Cream Ale or Kölsch?

Tasting session 11

Beer 1 Choices: Witbier, Kölsch, Cream Ale, Berliner Weisse

Beer 2 Choices: British Brown Ale, Strong Bitter, International Amber Lager, Belgian Dubbel

Beer 3 Choices: International Amber Lager, British Brown Ale, American Brown Ale, Irish Red Ale

Beer 4 Choices: Oatmeal Stout, Imperial Stout, English Porter, American Porter

Score: 2/4

Beer 1 things to look for:

Witbier: orange/corriander

Kölsch: fruity esters

Cream Ale: light-lager adjacent

Berliner Weisse: lactic sourness

Notes:

No sourness, so Berliner Weisse was out. There wasn’t the heavy orange/coriander character typical of a Wit, so that was out. For Kölsch, I’d expect a lager-like beer with fruity yeast esters. For Cream ale, I thought it should be lager-like without fruity esters. Complicating things, the BJCP guidelines say that Cream Ale “may seem like a somewhat subtle Kölsch”. This comment confuses me, as the guidelines describe Kölsch as a “subtle” beer with “subtle fruit aroma” and with aromatics that are “fairly subtle”. So a Cream Ale is a subtle version of a subtle beer?

BJCP also says that Kölsch “can be mistaken for Cream Ale” without offering distinctions to look for, so who knows? I’ve had Kölschs that are very bitter, very malty, or very high in fruity esters. The trouble is that Kölsch doesn’t age well, so bitterness diminishes along with malt character and the “subtle” fruity esters. That being said, I thought I detected some fruity esters, so picked Kölsch. I was wrong, but after going back to the guidelines, it says Cream Ale can have a low amount of esters. So who knows? This one is goofy.

Beer 2 things to look for:

British Brown Ale: fruity yeast esters, UK malt

Strong Bitter: UK malt, presence of hop and malt, fruity esters

International Amber Lager: clean yeast, neutral flavors

Belgian Dubbel: fruity esters, spicy phenols, dry and bubbly

Notes:

I wasn’t detecting fruity esters or spicy phenols via aroma or taste, so IAL seemed like the only choice. It lacked characterful malt and hops as well.

Beer 3 things to look for:

International Amber Lager: clean yeast, neutral flavors, even balance

British Brown Ale: fruity esters

American Brown Ale: clean yeast, US hop character/bitterness

Irish Red Ale: malt focused, clean finish

Notes:

This one I just totally goofed. I’m so used to drinking Sam Smith’s Brown that I forgot British Browns can taste differently. I got a lot of butter flavor with this sample, and usually detect none in Sam Smith’s. The BJCP guidelines don’t mention diacetyl (the compound responsible for the buttery flavor in beer) in the entry for British Brown, but it was certainly in the sample. So this is something I’ll file away for the next time I get British Brown. It could be Newcastle, and to me those taste buttery.

I initially eliminated British Brown because I didn’t detect fruity esters. The BJCP says diacetyl is acceptable in Irish Red, but it didn’t have the malt profile of an Irish Red, so I eliminated that. I couldn’t detect any hop character or bitterness, so eliminated American Brown.  The beer wasn’t very robust in the malt/hop/yeast department, and that’s why I went with AIL.

Beer 4 things to look for:

Oatmeal Stout: fruity esters

Imperial Stout: booze

English Porter: fruity esters, roast focus

American Porter: clean yeast, lots of hops and roast

Notes:

I almost blew it! After a quick sniff ‘n’ sip, I didn’t detect any booziness, but thought I found some fruity esters. I crossed off American Porter, but after waiting 10-20 seconds after swallowing the sample, the bitterness hit me pretty hard. Bitterness is a taste that builds over time, so waiting a beat really brought this into focus. Since Imperial Stout was eliminated and the sample had aggressive bitterness, I picked American Porter as it’s the only style on the list that usually exhibits high bitterness. I let the sample warm up a bit and concluded that what I thought were fruity esters were actually fruity flavors coming from the American hops (or at least that’s my theory).