Cream Ales ’n Kolsch
Introduction
You are being deceived, the wool pulled over your eyes and you don’t even know it. If you live in California at least, when you hear the term “Cream Ale” you may think of the following things and I don’t blame you.
Cream? I don’t want dairy in my beer. I'll pass.
Cream Ale? I am not a fan of lactose in my beers, milkshake IPA’s are bad enough this must be similar. I’ll pass.
Cream Ale? Like Cali Creamin by Mother Earth Brewing Company? No thanks it's way too sweet for me and that Creamsicle version was horrendous. I’ll pass.
Cream Ale? Like Cali Creamin? Oh yes that is a beer I can actually drink. I'll take that. (one sip later) This isn’t bad, but its not like the Cali Creamin by Mother Earth Brewing Company. That one is wayyyyy better.
The above four possibilities when offered a Cream Ale at a brewery (at least in California for the Cali Creamin examples) are understandable. The name says “Cream” while a standard Cream Ale has no dairy at all makes for a confusing situation for beer drinkers nowadays when so many styles of beer use lactose or vanilla to achieve a somewhat cream-like flavor. Even if you don’t react in one of those four possible ways listed above you still might not know exactly what a Cream Ale is. I sure didn’t and I work at a brewery.
You may think, “I am not being deceived purposefully, the name is not reflective of the beer since it contains no dairy but that isn’t terrible.” No, that's not it. The afore mentioned brewery Mother Earth Brewing is the one causing, in my eyes, the lack of this type of beer being brewed again (at least in California). Before I touch on why this is I want to discuss a different beer style, the Kolsch.
Kolsch
Now follow me, I know I talked about Cream Ales until the final line of the last section when I hit a sharp turn into a different style of beer, the Kolsch, but I will make it make sense. The Kolsch is a style many in the United States may be slightly more aware of since it is brewed more often than the Cream Ale. The Kolsch is a light, crisp, slightly hoppy ale. Think of it as a German Pale Ale if you want in terms of flavor, not as bitter as an American Pale Ale as there are far less hops added and it gets more flavor from the yeast used and grain. It is a beer being brewed all over the United States because it is easy to drink for those who like their Budweiser, rather cheap to brew compared to other styles, and is refreshing. It also takes less time to brew than a lager while achieving similar results as a Pilsner.
The Kolsch is not your standard Ale however. The Kolsch was developed in Cologne Germany in the 17th century and is one of the strictest defined beers in Germany. Brewers were sworn to only brew with top yeast (ale yeast) as opposed to bottom yeast (lager yeast). It was also defined that for a beer to be a Kolsch, it must be brewed in Cologne or within 30 miles of the city. So the Kolsch was by order of the Cologne Town Council in 1603 to be brewed as an Ale. This was abided by until 1750 when Lagers started hurting the market for the Kolsch. Brewers then broke the order of Cologne by - after brewing the beer - aging it in cold cellars as one would a Lager.
The Kolsch was then almost wiped from Europe in WWII as many of the breweries could not survive during war time. Following the war, breweries started picking up the style again but it was not favored as much as Lagers. They started to steadily increase in popularity following WWII leading into the 21st century as tastes in beer changed. In 1986, the brewers of Cologne agreed upon the Kölsch Konvention, which set out the brewing process that had to be used, and restricted the use of Kolsch to breweries that were within 30 miles of Köln. In 1997, Kolsch became a product with protected geographical indication (PGI), expanding this protection to the entire EU. This is not something that the United States abides by as many craft breweries here brew Kolsches and name them as such.
Now I am currently learning how to brew beer as I work at a local craft brewery. The other day we brewed a Kolsch and I found it very interesting. I have brewed a number of Ales, IPAs, Pale Ales, Hazy IPAs and more. I have also brewed Lagers like a Maibock and a Pilsner. So when looking at the malt used for the Kolsch it was almost exactly the same as a Pilsner. The process of brewing it was very much the same. The only differences being the amount and types of hops used and the yeast and temperature the beers where fermented at. Of course the Pilsner used a Lager yeast and the Kolsch an Ale yeast. The Pilsner is then fermented at a lower temperature as all Lagers are and the Kolsch at a higher temperature like an Ale. The Pilsner will undergo a 4 week cold storage called Lagering after fermentation is done and the Kolsch will Lager for 2 weeks. This makes the Kolsch an Ale but slightly like a Lager.
