Coastal Brew Day Blog

BROWN ALE  What we know as a Brown Ale has been around, in one form or another for over 300 years. In the late 1600s, the working class of London wanted an ale that was a little heavier and stronger than the pub ales that they were used to. A darker beer, called a Mild Ale, was developed using roasted malts, creating a dark, nutty beer that became popular in taverns in working class neighborhoods across the UK. This beer was called mild because it had far less hops than the Pale Ales that were also being brewed in that era. In the 1700s, Mild Ales began to have a tiered system similar to the Scottish shilling rating for beers (see our Wee Heavy entry for more on this). Roasted brown malts were giving way to kilned pale malt, which was both cheaper to produce and had a higher sugar content. These pale malts are still used today as base grains for most beers, regardless of style. Brown beer faded in popularity during this era, as porters and stouts took over the dark beer mantle for ...

 Apple cider has been a staple of the American experience since the very beginning of the American experience. A cider press came over on the Mayflower, and part of it was repurposed after a storm damaged the ship. It was so important to early settlers that cider was consumed more frequently than water. Cider was on every table at every meal. Today, cider has many forms. It's easy to make, lighter than a beer, and doesn't contain gluten, so immunocompromised people can have an alternative to wine. Soft cider is a mainstay of Autumn months, with cider mills becoming popular destinations for people wanting an authentic taste of Americana.  Apples were a significant crop in the United Kingdom during the Middle Ages, and when settlers emigrated to the New World, they brought their favorite things with them, including apples. Orchards were planted up and down the Eastern seaboard, and as the versatile fruit was cultivated, cider was always a product growers made. In 1622, these tra...

CENTENNIAL  We're going to do something a little bit different this week. Instead of going deep into a style of beer, we will discuss a specific variety of hop.  Centennial hops are among the most popular hops used today. It was introduced to the public in 1990, but vines had been developed and cultivated since 1974 when a Washington State University researcher bred together Brewer's Gold, East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, and a small amount of "Bavarian" hops (probably Hallertau Mittlefruh) to create a fragrant and flavorful hop. The creation was called Centennial, and its versatility has become one of its most beneficial characteristics.  Centennial is part of the "Three C's" of American hops, with Cascade and Columbus. Centennial is indeed similar to both, and lands between them in several categories. It isn't as strong as Columbus, but is bigger than Cascade. It has similar bittering notes as Cascade, but neither have the bitter punch that Columbus do...

WEE HEAVY Scotland is a land of rolling hills and lush valleys. Industry and poetry. Warriors and folklore. Sea monsters run with fairies and kings in the tales created untold generations ago. These days the stories of yore are spread from one generation to the next over pints at pubs, or snorts of whiskey on the moors. Beer has been made in Scotland for 5000 years. Archaeological evidence from the barbarian era suggests that fermented grains, along with mead and herbal wine, were stored in clay vessels, and consumed from carved horns.  Now, we all want to drink from a horn like a Pict warrior, but most of us will settle for a clean glass and a dim tavern. Luckily for us, our brewing standards and technologies have far surpassed the wildest dreams of those early clans, and as people started becoming more agrarian and less nomadic, taverns, brew houses, and distilleries popped up across Scotland.  Early beers were made by Alewives, women brewers who controlled much of the non-M...

Dubbel  There is a stigma surrounding Belgian beers that insinuates that they are of some high quality or brewed to a different standard than regular, plebeian American ales. That stigma is correct. Along with that stigma comes some mischaracterization of the beers themselves, especially how they are labelled. Belgian beers are known for their complex flavors, dense mouth feel, and aggressive alcohol content, but there is so much more to these ales than just the quality of the beer. There is a rich history of monastic brewing, traditions that have created legendary beers for centuries, as well as modern styles of Belgian beer that have evolved with the times.  When we think of Belgian beer, with imagine silent monks brewing closely guarded recipes that have been made for centuries. While the Trappist monks don't have to take a vow of silence, they do minimize conversation, talking only when necessary. They also brew centuries old recipes and aren't very forthcoming about the d...

AMERICAN IPA Everybody thinks they know the origin of the IPA. The legend states that the East India Tea Company, England's famous colonizers and import/export firm in South Asia, wanted fresher beer, so brewers in Northern England dumped a bunch of extra hops in their pale ales because the oils and acids in the hop cones provided stabilization and preservative qualities to beer. The resulting hop forward beer was then called the India Pale Ale, or as we have shortened it to, the IPA. This is wrong.  The truth of the matter is slightly more hazy. The IPA began in London by a brewer named George Hodgson, owner of the Bow Brewery, in the 1780's. The Bow Brewery was located a couple miles upriver from the piers where ships exported beer to the British colonies in Asia. The supply ships would simply take beer, regardless of style, over the seas to their customers across the globe. Many porter brewers included their beers on these ships, along with the paler ales from Bow, who was a...

Coffee Stout     In the beginning, there was black beer. Dock workers, laborers, and masons all desired a post work beverage that had more to it than the traditional pub ales that they had been enjoying for generations. Brewers across Europe developed a darker, more robust style of ale for these men, and named it after those who drank it most: Porters. Some people wanted something even stronger, so stout was invented.  Originally called “stout porter,” the stout was a heavier version of the porter and contained more alcohol, thus making it more stout than its cousin. The history of both black beers is intertwined in such a way that they seemed to grow up together throughout the 18 th and 19 th centuries. The most famous stout has always been brewed in Ireland, with Guinness leading the way. Founded in 1759, Guinness was originally a porter brewery but switched over to stouts in the 1770’s after seeing how popular they were with the Dublin working men. Guinness i...