Summit Unchained 22: Zingiber Cream Ale

Summit Unchained No. 22: Zingiber Cream Ale, 5.3% all. by vol. Brewed by Christian Dixon, a 50/50 ale/lager hybrid, brewed identically with separate yeast strains, then blended after fermentation. Ginger added later. Huh. Now, that's different. Let's drink it.

Clear, golden hued, big, white, lace-leaving head atop.

Big ginger nose, obscures all else around it. Floral hop notes peek out around the spice.

In the mouth: light, crisp, creamy. Nicely hopped, light bodied, with a lingering spicy edge. Some fruity notes creep in, too, all adding to the refreshing complexity. It's a quenching, just right for summertime. I can see this as a picnic hit, or a perfect companion on the boat, a nice alternative to typical cabin choices. Perhaps why this one went with the can option?

I'm just going to call this one on the side of delicious.

Some technical mumbo-jumbo:

Malts: 2-Row, German Pils, C-15, German Cologne, Torrefied Wheat
▪   Hops: Sterling, Mt. Hood
▪   Kettle Additions: Fresh Organic Hawaiian Ginger
▪   ABV: 5.3%
▪   IBU: 35
▪   Color: Harvest Gold
▪   Yeast: Munich Lager II, American Ale II
▪   Pairing Suggestions: Korean barbecue, sushi, and chocolate fondue

Town Hall Harvest Fresh

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery has gone all apple-happy. They're now pouring ten different ciders on tap on a daily basis, and inaugurated Cider Week earlier this year. And this season, they released a second fresh hop beer, this one celebrating not just the hop crop, but guess what else? Apples! It's called Harvest Fresh, and I took home a growler last week. Let's it open it up and see if I'm going to enjoy 64 full fluid ounces.

Appearance: clear, bright golden color, slim white head.

Aroma: bright, vibrant and fruity, some stone fruits, like apricot and peach, a little citrus, more smooth than bitter. Some hops are here, but on a very mellow scale.

Taste: On first sip, there a bitter hoppy bite, then a fruity flush. Sip it again, there's a return of the hoppy smack, then brisk carbonation, next come the apples. The come in with more tart on the third, until that's all I'm tasting. By the fourth gulp, we're in Cidertown, my friend. The hop bitterness and the apple-y tartness go hand in hand. Body is medium-low, leaving the main ingredients to do all the talking. Tart apple flavor is turning a degree sour, subsuming the parts of the ale. It finishes crisp, dry, and refreshing, a unique and intriguing drink.

I'll finish this, and I will enjoy it, but it's not the sort of thing I'd ever choose over an IPA, a stout, or a Belgian single. Sorry, appleheads, not gonna happen.

Here's the official word on it: "The second fully fresh hop beer we made in 2014. Fall is the harvest season for many things…hops and apples to name a couple. We worked with Milk and Honey Cidery and received 3 BBL of fresh pressed apple juice to use in this beer, it is fresh hopped with Equinox. A relatively new hop that gives off a strong apple and citrus character. 5.7%"

So, why is a well-regarded, award-winning brewpub showing such devotion to cider, I wondered? The answer came back to me that the owners feel that cider is the next big thing, and they want to be ahead of the curve. At the risk of being on the wrong side of history, I just don't see it. Cider has it's charms, of course, but I remain immune to them. As for it's champions, the only ones I know personally also happen to sell it or make it, and I just can't be turned over to their side, try as I might. There simply isn't the diversity of flavors that beer has, and what there is, it's so delicate in distinction, it honestly doesn't register with me. Maybe I need to try harder to like cider, but more often I find my time pre-occupied in pursuit of beer.

Town Hall Surreal Chemisty

Something strange happened the other week, when I sat down to review a new beer from Town Hall out of a growler. Poured out the brew, after misreading the cap on top. What I thought was "Super" actually read "Surr"...so, instead of reviewing an IPA with the new Super Alpha hop, I was actually reviewing a hybrid ale/lager, a la Anchor Steam, or California Common, fashioned after a Czech pilsner.

So, here's what I did: I purged those words of anything relating to an IPA or my struggle to reconcile the description of the IPA with what I actually was tasting, while finishing off the rest of the growler. And let me let you, it was a much better ale/lager hybrid than it was an IPA. And, here come the notes...


Minneapolis Town Hall Surreal Chemistry .

Clear, apricot/amber coloration, slim white head.

Aroma: soft and citrus-y, with fruits aplenty.

