Beer of the Week: Cider

Yeah, I know cider isn't beer. I debated naming this "style of the week" but didn't want to limit myself to BJCP styles (or have to dump a bunch of stuff into category 23). And now here I am thinking I should have gone with Style. Oh well.

Anyway. Now that our bizarre warm weather appears to be behind us, it definitely feels like the time of year for those comfy winter drinks. Winter Warmers, mulled wine, hot toddys, hot buttered rum - and cider. We're getting ready to make a few batches of cider and perry (pear cider) and wanted to try some true English cider so we picked up a bottle of Aspall Dry yesterday at Lukas in Martin City. Consensus? Both of us agree this is the best cider we've ever had, and at $6.99 per bottle it's a deal.

I've had probably close to a dozen different ciders, none of which are authentic cider styles (Wyder, Blackthorne, Strongbow, Magners, Ace, and so on). Real apple cider should drink more like a wine and have a completely different profile than its unfermented cousin. It should not taste like alcoholic Mott's, much like wine should not taste like boozy Welch's (well, good wine anyway). The typical cider options we have are poor examples of good cider; they're the Arbor Mists of the cider world. That isn't to say they're particularly bad, they're just not what I'd consider proper cider.

Apple cider should have a clear appearance, though it's still ok for it to be somewhat hazy for a more "natural" style. It should also be a bit acidic with a bit of tannin to provide body and substance to the cider. This is, I think, what is missing from most commercial ciders and why I tend to prefer the drier ones (Wyder's Pear & Strongbow Dry). The tannin really helps add some complexity to cider, much like hops add depth to beer.

Apple cider has a long history in both England and France, but enjoys its own legacy in the US as well (thanks to European settlers in the 17th century). While we're all familiar with common sweet apple varieties such as Fuji, Honey Crisp, or Braeburn, there are dozens of other varieties more suited to ciders - and definitely not good to eat. Apples are split into four categories: sharp, sweet, bittersharp, and bittersweet. Each contributes to different qualities in cider, and are typically blended to create a balanced taste in a cider. There are few apple varieties that contain all of the desired flavor qualities (sweetness, acidity, astringency/tannin), such as Kingston Black, and they're not easy to find. Therefore, nearly all cider you'll find out there is made with a variety of apples (just as many beers are made with different malts to achieve desired characteristics).

If you're interested in making your own cider, it's extremely simple to do so. We found an orchard out in Overbrook, KS that we'll be visiting next weekend to pick up both pear & apple juices. This year's harvest wasn't that great, but you can start making plans for next year. They publish their harvest dates on their website so that you can plan your trip around different varieties. Alternately, you can bring a bucket or carboy to Louisburg Cider Mill and they'll fill it for you. Just call them a few days in advance to make an appointment; they'll tell you what apples they'll be pressing and will arrange a time for you to come by and get the unpasteurized juice. (A note on that - you can ferment both pasteurized & unpasteurized juice. Each will result in different flavors and you might experiment with both to see which you like best.) If you don't want to wait until next fall, you can make cider from preservative-free apple juice at the store (preservatives will prevent fermentation).

The steps to make cider are pretty straight-forward:

1. Buy juice & pour it into a sanitized fermenter
2. If using non-pasteurized juice, add campden tablets (1 per gallon of juice) to kill any wild yeast or bacteria in the juice & wait 24 hours
3. Pitch yeast
4. Wait a few weeks for fermentation to finish & add finings for clarification
5. Rack to another container, let clear a bit more, then package (keg or bottles)

The process can be much more complicated than this, but that's the basic concept. Using different yeasts will result in different cider flavors. Adding juice & halting fermentation will create a sweeter cider; adding acid, oak, or tannins will change the cider further. Of course cider can be either sparkling or still, and the addition of spices will add a seasonal flair to your finished product.

If you're interested in learning more about cider, here are some great references to get you started:

1. BJCP Guidelines for Style 27
2. BJCP Guidelines for Style 28
3. Andrew Lea's book on Craft Cider Making
4. Andrew Lea's website (now with frames!)
   
