Monday Rant (On a Tuesday): More of This

As most of you know, I'm an ardent supporter or corn in craft beer. I don't view adjuncts as these unworthy ingredients in beer. I think if done well adjuncts like corn and rice in a beer can catch on. The only problem is that there aren't many in the craft beer community.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that East End Brewing just outside of Pittsburgh was planning on putting a Cream Ale on tap at the brewery location in Larimer. I finally got a hold of some of said Cream Ale and must admit that it's fantastic. Sweet, but not too sweet. Nice and malty. Perfect if you're worn out and/or thirsty. This gets the job done.

It doesn't look like the strongest beer in the world, but it doesn't have to be that way to get the job done. These types of brews need to catch on. Especially in the Pittsburgh market. Maybe the East End offering can be the one to ignite the flame?

I sure as hell  will do my best to spread the word about how good this beer is with an ingredient(s) that are usually frowned upon. I also think it's worth mentioning once again that East End is making a habit out of using corn in beer and thus making me happy. Corn was also used in the Pennsyltucky Uncommon special brew that was released during the 2013 edition of Pittsburgh Craft Beer week.

Monday Rant: Taproom Eavesdropping

Trust me. The title I've chosen for this post will probably not go in the direction that you might expect it to. Some people out there have a notion that eavesdropping should be considered bad or rude. I'm quite the opposite. I love eavesdropping mostly based upon the fact that I'm good at it. I can pick up conversations from half-way across a bar or office. Not much gets past me. Like my uncle I'm quite astute.

A growler of this, please.

To stop "Rambling On" as the famous prophet Robert Plant once said I'll quickly get to the point of what this post intends. I stopped up at East End Brewing  yesterday afternoon to fill up my two growlers and nab a bottle of the elusive Toaster Imperial Stout. As it usually works out when people go there, the brewery can't legally sell you a pint of beer in the taproom. Still, you can try a few sample glasses worth of whichever brews you very well choose (I promised that I'd work the phrase "very well" into my personal vocabulary).

Sometimes the people that work there talk to some of the visitors/customers that come in. That's a good think. I've met some cool people at breweries. I overheard, or eavesdropped to fit in with the title I chose, a conversation about a beer East End intends on releasing in the taproom within the next week or two. The two words that grabbed my attention? Cream Ale.

I haven't came across many Cream Ales in the Pittsburgh area let alone the craft world. Those two worlds excite me. Why do they excite me? Because of adjuncts. I know many of you hate it, but adjuncts in beer are once again the subject of yet another rant on this blog.

I also rudely picked up another word in the conversation I was listening to - corn. Possibly one of my favorite beer adjuncts. East End has been one of the leaders in the area with using corn in beer. A case could also be made for Straub in St. Mary's. I'd argue that it's close enough to Pittsburgh.

To put it simply, I might be making a trip to East End for a second week in a row if I catch wind of this Cream Ale tapping at the brewery. You can bet the farm that I'll be back on here being an internet tough guy arguing that corn in beer is a good thing.

Monday Rant: Word Play

Behold. The definition of the word I screen-capped from a quick Google search.

I mentioned last week about the disdain I have for the use of the word "adjunct" in the beer community nowadays. It doesn't make me very happy. In some facets brewers and breweries have been outcast by using ingredients that are sometimes considered adjuncts i.e. corn and/or rice. Corn I really enjoy in certain brews. On the other hand, rice doesn't get me nearly as excited.

That's not to exclude any regular malt that's used in many breweries. I love some Crystal and Biscuit malt more than I do the corn. I just like going against the grain once in a while.

If an adjunct is truly something that is added to only be a supplementary part rather than an essential one, how come hops never fell under the same category? Maybe it's just that I'm one to believe that hops should always be a compliment to the final product? Ah, word play is fun.

Adjunct Adventures

I wrote about the pluses of corn in beer earlier this week. Once I finished the blog post, I posed a quick question on Twitter asking if anyone knew any brewers in Western Pa. that had or still use corn in any of their brews. I was surprised at the response I got. Here are some of the informative tweets I received.

@BurghBeerSnob Straub does. Technically, it's part of the American lager style.
— Craft Pittsburgh Mag (@CraftPittsburgh) November 5, 2013

@CraftPittsburgh @BurghBeerSnob yuengling uses corn syrup....
— Jake Johnson (@jacobecody) November 5, 2013

@CraftPittsburgh @BurghBeerSnob @StraubBeer uses flaked corn in Amer. Lagers as per their 140 yr. tradition. They also brew craft styles w/o
— Michelle Reid (@Pourthing) November 5, 2013

. @BurghBeerSnob @CraftPittsburgh We've also brewed w/corn: Pennsyltucky Uncommon, Classic American Pilsner, and S.W.I.L.L. all had it.
— Scott at EastEnd (@EastEndBrewing) November 5, 2013

Craft Pittsburgh and an old college friend were the first to note that Straub has and always used corn in the American Lager. So, I went ahead and double-checked. They both were correct. Flaked corn was on the malt bill in St. Mary's. As for the East End brews, I did recall uncovering that the Pennsyltucky Uncommon that was made for Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week included corn in some capacity. I just didn't recall it being used until that tweet jogged my memory, so to speak. The thing that stands out to me about the East End response is that none of those beers (or the brewery) was vilified or outcast for using corn.

Douglas from Baltimore commented on the post that initiated all of this corn stuff and mentioned that as long as the beer is well-crafted it shouldn't really matter. He has a strong point.

In case you haven't noticed, I don't care for the way the word adjunct gets thrown around. Or maybe that it's the way certain beer ingredients have been logged under that category. What I hate the most is that if a brewery uses it, there are some out there that don't consider said beer or brewer "craft" or "crafty enough."

Still, I don't feel as if I'm done on this subject. Adjuncts in beer might be a great topic for my usual Monday post. Eventually I might do a post on some beer's I;ve tried and enjoyed with corn in them in some form. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Beer Review: Schell's Pils

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.3 percent

Appearance: This pilsner poured something close to a neon gold. The color was quite vivid. The body was hazy, but the majority of the haze seemed to settle towards the upper portions of the glass. The bottom portions of the brew were a bit more transparent. The body was crowned by a half-inch head that came off as a lemon meringue color. The head would end up leaving tiny, intricate rings of lacing on the inside of the glass.

Smell: Initially, I picked up loads of grain and sweet corn. I instantly recalled the Brewers Association fiasco that involved August Schell Brewing Company and the use of adjuncts such as corn. I generally don't mind corn in my beer, but this was as close to a bag corn in the barn as I've been when drinking beer. It was interesting, but not totally sure if I enjoyed it. Consider me on the fence.

Taste: A positive of the corn came through in the taste department for me. The corn provided plenty of sweetness on the front. This beer also had a biscuity, bitter and very noticeable hop bite on the back.  The bitterness was a nice compliment to the sweetness and lingered in the aftertaste for quite a while. I couldn't see much carbonation due to the haze, but it was very noticeable once I started drinking. The texture of this beer is crisp and fizzy. I enjoyed it.

Overall Rating: 

The only thing I was feeling odd about was that I felt like I was opening a bag of corn on a farm and sniffing it. Maybe the corn was a bit too potent for me? The head and the body also had intriguing colors to gaze at. The taste left me refreshed as well. I'm glad I have a few more of these left from the sampler I bought.