By now if you are still with me you are probably asking, “What on Mother Earth does this have to do with Cream Ales!?”
Cream Ales
There see? I’m getting to it ok.
Cream Ales as I have already said do not use any dairy traditionally. This I did not know until I was talking to the master brewer and owner of the brewery I work and learn at. I had asked if there were any other beers that are brewed like an Ale yet go through Lagering or something similar and he said the Cream Ale does. I reacted with option number three from the Introduction. This is when I learned about the Cream Ale and when I knew I had to write this down.
The Cream Ale is light golden crisp dry Ale which has subdued hop and malt flavor, instead resulting in a more yeast influenced flavor. The end product is like a subdued Kolsch or Pilsner. The reason for the more subdued flavor is its use of Corn or Rice in the grain bill to lighten the flavor and because it goes through a Lagering process just like the Kolsch does. It is by all intents and purposes the American Kolsch. It was first brewed in the United States in the mid 1800’s to satisfy the demand for Lagers when it wasn’t as easy or even possible to brew Lagers due to the temperature difference in the United States vs Europe. With a warmer climate, keeping the beer cold for as long or at all was difficult. It is generally fermented with Ale yeast but is not unheard of to use either Ale and Lager yeast or just Lager yeast. The beer is brewed and fermented like an Ale, then Lagered for some time.
So the Cream Ale is a slightly turned down version of the Kolsch developed in the United States. The parallels are clear between both beers, both trying to compete with Lagers like Pilsners and Maibocks by utilizing a Lagering process, both achieving their goal reasonably well.
The LIES!
So why do many think the Cream Ale is a sweet creamy beer like a Milkshake IPA or similar? Other than AGAIN Cream being in the name, it's due to Mother Earth Brewing Company and their Cali Creamin beer. This is technically a Cream Ale and many people like it because, just like a Cream Ale should, it is accessible to many beer drinkers. However, they upped the drinkability to non beer drinkers by adding Vanilla (I admit I like they at least claim to use Madagascar Vanilla Beans rather than extract) to make it more like a Cream Soda. They describe it as a subtle sweetness but I disagree and think it's too sweet. They also list it as a Vanilla Cream Ale on their website, but when describing the beer they call it a Cream Ale.
So ok, big deal. They aren't making a traditional Cream Ale. Many breweries switch up styles of beer and that is called innovation! While I don’t disagree there, I don’t like that one of the most popular Cream Ales on the market is a poor representation of the style. The Cream Ale should be light, crisp, and dry. The Cali Creamin is light, sweet, and that’s it. The Cream Ale is one of the few styles of beer developed in the United States and it’s being obscured by this sweet riff on the style. If a brewery decides to brew a Cream Ale without Vanilla or Lactose these days, the people that would be attracted to a Cream Ale are disappointed and the real Cream Ale is rarely brewed because it's too high a risk! Might just as well brew a Kolsch. People have an understanding of what that will be like and will buy it.
The worst part is that Mother Earth Brewing knows what it is doing. It knows it is actively participating in killing off a style of beer. They mention on their site in the description of the beer that their beer has “... redefined the category and made a classic style cool again.” They know they are redefining the style! They know they are taking an American invention that was delicious, simple and inviting and are redefining it by throwing Vanilla at it. They also say they are making a classic style “cool” again. The classic style is cool because of what it is: an Ale brewed with Lager elements. That is fucking cool! It is a representation of American innovation to make a beer that is at times even more of a cross between Lager and Ale than a Kolsch is because they simply had to do it that way in order to brew. It’s not “cool” to take a light style beer and throw sweetness at it to get the non beer drinkers on board, they can have seltzers and fruity beers. But sadly the real Cream Ale style is just not seen too often. Sure they are here and there, but many now utilize the Mother Earth redefined style by injection of Vanilla flavoring.
Closing
The Cream Ale is half Ale, half Lager, and that is cool. What Mother Earth Brewing is doing to the style is infuriating not just because it exists but because it is leading a trend that forces small breweries to either conform, or not brew it at all. Don’t get me started on the Creamsicle version my god.
But hey, let me know if you knew this already. Do you fall in line with what I suspected that previous understanding of the Cream Ale style is that it is sweet and Vanilla ridden, or did you know that it was an American Classic style that is being slowly murdered before our very eyes? If you knew and have a good representation of the Cream Ale please let me know the brewery and beer name. They aren't brewed near me.
