange of citrus all contribute to this masterpiece of brewing artisanship. It clocks in at 57 IBUs, but doesn't seem overly hoppy, to my surprise, especially since they did some dry hopping. Overall an outstanding brew that I'd recommend any day of the week.

Bouevard Tasting Room Series: Black Pale Ale

Ours a deep brown, almost black, with a two-finger head the color chocolate milk. Despite it being billed as a pale ale that just happens to be dark, it tastes more like a light, hoppy porter to me. There are some chocolate and coffee notes that you wouldn't usually get in a pale ale. If you ignore what they're calling it and just drink it, you'll appreciate it a lot more.

Beer Styles: Lager vs. Ale

Many of the readers of Ill-Gotten Booty Beer Reviews know their beer. This is just a reminder for most of you!

Ales and lagers are the two main subdivisions of beer. Ales are beers, lagers are beers. Generally, a beer is an alcoholic beverage derived from fermented grain. Most beer comes from barley, with a significant minority deriving from wheat. Most American mass-produced beers also include adjuncts, like rice and corn. Rye has also become popular in recent years. Beverages that are produced using fermented fruit are, in general, classified as wines or ciders. with fruit-flavored beers, the fruit is usually a flavoring, while there is still a grain base that is being fermented. Fermentation takes place due to the action of microorganisms (yeast) upon sugar, which they convert into alcohol.

Prior to the scientific advances that led to the discovery of bacteria and other microorganisms in the 1800's, fermentation was poorly understood. The various yeasts that catalyzed fermentation were "wild" yeasts that were to be found in the environment where the brewing took place. It was not until the last several century or so that yeast strains were cultivated and stored to ensure standardization in the brewing process. The Lambic style is one of the few that still employ the use of wild yeasts.

Of the two main categories of beer, ales are the oldest. The naturally occurring yeasts were "warm fermenting" or "top fermenting", meaning that a certain amount of heat was involved and the used up yeast floated to the top of the ale once the fermentation was done. For centuries, perhaps millennia, all beers were what we would classify as ales.

Before the science of microbiology was developed, the reason, not only for fermentation, but for spoilage, was not understood. Some brewers in the colder regions of Germany, however, discovered that keeping an ale cold would extend its life. They began the custom of brewing a batch in March, before it started warming up in the Spring, and storing it in a cave (German: lager) packed in the last ice and snow of the season, to be brought out in October - hence the Oktoberfest festival. (these beers were, and still are, called Märzen Ales, German for "March"). They soon discovered that, not only did this process preserve the beer, but it continued to ferment and "condition", producing a clearer and crisper tasting brew. Thus began the style that we now call the lager. Later, when the role of yeast was better understood, it was discovered that the strains of yeast that survived the lagering process were hardier and when introduced into fresh batches "bottom fermented" and would ferment at a lower temperature than the ale yeast.

Today, most mass-produced beers are lagers. The lagering process allows for greater standardization. What we think of as "beer" is largely shaped by what the large brweries put out. Most small-batch, craft and micro-brews are ales. Brewing an ale allows for more subtle flavor profiles, as the warm fermentation process releases more of the "esters" that give an ale a distinctive flavor. There is also the matter of the lagering process being more time consuming - a small brewer often cannot afford to tie up their equipment for the time required.

Future posts will discuss the many styles and substyles of ales and lagers, as well as hybrids such as Kölsch and Altbier.

New Belgium 1554 Black Lager

The first thing I noticed when I pulled this bottle out of the fridge was that 1554 Black Lager used to be called 1554 Black Ale. What the hell? So I did a little research, which took all of about 2 minutes on the interwebs. It turns out that the beer has not changed, it has always been a lager brewed with ale yeast (kind of like an Altbier) that they wanted to call a lager. However, in Texas, a ridiculous law (I know, imagine that, a stupid law in Texas) decreed that any beer with an ABV of 5% or higher had to be called an ale. I noticed this on a Sam Adams variety pack a few years ago, and now I know the answer! I am attaching a link to the New Belgium explanation as well as to my previous review.

http://www.newbelgium.com/community/Blog/new-belgium-brewing/2014/02/10/Did-you-notice-the-change-to-1554

http://ill-gottenbooty.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-belgium-1554-enlightened-black-ale.html

New Belgium RyePA

Yay! Another IPA! This guy pours the color of dark honey with a quickly receding tannish head. The rye contribution always adds a solid character to an ale, very much like the flavor of some lightly toasted rye bread. The hops are of the piney variety and there are some citrus notes throughout. Hints of coriander and black pepper round it all out. A good one to try if you're a hop-head!

Citradelic Tangerine IPA

I posted a few reviews last year bemoaning the trend toward labelling everything an IPA. It's a great example of branding: IPAs are popular, so call everything an IPA. Citradelic is only at 50 IBUs, so maybe just a strong pale ale. Nonetheless, this is a pretty tasty brew. Pouring an orange-amber with a three-finger head that quickly subsides to a lacy white foam, the scent of tangerine is there, but not overpowering, which you so often get with these fruity beers. There is also an obvious pineapple contribution to the mix, as well as some lemon and orange. Solid ale, but like a lot of what I'm seeing this season, could be better seen as a summer ale, rather than a cold-weather offering.

Baraboo Chocolate Porter

Last chocolate ale in the house! I'd never heard of this label before, but I'm glad I picked this one up. It poured, as it should, a deep, dark, almost-black, with a four finger head that shrunk down to a half-finger head pretty quickly. Like the picture indicates, this chocolate porter brings to mind hot cocoa and marshmallows. There's also some coffee bean hiding in there as well. Pretty decent if you like thick, creamy, chocolaty porters...which I do.

Fort Collins Brewery Chocolate Stout

What's up with all these chocolate brews lately? In Ill-Gotten Booty's opinion, chocolate is a very appropriate addition to stouts and porters. It poured a deep brown, almost black, with some reddish highlights. There's some roughness from the hops, but a thick smoothness that evens it all out. What else is in there? Another review mentions black olives, which to me seems absurd (a word never before used on IGB Beer Reviews), but I do detect some coffee, a little licorice, and some smokiness. This is a pretty decent  brew...7/10 on the IGB scale. Black olives...really?

Hiram's Bones Porter

A little bit of trivia about the name Hiram's Bones: In 1828 Hiram Scott fell ill returning to St. Louis on an expedition with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He was abandoned by his companions. His bones were found the following Spring, quite a distance from where they left him. Scotts Bluff is named for him.

Kincaider Brewing is based in Broken Bow, Nebraska - another fine addition to the crop of local brewers here in the state.

Hiram's Bones pours a cloudy dark brown, with a two-finger head that magically grows to four as it settles in the glass. There's a rich malty taste, as one would expect from a porter, with a nice tang from the hops. Notes of coffee and chocolate swirl around. There is something a bit off though, at first I thought it might be smoked malt, but I'm not sure. The mouthfeel is a bit thinner than I'd expect from a porter, but not enough to detract from the taste. Overall a solid brew from the new kid on the block.

Sierra Nevada Otra Vez

I have been fascinated with sour beers over the last year and have tried a few over at Yia-Yia's and reviewed one here at IGB:

http://ill-gottenbooty.blogspot.com/search?q=Gose

A gose is an unfiltered wheat, with 50-60% wheat, tending to a low IBU count and usually with some fruit flavorings. I would tag this style as a summer beer, it being so light and refreshing, but winter can't be all about dark and moody stouts and porters.

Otra Vez pours a super-light golden yellow and a towering white, four-finger head. The aroma of prickly pear and grapefruit comes through right away. There's sourness, but not too much. Despite its summerness, I'd drink some more of these this winter.