Hello readers and welcome back to those who were away for co-op! In case you missed it, last term was an odd one for Beer Buzz, since Eric was out in BC and Rebecca was in Waterloo. But now things are back to awesome – tasting and writing sessions are far easier in the same room than over Skype. This also marks our last term as the Iron Warrior beer columnists, and we are upset that we will no longer be able to call drinking beer research. In this article we will be exploring the American microbrewery scene and reviewing two very different American craft beers.
Eric recently had the chance to drive through the United States on his way home from BC, and as a result was able to pick up some American beers we can’t usually get here in Canada. For those of you that don’t know, the American craft beer scene is huge. According to the Brewers Association, 1,927 breweries were operating for some or all of 2011. This is in contrast to an estimated 275 craft brewers in Canada, though oddly enough we do have more breweries per capita than the USA. The Americans have a reputation for having watered down tasteless beers, but nothing could be farther from the truth. In reality, the largest American owned brewer is the Boston Beer Company, makers of Samuel Adams Boston Lager. The Boston Beer Company also happens to be the largest craft brewer in the USA, producing 1.5 million barrels of beer per year. The Brewers Association keeps raising the production limit to be called a craft brewer due to the success of the Boston Beer Company, with the limit currently set at 6 million US barrels per year. As you can see, the craft beer movement in the United States is remarkable, with craft beer being sold in almost every licensed establishment. Over the last few years we have had our opinions on American beer changed. While it is impossible to do justice to the large variety of beers being brewed in the USA, we will attempt to give you a taste by reviewing two vastly different craft brewers.
I, Eric, will be reviewing Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery is one of the most popular craft brewers in the United States. They are widely known for their unique experimental beers as well as their line of popular India Pale Ales (IPAs) aimed for hop-heads like me (60 Minute IPA is one of those). Since 1995, Dogfish Head, based in Milton, Delaware, has brewed some of the most diverse and exciting beers in the USA, so I’m going to take a moment to describe a few. Pangea was a spiced beer brewed in 2003 with ingredients from every continent including: Australian crystallized ginger, water from Antarctica, Asian basmati rice, African muscavado sugar, South American quinoa, European yeast, and North American maize. Midas Touch is a beer from their Ancient Beers series that aims to recreate ancient beers based on recipes obtained from the chemical analysis of residues in clay pots obtained in archaeological digs. Midas Touch is based on a recipe obtained in the tomb of King Midas, it dates from the 8th century BC, and contains yellow muscat grapes, barley malt, thyme, honey and saffron. A final example is UrKontinent, a beer brewed in partnership with Google. The ingredients were chosen based on suggestions of Google employees around the world and include: wattleseed from Australia, toasted amaranth from South America, green rooibos from Africa, myrica gale from Europe, and hiveplex honey from Google’s headquarters in California. I hope these three examples have given you an idea of how diverse and wildly experimental Dogfish Head is as a brewery. The 60 Minute IPA is one of my favourite IPAs since its strong bitter hops taste is balanced with the rest of the flavours. The beer pours a clear deep gold with a good amount of head, and lacing that lingers until the beer is gone. The smell is that of pine with a hint of citrus. The characteristic hop bitterness of an IPA is smoothed by the citrus fruit taste, but the taste is very similar to other IPAs brewed in the USA. The carbonation is aggressive, making the tongue tingle a bit. Overall, this is a great example of the IPA style that could serve as a session beer for any beer enthusiast.
Today I (Rebecca) will review the Saranac Caramel Porter. The Saranac family of beers is brewed by the Matt Brewing Company, which was established in 1888 in Utica, NY. The brewery has been owned by the same family since its creation, and boasts a large selection of unusual beers. They also work with the Lake Placid Craft Brewing Company, brewers of the Lake Placid brand of beers, which you can enjoy at the Whiteface ski resort in New York State. Eric and I are both avid skiers, so whenever we ski in the States we always bring back as much American mircobrewed beers as we can! I’m especially happy to be trying the caramel porter today, since stouts and porters are my favourite (especially in the winter). As soon as I opened the bottle a very heavy smell of sugary caramel wafted out, and after pouring my glass was filled with fluffy, light brown head that dissipated quite quickly. The beer itself is dark amber brown, and frankly it is quite a nice looking beer. The taste is very strong caramel – it nearly overwhelms the taste of all the other ingredients. However, you get a tiny bit of hops and some bitterness in the finish. I enjoyed it, but I generally like sweet, dark beers – for all those out there who aren’t fans of sugary beers, this one may not be for you. This is definitely what I would call a dessert or nightcap beer.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the beer our southern neighbours have to offer and that we’ve inspired you to pick up some American craft beer next time you visit the US. As always, Fear No Beer and be sure to take some time out your busy schedules to savour some hoppy goodness!
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