Beer Brain

Pale Ale Comparison

Recently I’ve set a goal to become a more educated beer taster/reviewer. A friend of mine who works in retailing craft beers gave me some information on the relatively new phenomenon of the Cicerone. The Cicerone program consists of different levels of education and testing in order to obtain valid certification for serving, knowing, and recommending beer. There are three different levels of certification: The Certified Beer Server, The Certified Cicerone, and the Cicerone Master. The first level of the program is a self-study program that follows a syllabus for the material on the exam. My friend and I decided to organize a study group to prepare ourselves for taking the CBS exam. We decided to include our own taste testing sessions as part of the study in order to improve our “beer senses.” The goal is to compare and contrast similar beer styles or beers within a style in order to fine tune our palates.

For the first tasting comparison we formed a Pale Ale lineup including multiple beers from the American, English, and Belgian Pale Ale styles.

American Pale Ales (APA)

Ballast Point Brewing Company – Pale Ale

                -Based on the Kölsch style beer. Munich malts

                -5% ABV

First Impressions: Not hoppy at all. Very crisp and light beer.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company – Pale Ale (Pale 31)

                -Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops; Munich malts

                -4.8% ABV

First Impressions: Slight copper color. Expected hops scent and taste; not overbearing. Slight scent of wood. Smooth and crisp.

Flying Dog Brewery – Double Dog Double Pale Ale

                -Columbus, Warrior, and Cascade; Crystal Malts

                -11.5% ABV

First Impressions:  Actually classified as an American Double / Imperial IPA. Very intense hop flavor with a subtle sweet ending. Alcohol burn feeling.

English Pale Ales (EPA)

Samuel Smith’s – Old Brewery Pale Ale

                -Barley malt, honey, aromatic hops; Irish Moss

                -5.0% ABV

First Impressions: Sweet malt smell with a slight hoppy/bitter taste.

Fuller Smith & Turner – Fuller’s London Pride

                -Toffee, caramel, sweet; slight hop and spice

                -4.7% ABV

First Impressions: Light, sweet malt smell and taste. Slight hop and spice flavor.

Belgian Pale Ale (BPA)

Brewery Ommegang – Belgian Pale Ale

                -Columbus (bittering), Celeia (aroma), Cascade (dry hopped); 5 specialty malts

                -6.2% ABV

First Impressions: Citrus, esthery, spicy. Some cloudiness and medium carbonation.

Brouwerij Huyghe – Delerium Tremens

                -Malt blend (munich, biscuit, and aromatic); Belgian spice

                -8.5% ABV

First Impressions: Champagne smell, sweet malt flavor, slightly dry with a hint of spice. Cloudiness, sediment and medium carbonation.

Summary:

Even though all of these beers fall under a “Pale Ale” description, the styles vary greatly between regions as well as individual breweries.  For the purpose of the comparison, we will exclude the Double Dog Double Pale Ale (which is actually an IPA – we failed to realize this when we purchased the beer). All of these beers were very drinkable and have a similar rage of color that is classified as “pale.” They all have some malt flavor, either primary or secondary. All are very light bodied with no overbearing aftertaste. With the APAs, the hop-flavor is the primary star. They also seem to have lighter carbonation and less spice than the others. There seems to be more variation between breweries with the American Style Pales. The EPAs were slightly more of an amber color mostly due to the type of malts used. The sweet malts are the primary flavor with very little hoppy notes and spice. These beers are visually very clean and crisp compared to the others due to the use of fining agents such as “Irish Moss.” The BPAs are very distinct in their styles. These beers are cloudier than American’s and English styles and tend to have a slightly higher level of carbonation and spice.