Amish Four Grain Pale Ale

by Michael Stein

Going to college in Selinsgrove, PA afforded me the privilege of constantly being surrounded by the Amish. You could find them setting up their stands on Saturday morning for the Selinsgrove farmer’s market. You could notice them biking through town, or riding their horse-drawn buggies along Interstate 80; this to me was the most dramatic display of their faith in God’s hands, because huge 18-wheelers whizzed by at 80 miles an hour. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the Amish during my time interacting with them, it’s that their as loveable as they are sheisty.*

Now that may be a gross generalization of all Amish, as I know there are many reliable Amish who are roof and furniture builders, as well as trustworthy farmers. So the Amish I speak specifically of are a group of Amish that live just outside Selinsgrove, who run a certain supermarket, where such goods as Ranch Dressing and Honey Nut Cheerios are often sold in April, when there expiry date was back in January…I’m just sayin’.
Just because they don’t pay taxes or don’t fight in our wars, doesn’t mean that all of them are shady…just a specific few in the Snyder County Area. (I’m pretty sure that I don’t have to worry about that Amish family seeing my article about them, however they do own a grocery store so I suppose anything is possible).*

All of this aside, the Amish are a fantastic Religious group who’s positives far outweigh their negatives. A recent trip to Pennsylvania got me in the mood to sample some local beer. We here at Beer Made Clear like to think globally and drink locally. My desire to do so steered me in the direction of The Lancaster Brewing Companies’ sampler pack. The beer I chose to review is the Amish Four Grain Pale Ale.
The beer has a pretty timid smell, although subtle, there is a definite yeasty, oaty smell to it. The stench of the beer is a bit more pilsner and less hoppy than detected in your Sierra Nevada, or Saranac Pale Ale.

The first sip is all bread, the wheat, oats and rye taste like several different malts on one palette. As John Trogner brags about all of his Mad Elf batches tasting the same, I would imagine that Lancaster may not be such control freaks about blending. I’d be curious to see how Lancaster handles its brewing process; do they believe like Troegs, that a “good batch” implies that there are bad ones being served out there? Regardless, the beer tastes well blended.

The beer pours with medium head and decent amounts of lacing. Pours with a very light brown color comparable to, but lighter than, a Lager.

The beer’s malts are almost overpowering all other ingredients in the beer. There is an almost grape-like taste to the beer, reminiscent of the aftertaste of a Troegenator. There is also something in this beer that is quite similar with all other Lancaster Beers in their sampler pack; it’s an almost sour-skunky-grape type finish. It’s hard to put this flavor into words, but the end taste of the beer is present in the Hop Hog, the Strawberry Wheat and the Milk Porter. It’s also a taste common in ABC beers, particularly their Mountain Lager.

Overall this beer is quite tasty and one I would purchase a case of. I’m pleased to say that the Lancaster Brewing Company did not exploit the Amish name and make a bad tasting beer. This beer would be delicious without the computer, without the TV and even more scrumptious with the lights off.






*None of these facts are technically verified. However, there are multiple witnesses who can attest to the Amish selling groceries past expiry date.

Imperial Red Ale

by Michael Stein

I hate red beers. They are a testament to the average and boring. Red beers are the dregs that the inexperienced beer drinker reports as exotic. Despite this reputation I must sing the praises of the Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Imperial Red Ale for breaking the boring red mold.

Lagunitas’ Imperial Red declares on their bottle, “this Special Ale is, in reality, a reconstructed exhumation of the very first ale that we ever brewed way, way, way back in 1993.” Since being introduced to the Lagunitas Brewing Company’s beers a few short summers ago, I have witnessed their distribution grow. Founded in 1993, the
company relocated from Lagunitas to Petaluma, California. And as I have seen their selection grow at many east-coast distributors, so too have I witnessed their myth spread. Many claims have been passed down via word-of-mouth, however all hyperbole becomes unnecessary when one tastes their beer. Roland Barthes, French cultural theorist, would
have found fascinating the myth that Lagunitas has created.

In Mythologies Barthes discusses how red wine became the national drink of the French people, the drink for every occasion. It is cooling in the summer months and warming in the winter. But by definition a drink cannot encompass two opposite descriptions. This is analogous to the myth surrounding Lagunitas and their flagship IPA (India Pale Ale).

According to the IRI (Industrial Research Institute) Lagunitas Brewing Company’s IPA is the best-selling IPA in the state of California. In a state riddled with craft-breweries, the majority of whom offer their own take on an IPA, this is no small feat. However, I grow uneasy calling Lagunitas’ most well-known beer their best beer. This is
where my taste differs from most, for me their Imperial Red is their best beer, and if it were not a seasonal offering I would drink it year-round. According to their website its next approximate release will be in August 2009.

On the bottom of the six-pack another message appears. “We often describe our ales as having the luxuriant aromas of broccoli, kerosene, and burning tractor tires while bragging about their stagnant and pond-water flavors.” Further down, “[R]ed is a color, not a beer—and while the taste buds want what the taste buds want, you cannot taste a color.” Aside from the tongue in cheek, there is greater irony in that every Red Ale I’ve ever had has not been red, but a dark brown color.

Lagunitas’ Imperial Red pours with a medium head, and as the glass fills the head spreads thin. Little bubbles of carbonation pop up and float atop the head. The first taste is indeed high gravity. Kerosene, broccoli, however you want to phrase it, this beer has bite! The second sip takes me from bitter to sweet; rich, robust caramel and toffee tones bring the palate back to pleasure. But by the third sip it’s back to bitter. This beer is truly bizarre!

The mouthfeel has an odd level of lightness, it must be the 84.2 IBUs (International Bitterness Units) that makes this beer so balanced. The beer is very well-hopped, just by smelling it, the nose picks up a rich floral bouquet. This is out of the ordinary for a Red Ale, as the Irish Red traditionally relies on roasted barley. Most Irish Reds or Red Ales tend to have stronger barley and malt palates and less bite or bitterness. As I swill the brew in my cheeks, “whirl pooling” the beer, I pick up some sweet creamy notes. These notes dissipate as the high gravity ale goes down the gullet. The flavor is like a Tale of Two Tastes.

If Charles Dickens had this beer in Victorian England, there would have been much more fighting and far less writing. The Lagunitas Imperial Red is surely a Dickensian-beer. While this flavor is crafted for an Adirondack chair on vacation, its 7.8% ABV (Alcohol by Volume) would be sure to have the most seasoned London pub dwellers red-in-the-face after a few pints of Imperial Red.