5. Another well-regarded book on cider by Proulx and Nichols
6. A great webcast on making cider with Jamil Zainasheff, Jon Pliese, and awesome guest Gary Awdey

I'll follow up at a later time on our own experiences making cider. My meads & braggot are coming along and I'll post more on that when they're ready to drink (just a few more months!). In the meantime... beer it is!

Beer of the Week: Cream Ale

This week's featured beer is a little less exotic than those that proceeded it, but perhaps more misunderstood.

Cream Ale is one of two unique US beer styles, along with California Common (Anchor Steam being the predominant example) which originated prior to prohibition and is currently in large scale production. We owe the survival of Cream Ale through prohibition to Canada, where it was popular and brewed during much of the US prohibition.

The name "Cream Ale" can be misleading. The beers contain no cream or milk and do not have a particularly creamy mouth feel, being instead light and thirst-quenching. Adding to the confusion is that some breweries adopt the Cream Ale moniker for beers that better fit into other light ale styles.

So then what is a Cream Ale? It is an American Lager (think Budweiser or Coors) which is fermented instead as an ale. The style has its genesis in East Coast breweries which aimed to compete with the popular American Lagers but were not equipped to carry out a lager fermentation.

Like American Lagers, cream ales are light in color and flavor and thirst-quenching. There may be some residual sweetness and a corn flavor, if corn is used as an adjunct. Most are brewed with adjuncts but there are some all malt examples (surprisingly not at all correlated with the size of the brewery). The primary difference between an American Lager and a Cream Ale is that the Cream Ale may have some fruity esters from the ale fermentation. The lack of a crisp drying sensation from the sulfur produced by lager yeasts may lead to a perception of a fuller mouth feel, but the mouth feel will not approach "creamy".

Modern Cream Ales are often cold conditioned or use a lager yeast for all or part of fermentation. There is no historical basis for this, however, as the lack of refrigeration was the entire motivation for the creation of the style.

There are not a lot of Cream Ales on the shelves, but you should have no problem finding one. Craft brewed examples include Spotted Cow by New Glarus (Wisconsin only) and Summer Solstice Cervesa Crema by Anderson Valley Brewing Company. The latter is unusual in that it is all malt, has a distinct crystal malt sweetness, and has a subtle addition of vanilla.

The next time you are mowing the lawn (which is hopefully no time soon), put down your American Lager and grab something a little more uniquely American.

Beer of the Week: Yorkshire Stingo

This week's featured beer is Yorkshire Stingo. Sting-what you say? Good question. Stingo is not a beer style per se but rather a slang word for strong beers produced in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. Yorkshire Stingo would have been produced in, you guessed it, Yorkshire. A particular method of fermenting beer was in use in Yorkshire at the time called the Yorkshire Square system. More on that later.

Yorkshire Stingo was so influential as to inspire the name of a famous pub near London which is known for, among other things, charging a cover (redeemable for beverages once inside) to discourage the poor from entering. But I digress, we are interested in beer from Yorkshire, not pubs in London named after beer from Yorkshire, right?

Yorkshire Stingo was virtually extinct during the 19th and 20th centuries. In fact, it would be nearly impossible to recreate the beer faithfully since the Yorkshire Square system was so important to the production. Enter Samuel Smith Brewery, one of the few remaining breweries employing the Yorkshire Square system (Black Sheep is the only other brewery using the Yorkshire Square system whose beer you are likely to find on this side of the pond).

What is the Yorkshire Square system? I am glad you asked. According to Wikipedia:

A Yorkshire Square vessel is a two-story system consisting of a shallow chamber approximately two meters high, above which is a walled deck. Cooled wort, the liquid extracted from malted barley, is fermented by a special yeast in the lower chamber, while the yeasty head settles on the deck above.
During the first stage of fermentation, the fermenting wort is periodically pumped from the bottom of the chamber over the yeasty head, to keep the yeast mixed in with the wort. Later, the mixing is stopped and the wort in the chamber allowed to settle and cool gently.
Most of the yeast rises onto the deck, and is left behind when the beer is drained from the chamber.
The whole process takes at least six days. However, beer straight from a Yorkshire Square vessel will still have a harsh flavor. Before it can be considered drinkable, the residual yeast must be allowed to ferment any remaining sugar, producing a little extra alcohol and carbon dioxide, which mellows the beer and produces a wonderful balance of taste and aroma. This conditioning begins in tanks at the brewery and continues after the beer is filled into casks, hence the phrase 'Cask Conditioned'.

