Cream ale is a style of
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
beer which is light in color and
well attenuated,
meaning drier and with a somewhat higher alcohol content than regular beer. First crafted in the mid-1800s at various breweries in the United States, cream ale remained a very localized form with different styles until the early 20th century. During
Prohibition in the United States, a great number of Canadian brewers took up brewing cream ale, refining it to some degree. Following the end of Prohibition, cream ale from
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
became popular in the United States and the style was produced anew in both nations.
Style
Cream ale is related to
pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale-to- golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness.
The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brew ...
. They are generally brewed to be light and refreshing with a straw to pale golden color.
Hop and
malt flavor is usually subdued but like all beer styles it is open to individual interpretation, so some
breweries give them a more assertive character. Despite the name, cream ales do not contain any dairy products.
While cream ales are top-fermented
ales, they typically undergo an extended period of cold-conditioning or
lager
Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storag ...
ing after primary fermentation is complete. This reduces fruity esters and gives the beer a cleaner flavor. Some examples also have a lager
yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...
added for the cold-conditioning stage or are mixtures of ales and lagers.
Adjuncts such as
corn and
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
are used to lighten the body and flavor, although all-malt examples are available from many
craft brewers
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
.
Examples
* A Frame Cream Ale (
A Frame Brewing,
Squamish, BC
Squamish (; Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, ; 2016 census population 19,512) is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway. ...
)
* All or Nothing Think Big'Ger Cream Ale (
All or Nothing Brewhouse,
Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Gr ...
)
* Castle Cream Ale (
Castle Danger Brewing Company,
Two Harbors, Minnesota
Two Harbors is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Minnesota, United States, along the shore of Lake Superior. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 census. Minnesota State Highway 61 serves as a main route in Two Harbors. Gooseberry ...
)
* Coastie Cream Ale (
St. Michael's Brewing Company,
Navarre, Florida
Navarre is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County, Florida, Santa Rosa County in the northwest Florida Panhandle. It is a major commuter town, bedroom community for mostly United States Armed Forces, U.S. m ...
)
* Creole Cream Ale (
Abita Brewing Company
The Abita Brewing Company is a brewery in Covington, Louisiana, United States, 43 miles (69 km) north of New Orleans. Abita was founded by Jim Patton and Rush Cumming in 1986, in downtown Abita Springs, Louisiana. The original locatio ...
,
Abita Springs, Louisiana
Abita Springs is a town in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,365 at the 2010 census, up from 1,957 in 2000. It is part of the New Orleans– Metairie– Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Abi ...
)
* Croydon Cream Ale (
Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company
Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company is a brewery founded in 2010 in the town of Croydon, Pennsylvania, Croydon in lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA. It is considered to be the first production brewery in the county, and borders the city of Philad ...
)
*
Genesee Cream Ale
Genesee Cream Ale is a cream ale produced by the Genesee Brewing Company in Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monro ...
(
Genesee Brewing Company
Genesee Brewing Company ( ) is an American brewery located along the Genesee River in Rochester, New York. From 2000 to 2009, the company was known as the High Falls Brewing Company. In 2009, High Falls was acquired by the capital investment fi ...
,
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
)
* Hale's Cream Ale (
Hale's Ales)
* Katie's Cream Ale (
Great Basin Brewing Company
Great Basin Brewing Co. is a brewery headquartered in Sparks, Nevada. It is Nevada's largest and oldest currently operating brewery—though not the state's longest operated. Great Basin Beer, beers are available as beer bottle, bottled draught b ...
)
* Muskoka Cream Ale (
Muskoka Cottage Brewery
Muskoka Brewery (formerly Muskoka Cottage Brewery) is a microbrewery founded in June 1996 as a part-time operation by Gary McMullen and Kirk Evans. By 2016, it had increased to 130 employees in a facility that is over in size.
The company manu ...
)
* Newburgh Cream Ale (
Newburgh Brewing Company)
* Schoenling Little Kings (
Schoenling Brewing Company)
* Session Cream Ale (
Full Sail Brewing Company
Full Sail Brewing Company is a craft brewery in Hood River, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1987, Full Sail was the first commercially successful craft brewery to bottle beer in the Pacific Northwest for retail sale, and one of Oregon's early ...
)
* Sleeman Cream Ale (
Sleeman Breweries
Sleeman Breweries is a Japanese-owned Canadian brewery founded by John Warren Sleeman in 1988 in Guelph, Ontario. The company is the third-largest brewing company in Canada. Along with its own Sleeman brands, the company produces under licence the ...
)
* Sunlight Cream Ale (
Sun King Brewing)
* Unicorn Milk (
Twenty Six Acres Brewing,
Concord, North Carolina
Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...
)
* Scoop Dog (
Wise Man Brewing,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...
)
* Post Road Detour (
Lost Shoe Brewing & Roasting Company,
Marlborough, Massachusetts)
* Retro Styles Pre-Prohibition Cream Ale (
Analog Brewing Company,
Edmonton, Alberta
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...
)
* Kiwanda Pre-Prohibition Cream Ale (
Pelican Brewery,
Pacific City, Oregon
Pacific City is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,076 at the 2019 census. Pacific City's main attraction is the Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area.
Hi ...
)
See also
*
Beer style
Beer styles differentiate and categorise beers by colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin.
The modern concept of beer styles is largely based on the work of writer Michael Jackson in his 1977 book ...
*
Draught beer
Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as
Name
Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served dir ...
*
Kolsch
*
Irish cream ale
References
{{Beer in the United States
American beer styles
Canadian alcoholic drinks