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Broudy's Beer Blog
Broudy's Beer Blog
Publish:Friday, July 08, 2011 4:17 PM Welcome once again to the Broudy's Beer Blog. Now from this point on I want to introduce you to a few of the popular beer styles so this way you can better understand what these beer styles will taste like before you try them. There are over 50 different styles of beer, but I will be breaking down the top 7 styles of beer that are the most common. Before I break down the styles I will just be giving a brief description, this is for the people who are looking to expand their horizons for beer can understand what the different styles will taste like before they go out and purchase them. Now for the real beer consumers, this is just a basic description.
The first beer I will be talking about is called a Wheat Beer. A wheat beer is a light golden like color that is very cloudy. It has a very mellow taste which has nice floral hops. The alcohol level or abv tends to be around 4 to 5%.
The second style is called a Pale Ale. A pale ale has a nice golden color that is less cloudy than a Wheat beer. A Pale ale can range from being semi-hoppy to being pretty hoppy. Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale for instance is among one of the few Pale ales that is pretty hoppy. The abv is around 5 to 6%.
The third syle is an India Pale Ale or more commonly known as a IPA. Now an IPA can range from a golden like color all the way to the color black. There are many different styles of an IPA. There are Rye, Black, Imperials, Double or DIPA. An IPA has a very hoppy flavor, it can have a nice citrus flavor, or a piney flavor. The abv on an IPA can range anywhere from 6 to 18%.
The forth style is an Ale. To breakdown an ale is pretty difficult since there are over 15 different styles of an Ale. Your basic ale will be a light amber color and has a good balance between hops to malts. Some can either have some nice added fruit flavor or they can have a nice hoppy taste to them. A good brewery to check out is Dogfish Head, they are the masters on making unique Ales. The abv can range from 4.5 to 10% alcohol.
The fifth style is a Stout. The color of a Stout is commonly black and can either have a brown head of foam or white. A stout has a very malty flavor. Now some stouts you can get a coffee flavor or a mocha or chocolate flavor. A stout is a good beer that you can age for a good period of time. The abv of a stout can range from 4% to 8%.
The sixth style is a Porter. A Porter is another beer that has a black color just like a stout. The difference between them is a Porter will have more of a smokey flavor to it. Also a Porter will be less creamy than a Stout. The abv on a Porter is usually around 4% to 8.5%.
The last style will be a Barleywine Ale. Now this beer will have a dark amber or a dark caramel color. A Barleywine can either be a very hoppy or a very malty flavor. Its palette can have alot of different fruit like flavor to it. A Barleywine is the best style of beer in my opinion to age over time. The abv on a Barleywine is 7% to 15% alcohol.
This was just a basic breakdown of a few of the most popular styles of beer. In order to get a better understand on all the different beer styles, check out the website www.beeradvocate.com. This website will give you all the information that you need to know about the entire beer universe.
What to look for this month!
This is not a garantee, just is just something to keep your eyes peeled during the month of October.
1. Brooklyn Black Chocolate
2. Bells Best Brown 5L
3. Bells Winter White
4. Bells Christmas Ale
5. Chimay Gift Sets
6. Dogfish Head Pangea
7. Harpoon Greatful Harvest Cran
8. Southern Tier Pumking
9. Heavy Seas Smoke on the Water
10. Lindemans Gift Sets
11. Rogue Chatoe Vino Envy
12. Rogue Chatoe Wet Hop
13. Rogue Mc Rogue
14. Stone Double Bastard
15. Sam Smith Selection Box
16. Sam Smith Stingo
17. Terrapin So Fresh So Green
Tastings
I will be doing sampling of different beers on either Friday or Saturday, from 4 to 7 which I will have listed for you to come in and try some of them out.
Friday the 9th, this was the first sampling we did. I sampled out four different beers and they were:
Dogfish Head Punkin- This beer had a great balance between all of the spices. A nice smooth flavor that consisted of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and a nice hint of brown sugar for a nice sweet finish.
Terrapin Pumpkinfest- This was my favorite beer. It had a fantastic amount of a spicy cinnamon as well as pumpkin with a good amount of nutmeg. If your looking for a really good pumpkin and cinnamon mix this is the pumpkin beer your looking for.
Heavy Seas Prosit- This beer had a really nice caramel amber like color. A nice amount of sweet malts gives it a creamy base and it leaves your mouth with a caramel flavor.
Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest- This was a really great beer, a very nice blend of malts and hops which gives it a really mellow flavor.
On October 8th I will be sampling the set of New Planet Gluten free beers. Come try their Off Grid Pale Ale, Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale from 12 to 3pm. So come on by and try some new beers at the Broudy's in the Cobblestone Plaza. Cheers!
