Ales: Stouts and Porters

This article is not about dark beers. "Dark" is not a flavor, "dark" is not a beer style, "dark" is, broadly, a color. I will be discussing beers that are dark, but there are other beers out there that are dark hued but have completely different characteristics from the stouts and porters. Originally porters were a style of beer that was popular among the working class, the porters, of England in the 18th Century. Lagering and advances in brewing technology made it possible to brew an almost clear ale, but the darker malts were cheaper and the darker color became associated with the working class. Initially porters had a higher OG (original gravity) which translated into a higher alcohol content and heavier texture. This gradually changed as brewers looked for cheaper ways to produce their beers, even going so far as to use coloring to give it the expected hue. In the 20th Century craft brewers brought back the old style with it's heavier, creamier consistency. The main difference, in theory, between a porter and a stout is one of degree. Stouts are considered to be heavier and stronger than porters. Early on, a particular heavy or high alcohol porter was called extra superior, extra or double porter, or extra stout. In reality, whether a beer is called a stout or porter is often a matter of what markets better, which name sounds better with the name of the brewery for instance.

Within the stout/porter category, there are several subcategories. One of the earliest was Russian Imperial Stout, so named because it was exported to Russian for the Czar. Imperial Stout was characterized by a very high alcohol content. The appellation Imperial has come to be used for high alcohol versions of  other styles. Baltic Porters are similar in taste, but are typically lower in alcohol content. Milk Stout, also called Sweet Stout is a popular style. Brewed partially with lactose, which is not fermentable by beer yeast, the residual lactose sugar imparts a sweet creaminess to the stout. Dry, or Irish, Stout is kind of the opposite of the sweet stout. It's hoppier and drier; Guinness is a good example of this style.

Many stouts and porters have a distinct chocolate or coffee taste. This is not necessarily due to any flavoring being added, but qualities of the malts themselves.

Stouts and porters are perfect for cooler weather, and also go well with chocolate or other sweet desserts.

Don't be afraid of the dark...beer

Empyrean Kölsch

The Kölsch is one of my favorite beer styles, a cross between an ale & a lager, it's at once crisp & refreshing and flavorful. Empyrean's take on the style, which originated in Cologne, Germany (Köln to the natives) pours the color of fresh pineapple with a three-finger snowy head. The alcohol content is four and change, with a bitterness score of 22 IBU. There are faint traces of peach and mango in the flavor profile, and breadiness that comes out as the beer warms up. Perfect for summer, but a great companion for spicy sausages or chili in the cooler months. Best Kölsch I've sampled yet!

Empyrean Peachy Keen Sour Ale

Sour beers are an acquired taste. I have acquired it.

Often when I go to Yia-Yia's for some "fancy" beer, I order some kind of sour beer - a gose, a lambic or a berliner weisse, the bartender always says to me, in a conspiratorial tone "You know that's a sour beer, don't you?" I started enjoying sour beers a few years ago when I was offered some samples of Goose Island's sour Belgian, Lolita and some of her sisters. Peachy Keen was originally a win barrel-aged beer, available only on draft. The bottled version does not seem to be barrel aged however. It pours a hazy golden hue with ruby highlights, minimal head, and a very low hop profile (21 IBU). Very light; it would serve equally well as a summer beer or an autumn ale in place of a Märzen. The peach flavor predominates, but it goes very well with the sour edge. If you're a fan of the sours, this is one that you would enjoy. 9/10 on the IGB Scale.

Ales: India Pale Ale

Related tangentially to pale ales, the India Pale Ale (IPA) has become, along with America's love affair with hops, one of the more popular styles in the craft beer explosion. The back story of the India Pale Ale style is that English brewers made a high-alcohol, high-hops version of their regular pale ales for shipment to colonial troops and administrators in India, since hops and alcohol both act as preservatives. There has been some doubt lately cast about the veracity of this legend. The style languished until being revived by craft brewers over the last two decades. An IPA in its basic form tends to be a medium amber in hue and very bitter, although the form the bitterness takes depends on the variety of hops used. Two major trends in IPA's have surfaced recently. One is a "race to the top" in the use of hops. Brewers have been trying to outdo each other with the hop content of their beers, coming out with beers with IBU's (International Bitterness Units) creeping upward from a respectable 40-45 to 70 to (the highest I've seen) 104 by Lagunitas. I've been told by a local brewer that you can't increase actual bitterness without limit, that eventually you reach a point where adding additional hops have no effect. As I mentioned before, the way the bitterness is expressed varies. Some high hop content IPA's are very smooth, while others taste like you could remove paint with it! The other trend is where brewers call everything an IPA. A hoppy red ale is a Red IPA; you have Black IPA's, Belgian IPA's; IPL's (India Pale Lagers) and who-knows-what-else. This is mainly to capitalize on the IPA's popularity, and it tells you, for instance, that a black IPA is a beer that tastes like an IPA but is dark in color. Low or medium bitter ales with a lower alcohol content are being touted as "session IPA's" (a session beer is one with a lower alcohol content, enabling one to drink more of them in one drinking session) - but to my way of thinking they're just pale ales under another name.