Let's taste away! Tiny bursts of hoppy bitterness (or bitter hoppiness) pounce the palate, and buzz away, with all those fruity associations taking over and leading the charge. Medium-bodied, robust and emboldened with juicy fruit. Orange and mango. Bitterness never fades completely. Tasty, tasty stuff, downable and refreshing. I like this quite a bit. It would be better in the summer, though. April 5, and we're still not into spring, yet, for real.

I tried this new thing, that all the kids are doing of taking a photo of the menu instead of copying it down. (Once upon a time, there would be slips of paper with descriptions of the newest beer at MTHB floating about, and I would try to take one home for use in my reviews.) I won't, however, Instagram it, Vine it, or post it on Facebook. Just copy it here: "This unique beer has the malt and hops of a Czech-style Pilsner, but was fermented cool with an ale strain. Crisp, clean, bready, hoppy, and lager-like. 5.8% ABV."

Deschutes/Boulevard Conflux No.2:

Deschutes Conflux Series No. 2, Boulevard Conflux: Ale Brewed with Orange peel and coriander with spices added. Brewed and bottled by Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Oregon. Second in a series, this citrusy, smooth white india pale ale is a fortuitous meeting of Deschutes' hop skills and Boulevards deft wheat touch. What's 1800 miles when a great beer is at stake?

Isn't it how it always works? A few brewers sit around tippling and waxing poetic about what-ifs, wild ideas, and untapped dreams when one suddenly proclaims "why not?" So the conflux series was born, bravely leaping corporate and geographic barriers to jointly explore uncharted beeratory. Cheers, fellow beer explorers, cheers."

Hazy, cloudy bright orange, afloat with flecks, and a long-lasting, if slim, snowy- white head.

The nose is exactly what you'd imagine. An explosion of orange peel, coriander and hops. Heavy on the orange and spice, with hops providing excellent bitter balance.

In the mouth, boom boom boom, there it goes. Big and bitter, a wheat IPA, ...what? Huh? All the lightness and texture, the citric and spice flavor of a wittier, and the crisp, hoppy appeal of an IPA. Light bodied, brief finish. Hits the palate and quits it. Thirst quenching, distinctly downable.

But, in spite of that, I can't say I like it. I mean, love it. I like it. It's good, sweet, bitter, hoppy, tasty enough...and, you can drink it. But, this conflux does not flip any particular switch for me. Que cera cer

Dave's BrewFarm Amalgam II

Amalgam II, Dave's BrewFarm, 1 Liter growler. 7.2 % a.b.v, An experiment that combines a different lager yeast than Amalgam I and the same ale yeast. Brewed with Pils, Rye, and Caramel Wheat malts, and Perle and Glacier hops.

I decided to use the logo pint I bought in 2009. Do not perceive it's weathered appearance as a blight on the BrewFarm name. I have to use it once. Just gotta.

Clear, amber coloration. Slimmed, dotted ivory head. Looking good.

Aroma, soft and sweet, but perfectly in tune and balanced. Wheat comes through in the nose, and a small amount of the rye. nice, nice, nice.

On the tongue and in the mouth, perfectly pleasurable, and an utter amalgam. There was once an Amalgam Universe, when for some reason in the late 1990's, the DC and Marvel Universes merged for a bit, and so did their characters. Thor and Orion of the New Gods became Thorion of the Asgods. Lobo and Howard the Duck became, you guessed it. Why don't I remember the rest? I'm petty sure Doom Patrol melted into the X-Men, Fantastic Four meshed into Challengers of the Unknown. Batman America? I think I blotted that nonsense out of my mind for a reason. Super-Spider-Man? Oh, I remembered another real one. Doctor StrangeFate. Sigh…I think I remember another. Iron Man and Green Lantern merged to to become…Green Man. Or something.

Now, this amalgamation, the wheat and the rye, the lager and the ale, the caramel and the pils…this is working, this is rocking, this is drinking nicely. Dave does balance as well as he does experimentation, which is a terrific accomplishment.
The wheat is working on the palate, the rye and caramel malt remain a minor component. They're lurking below, adding character points in the overall tapestry of the brew.

Soft, smooth, flavorful. Medium-bodied. Totally tasty. Damnably drinkable. Mmm meets Mmmmm. I'm reminded of amber lagers, of hybrids like Anchor Steam, but richer character, greater complexity. Mmm plus Mmm, meets oh, yes.