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Buyer's Guide for Beer Lovers

Ale

Ale’s What Cures Ya!

Cream Ale

Cream ale is a North American specialty that is somewhat of a hybrid in style. Despite the name, many brewers use both ale and lager yeasts for fermentation, or more often, just lager yeasts. This style of beer is fermented like an ale at warm temperatures, but then stored at cold temperatures for a period of time, much as a lager would be. The resultant brew has the unchallenging crisp characteristics of a light pale lager, but is endowed with a hint of the aromatic complexities that ales provide. Pale in color, they are generally more heavily carbonated and more heavily hopped than light lagers.

Interpreting the 100-point Scale

Consumers can translate the point score to the following quality bands:

Point Range Quality Band
96-100 points Platinum
90-95 points Gold
85-90 points Silver
80-84 points Bronze
Less than 80 Not Recommended
Legend
  • = Brewpub
  • ABV = Alcohol by volume
  • Date denotes the date on which the beer was tasted

92 Liebotschaner Cream Ale, The Lion Brewery (PA). 5.5% ABV (3/09)
Bright golden yellow color with a lively blanket of foam. Aromas of nougat and banana bread follow through on a soft plush entry to a dry medium body with shredded wheat and cream notes. Finishes with a gentle, lightly honeyed fade. A spot on cream ale.

87 Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale, Granville Island Brewing Co. (Canada). 5% ABV (2/07)
Dark amber color. Light pecan and maple aromas. A crisp entry leads to a dry, frothy medium body of dark caramel, toasted nut and roasted grain flavors with a tangy, mildly citrusy hop fade. Very refreshing and inviting.

85 Monumental Blonde Cream Ale, Bastone Brewery (MI). 4.7% ABV (2/09)
Brilliant golden yellow color. Sweet honeyed toast and bread dough aromas with a hint of orange peel follow through on a fresh, frothy entry to a toasty dry-yet-fruity light-to-medium body with a note of tart green apple, cream corn and twig-like astringency to the hops on the finish. Pleasant.

84 O’Malley’s Cream Ale, Weston Brewing Co. (MO). 4.2% ABV (2/07)
Slightly hazy golden amber color. Pleasantly spicy custard and toasted bread aromas. A round entry leads to a medium body with baguette, golden raisin, cheese rind, flavors and a slightly sweet, citrusy, nutty fade. Nice flavor, but this is too limp in texture.

84 Money Shot Cream Ale, Oskar Blues Brewery (CO). 5.2% ABV (2/07)
Golden color with a big bubbly head. White toast and faint citrus aromas. A spirity entry leads to a dry light-to-medium body of nutty bread dough and tangy lemon flavors. Finishes with a toasty, faint bittering hops fade.

83 True North Cream Ale, Magnotta Brewery Ltd. (Canada). 5% ABV (3/09)
Deep old gold color. Lovely, delicate aromas of toasted cracker, corn bread and honey follow through on a supple, frothy entry to a dryish medium body with citrus water notes and a steely metallic tang on the finish.

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