American voyage of discovery, by Roger Protz
American friends often say when we meet up, "We must raise a couple of cold ones". But it's more of a warning than an invitation.
I like cool beer. The recommended serving temperature for cask beer is between 11°C and 12°C - I go for the cooler end of the spectrum. I've never been a fan of warm pints, but find over-cold beer lacking in all the things I most enjoy: aroma, flavour and hop character.
I did raise a few cold ones last week on a trip to Washington DC, where I delivered a talk on the history of beer to the revered Smithsonian Institute. Travelling via Detroit on my outward and return journeys, I had time to sample both the ale and lager produced by one of the best-known and biggest craft brewers in the United States, Samuel Adams of "Boston".
I placed Boston in quote marks, as the energetic owner of the company, Jim Koch, has skilfully built a nationwide business by brewing under licence in several states as well as Massachusetts. As a result, you will find Sam Adams beers on tap at many US airports.
Brewing under licence within the British Isles would be heavily frowned on here, but the sheer size of the US has dictated Koch's policy
Brewing under licence within the British Isles would be heavily frowned on here, but the sheer size of the US has dictated Koch's policy. It has certainly given his beers a prominence that annoys bigger brewers.
A few years ago, en route to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, I enjoyed a glass or two of Sam Adams at St Louis airport in Missouri. St Louis is the home base of Anheuser-Busch (A-B), the country's biggest brewer and owner of Budweiser, the world's biggest beer brand. A-B is not best pleased by the presence of Sam Adams at the local airport but can scarcely complain if the free market works in the interests of consumers.
Koch's are excellent, top-drawer beers. My only complaint is its serving temperature. Both Boston Ale and Lager come from the same delivery system and, apart from one being bronze coloured and the other golden, they are difficult to tell apart.
The ale is not cask-conditioned. There is some cask beer in the US but most craft-brewers' ales are filtered and pressurised and served from kegs. But the gas levels are low and the beers free from heavy carbonation.
Sam Adams imports malts and hops from Britain and Germany to obtain the aromas and flavours the brewers are looking for in their ale and lager. So it's a shame that the temperature of the beers - and I would guess it was 8°C or less - masks many of the attributes we look for in quality products.
But perhaps I'm making the mistake of viewing this from the point of view of a typical British drinker.
While waiting at Washington airport for my return flight via Detroit, I bought and sank a pint of Sam Adams Boston Ale in typical Brit fashion: dispatched in 10 minutes.
A man sitting on the next bar stool and wading his way through several sections of the Washington Post had bought his beer before me but was only a third of the way down the glass by the time I had emptied mine. As his beer warmed in his glass he would have started to get the aromas and flavours I had missed as a result of too-rapid consumption.
I arrived home to learn that Fuller's is recommending a new low serving temperature for its recent addition to its portfolio, Discovery. The recommended temperature is between 8°C and 10°C and the beer will be delivered through a special cooling device beneath the bar.
The aim, according to the brewery, is to build a bridge between young lager drinkers and cask beer. I applaud its initiative and look forward to sampling the beer.
While American craft brewers import European hops to give the flavours they seek, Fuller's has taken a reverse direction, using the American Liberty variety for Discovery.
The pungent, citrus notes of American hops may break through the cold.
It will be a true voyage of discovery and I look forward to raising a cold one.
