Tennessee Cream Ale

[FedoraDave]

Okay, this has only been in the bottle for two weeks, so it may be greener than the pee stains in an Irishman's underwear. It also didn't chill for more than, maybe 18 hours.

But this is pretty doggone good.

I've never done a cream ale, the BJCP style guidelines are really vague ("hey, whatever hops you managed to sweep up off the floor is okey-dokey"), and I should probably buy some Genesee to see how it stacks up, but this ain't bad.

Extremely pale, and I'd love to see it after some more warm conditioning and extended cold conditioning. Good head, which doesn't dissipate too quickly. Visually, this is an appealing beer.

The aroma is slightly sweet. Not a detraction, since the style calls for the use of corn as an adjunct.

A crisp, drinkable lawn mower beer, pretty much. I should let the rest warm condition for another week or two, and then refrigerate two or three bottles for a few days or a week before I can make a more thorough evaluation, but I may also save a bunch of these for the summer. It would be good to have some beers like this around after a hard day's work in the blazing sun, or when I'm barbecuing some ribs.

[Kealia]

I'm not sure I've ever had a good example of a cream ale. I think the only one I ever tried was very BMC-like so I've never gone back and tried another one.
Sometimes one bad example of a style can keep you away from it.

[Gymrat]

I have had a couple different Cream Ales. They are very nice hot summer day beers.

[FedoraDave]

Genesee is recommended by BJCP as a commercial example. Having lived in Rochester, NY, home of Genny, for five or six years, I can tell you it's nothing special. But, as Roger says, they're darn nice summertime beers, and that's the impression I got when I tried my own. Nothing special, but darn good for the summer.

I honestly wouldn't hesitate to make this again, though. But I'd go out of my way to seek out some six-row for more authenticity.

[swenocha]

Yeah, Genny is the main commercial example, and it's fairly ordinary, but not bad. Agreed that most come off just like pale lagers. I probably like Sun King's, Mother Earth's and Terrapin's the best of the ones I've tried. Narragansett is not bad as well.

[FedoraDave]

I don't think it's a style that's widely made and/or distributed, frankly. Not like American Light Lagers or, more lately, IPAs and APAs.

"Fairly ordinary, but not bad" is actually an apt description. I think Cream Ales are not so much an experience as they are something cold and wet.

And there are times when something cold and wet really hits the spot. It's just a lawnmower beer, and if it's well-made, a lawnmower beer can really be a life-saver. I like to have a couple of different styles of lawnmower beers in the pipeline for the summer. I'll be making Lime Cerveza in a couple of weeks, and that's nothing special, either. Darn good with barbecue, though.

[BigPapaG]

"Fairly ordinary, but not bad" is actually an apt description. I think Cream Ales are not so much an experience as they are something cold and wet.

A very accurate description IMHO, having grown up on 'Genny Screamers'... Along with other local favs like Utica Club and Carlings Black Label...

When I made my 'Scream Ale', the general consensus was as above... Yet... It's all gone! Amazing!

In fact, to your point of saving some for summer Dave, we drank the trub bottle last... Just last weekend and it was the best of the two cases... It really got smooth after nine months in the bottle.

[Kealia]

Let me ask a serious question: Based on the descriptions it almost sounds like it could be similar to a Coors/Coors Light or other BMC? I don't mean that offensively, just as how I am interpreting things.
Is that accurate or is that like comparing apples to oranges?

[Beer-lord]

I made a Cream Ale last summer and it was very much 'Miller-ish'. In smell (I didn't say aroma now, did I?) it was dead on and that was the part that had me having trouble drinking it. In the end, I kegged hop the rest of it and still think I ditched about a gallon. No one really wanted it with a black and an IPA on each side of it.
But yes, based on my brew and those of others, I would definitely say its in the MBC category, albeit, better quality than they can make.

[Brewbirds]

Let me ask a serious question: Based on the descriptions it almost sounds like it could be similar to a Coors/Coors Light or other BMC? I don't mean that offensively, just as how I am interpreting things.
Is that accurate or is that like comparing apples to oranges?

We made one a while back but used rice syrup solids instead of corn and it was like a Bud with flavor. I got buried away for almost a year and I put a couple in the cooler and they were as Dave says, nothing special but a good brew for a hot day, though I think these had enough ABV to keep you from wanting more than one or two. Well also the fact that they taste like rice but....

[BigPapaG]

I have to agree with both Beerlord and BB...

A cream Ale would be BMC like, but a bit sweeter...

If Rice was used (like mine), it's more BC like...

If Corn is used, more M like...

I like the smell of the corn adjunct version better put prefer the rice version taste I think...

Hmmm... Maybe I'll use both in my next one...

[FedoraDave]

Yeah, it's a fairly innocuous brew, apparently a hybrid developed by some brewers to compete with the growing popularity of the BMCs. It's not so much a "hybrid beer" as it is a "mutt", though. If you look at the BJCP guidelines, it's kind of wacky. You can use lager yeast, but you can use ale yeast, too. You can use corn as an adjunct, or rice, but you have to have one or the other (or maybe both, I dunno ). You can use 2-row, but 6-row is often used, and 6-row may be preferred, or maybe not. As far as hops goes, whatever you've got lying around that the cat hasn't eaten is both hunky and dory.

I'm tempted to work a little more on this and eventually enter it in a competition, just to see what happens. I think, as long as it's smooth and refreshing, it's good. I'm gonna have SWMBO bring a sixer of Genny back from her trip upstate this weekend, so I can compare mine to a commercial standard.

[mashani]

I drank a lot of Little Kings back in the day... and got into all sorts of trouble because of it. (potato cannon and bottle rocket and roman candle fights for example).

I don't know if it's a "good" cream ale, but any discussion of cream ale makes me remember that sordid bit of my past.

EDIT: Beer advocate gives that beer a score of 80, so I guess it's actually "good". They score Genny as 75.

[FedoraDave]

I'm sure Genny is responsible for its share of potato cannon fights, too. As well as guys trying to go surfing on the Barge Canal.

[Brewbirds]

I was looking at it the BJCP as well Dave. I saw something in the store called an "Irish Style" cream Ale and got curious but BJCP had nadda. Ever hear of it?