Recently, Samuel Smith reintroduced the world to Yorkshire Stingo beer. Their interpretation is rich with English yeast character, caramel malt flavors, and a subtle oak flavor. This is an excellent example of a barrel-aged beer that tastes like oak and not bourbon. Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo is 8% alcohol by volume, dark and features just enough hop bitterness to balance the caramel sweetness. The barrels employed are quite old but have only been used to condition beer. It is amazing that they are still able to lend a discernible oak flavor to new beer!

According to the press release:

A traditional strong ale that originated in the north of England, “Stingo” is mentioned in literature before 1700. Samuel Smith’s Stingo melds the signature elegance of the brewery’s ales with a long historical tradition. Brewed from British malts and multiple hop varieties, Stingo is fermented in open-topped stone Yorkshire Squares, then aged over a year in oak barrels that previously held cask-conditioned ale, gaining subtle complexity from the wood. Some of the barrels at Samuel Smith’s are over a century old – if a cask is damaged, the coopers carefully replace broken staves and put the cask back into service.

Samuel Smith’s Stingo shows rich, superb flavors of toffee, raisin, dried fruit, and caramel; waves of flavor ascend and ebb leaving soft oak notes. Hops add a perfect enhancement to dramatic malt and fermentation flavors, but without pushing bitterness past the point of balance. Bottle conditioning – that is, including live yeast in each bottle – produces soft carbonation, a fruity aroma and finish, and allows Stingo to age and develop in the bottle.

You should be able to find Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo at better stocked liquor stores in Kansas City (I bought mine at Royal). It is a limited annual release so be sure to pick one up sooner rather than later. It is a great beer to drink on a cold and wet autumn evening like this one.

Beer of the Week: Berliner Weisse

This week's featured beer is Berliner Weisse. I had my first one in 1995, when Christo & Jean-Claude wrapped the Reichstag building in Berlin. My family was living in Germany at the time, and my dad wanted to see the "urban artwork" so we took a trip up to the unified city. I'll never forget the that impressive oddity of a wrapped building, nor will I forget that tart, light Berliner Weisse with a sweet shot (schuss) of raspberry syrup. I also blame Berliner Weisse for my subsequent (but short-lived) belief that Hefeweizen had banana syrup in it.

Berliner Weisse is a style of unfiltered German wheat beer, but what primarily differentiates it from its other weizen cousins is the presence of lactobacillus bacteria. The bacteria will generate lactic acid during the fermentation, providing acidity and tartness to the final product. The grain bill is typically about 50/50 malted wheat and barley, and the starting gravity is pretty low at around 1.030 (+/- .002). This means that there aren't a lot of sugars in the beer to ferment out and the resulting beer is low in alcohol. You might have tried the 1809 Berliner Weisse at The Westside Local, but its alcohol content is nearly double what the style dictates.

Traditionally, the wort for this beer was never boiled. Some of the mash water would be drained off then boiled separately with the hops, to isomerize the acids from the hops. The water would then be added back to the mash, the wort drained off, the yeast pitched, and fermentation initiated. There was enough lactobacillus in the grain to create the sourness needed in the beer, but results did vary. In my own mini-research on this, it seems a lot of brewers these days perform a boil and add lactobacillus in controlled amounts; other options are to add acidulated grain or create a sour mash. Some home brewers add lactic acid to taste after fermentation.

Berliner Weisse is typically served in a goblet with a shot of green woodruff (herbal) or red raspberry syrup - and a straw. This is to temper the acidity of the beer and was an addition purportedly started by Napoleon who found the beer appealing but too acidic. He dubbed the beer the "Champagne of the North" in 1809.