About Me
I was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Kean University with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in 2010. I worked at Buyrite Liquors for a year and a half, that is where I discovered my passion for Microbreweries. While I was in college my favorite beer was Coors Light....sad to say. A buddy of mine worked at a larger liquor store and has already known about all these different beers. From time to time he would bring a new one over for me to try. He said he was sick and tired of me drinking beer that tasted like water..(figuratively speaking). I will never forget the day, he bought over a bottle of Chimay Blue Grande Reserve. From that day on, I knew what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing and that was studying beer. Now thats not exactly something that you want to tell your parents while your in school...Hey Mom, Dad I want to study beer. That didn't go over so well with them. The thing is, if you don't know the market for Microbreweries and the uproar they are creating, you will never understand it.
It wasn't until I took my Dad to Michigan in June of 2011, on a Microbrewery crawl that he finally started to understand that beer isn't all just Coors Light and Budweiser. We started in Detroit traveled to Warren, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor. We visited nearly 15 Microbreweries in 3 days. When we started the beer crawl my Dad would only drink light beers and Wheat beers. By the time we got done with our trip he was trying IPA's and different Stouts and Porters, it was amazing. For someone who doesn't like beer to try something new and it opened up his horizons and he accepted that I had a passion for beer.
When I went of in August of 2011 to visit my family and to go to my cousins wedding, my Mom and I did some running around to get a present for my cousins wedding and we stopped off at a liquor store. While my Mom went to look for certain things, i headed right over to the beer section to see what they different breweries they carried. Once my Mom was done shopping, she went looking for me and I was talking with the manager and a few other customers that had overheard us talking about certain beers. From that point on my Mom then finally accepted that I had a major passion for beer. She was amazed about how much we knew about all the different beers and styles and companies. Sad to say I can't get my Mom to try anything at all since she doesn't like beer at all but hey she doesn't mind that I love beer so its ok.
I moved to Florida in June of 2010 and started working for Broudys in July. The most amazing part of all that was to see just how many Microbreweries they carried. It was incredible, my old liquor store that I thought had tons couldn't even touch the collection of stuff that we have here. The other best thing about moving down here was, all the different breweries that you could get down here since distributing is different from state to state. Just when I thought I knew most of the breweries out there, man was I wrong. There was a ton of beers that I have never heard of, and of course I had to try them all( still working on that part). Still to this day, I am trying new beers almost each and every day. I am on beeradvocate more than once a day trying to look for new breweries, new beers, or just new updates on whats going on in the Microbrewery world. If your on beeradvocate you can add me, my name is yankeej13. I would love to hear what your input is on the different company and different beers that you have tried or just a good beer story.
Last thing that I wanted to talk about was my favorite breweries as well as my favorite beers and styles.
Favorite Breweries
1. Lagunitas- Petaluma, California
2. Founders- Grand Rapids, Michigan
3. Southern Tier- Lakewood, New York
4. Troegs- Harrisberg, Pennsylvania
5. Stone- Escondido, California
6. Bells- Kalamazoo, Michigan
7. Dogfish Head- Milton, Delaware
8. Dragonmead- Warren, Michigan
9. Sierra Nevada- Chico, California
10. Hair of the Dog- Portland, Oregon
Favorite Beers,(Not in style order)
1. White Magic of the Sun- Voodoo Brewing- Meadville, Pennsylvania (Witbier)
2. Devil Dancer- Founders Brewing- Grand Rapids, Michigan (DIPA)
3. Pliny the Elder- Russian River- Santa Rosa, California (American Double)
4. Anniversary Barley Wine- Uinta Brewing- Salt Lake City, Utah (American Barley Wine)
5. Nugget Nectar- Troegs Brewing- Harrisberg, Pennsylvania (American Amber)
6. Stovepipe Porter- Otter Creek Brewing- Middlebury, Vermont (Porter)
7. Hair of the Dog Adam- Hair of the Dog Brewing- Portland, Oregon (American Strong Ale)
8. Old Rasputin- North Coast Brewing- Fort Bragg, California ( Russian Imperial Stout)
9. Grande Reserve (Blue)- Bieres de Chimay S.A.- Baileux, Belgium (Belgium Dark Strong Ale)
10. Ten Fidy- Oskar Blues Brewing- Lyons, Colorado ( Russian Imperial Stout)
Last but not least these are my top 10 favorite beer styles.
Favorite Beer Styles
1. American Barleywines (Hoppy)
2. IPA or DIPA's
3. Pumpkin Ales
4. Russian Imperial Stouts
5. American Stouts
6. American Porters
7. Belgium Strong Dark Ales
8. Witbier
9. Quadrupels (Quad)
10. Black Ales
This last list is just some of the Breweries that I really wish I could get my hands on, and I am sure you would want to as well. Most of these Breweries only distribute off the west coast. The others are only distributed in a specific state or states nearby (sad to say). If you get a chance these are some rocking breweries that you should so some research on!
Three Floyds, Surly, Hair of the Dog, Midnight Sun, Russian River, Great Lakes, Dark Horse, East End, Firestone Walker, Half Acre, The Lost Abbey, Goose Island, Big Sky, Portsmouth, Shorts, Cantillion, Duck-Rabbit, Bootleggers, Free Tail.
That is just to name a few. If there is any other breweries that you think should be on this list, please let me know and I will gladly add them!
Please feel free to ask questions or to write to me and I will get back to you as soon as possible!