I picked up a small bottle of this at Royal Liquor last weekend for a little over $3. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was made by the same brewery who created last week's beer, a Gose. And yes, as you can see in my picture, I poured it into the wrong style of glass. While it is a German wheat beer, Berliner Weisse should be served in a stemmed goblet, not a weizen glass. Somehow, I suffered through!

This beer smelled a bit like fresh, unbaked bread dough and its initial taste was citrusy and acidic, a little like lemon zest but not as sour. The mouthfeel was soft from the wheat and light-to-medium carbonation, but the acidity in the beer made it light and dry rather than creamy or heavy. The lactic acid is prominent in the beer, but this is a sour beer that is much more drinkable than, say, a Geuze or Flanders Red. There was just a hint of grassiness or fresh wet hay flavor from the lactobacillus, but not enough to warrant one of my favorite beer descriptions of "horse blanket" (that still makes me chuckle. Yes I am easily amused.)

This is a wonderful style for summer that is very easy to drink; with winter coming, consider this advance research for next year. With the low ABV and thirst-quenching appeal, it qualifies perfectly for a "session beer" designation. At its price point, however, this is definitely a beer to be savored. I hope we see more of these fill the shelves in the future. I am optimistic; Southampton just won a gold medal at the GABF for its Berliner Weisse and I hope that inspires other breweries to try their hand with the style.

For more information, a couple of recipes can be found in Brewing Classic Styles and on Homebrewtalk.com, and more information on the style can be found in Designing Great Beers and on BJCP.com.

Beer of the Week: Gose

I've wanted to do a "beer of the week" feature for a while now and was planning on waiting until 2010. My impatience wins, however, so I'm starting now. I hope to post these every Sunday or Monday, though that may change. My intent is to write about styles, substyles, notable beers, and other style-related topics, though that may change too; we'll see how it goes.

First up? Gose.

A couple of months ago, I was flipping through Randy Mosher’s Radical Brewing and ran across a style of German beer I’d never heard of before:  Gose (GO-zuh). In it, Mosher explains that this style of beer is made with salt (yes, salt!) and coriander. It is also slightly sour, similar to a Berliner Weisse, and low to moderate in alcohol at around 4% ABV. The sourness initially came from wild, spontaneous fermentation (similar to the sour Belgian beers), but now is managed much more accurately and reliably with the addition of lactic acid bacteria.

My curiosity piqued. Another sour German beer? (see Berliner Weisse) Slightly salty? Citrusy? Count me in! I looked for it everywhere I went, but never found any until I went to Lukas Liquor in Martin City. I was looking for some German beer and there they were – two little bottles tucked away on the bottom shelf. I grabbed both of them, along with a few other beers, and headed home.

Gose is an old style of beer, originating from Gosen (hence the name) as early as the 900s, and popularized in Leipzig. Thanks to the predominant wheat crops in the area, about 50% of the grain bill is malted wheat. Gose production fell to zero during and after WWII due to bombing of some of the breweries and economic difficulty (see: East Germany). Thanks to brewers in Leipzig, German reunification, and the relaxation of brewing limitations in Germany, though, Gose is experiencing a revival. 

The beer itself is interesting and not as strange-tasting as you might think after reading the ingredients. It pours a hazy pinkish-orange color and maintains its turbid appearance long after pouring. The aroma is one of citrus, largely grapefruit, and the initial taste is citrusy as well. The salt only enhances the subtleties of the beer and isn't noticeable, and the finish of the beer is similar to a wit in acidity and light spicy coriander. The tartness of the beer complements the citrus overtones well and makes it quite a refreshing drink.

If you like Belgian Wit, Geuze, Berliner Weisse, tart lambics, or oranges in your American Wheat – I bet you’d like Gose. I bought the beer you see above, produced by Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof. You can find it at Lukas Liquor in Martin City for about $3 per 11.3oz bottle. 

Want to brew one? Mosher has a recipe in his book, or you can try your hand at the recipe on homebrewtalk. There's quite a bit of information in that thread to guide the adventurous homebrewer.