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Cream Ale Beers for Delivery or Pickup
The Instacart guide to cream ale
Cream ale is a top-fermented, very well-attenuated beer with a lighter color and a subdued malt and hop taste. These craft beers were first made in the many breweries of the United States in the mid-19th century, inspired by German immigrants coming to the country. Later because of the Prohibition in the United States, several Canadian breweries started producing cream ale, tweaking the original formula. After the Prohibition was lifted, cream ale imported from Canada and local cream ales became very popular in the United States.
Around the world, other variations also use the term "cream ale." In the United Kingdom and Ireland, nitro beers are sometimes referred to in this way, though there is little similarity with American cream ales.
All about cream ale
Cream ale is a cross between German lagers and English ales. When German immigrants reached the United States, their influence resulted in the rising popularity of lager and pilsner beer styles. German-inspired lager beverages started outselling the poor American ale. As an adaptive business strategy to counter the competition, American brewers came up with an ale drink that also had lager characteristics, and now we know it as “cream ale.”
Cream ale is not a pure ale form; it has pale lager characteristics as well. Though the cream ales are top-fermented beers like any other ale, they undergo cold-conditioning, or lagering, after primary fermentation for a couple of months. Like many American beer styles, it is open to individual interpretation, so these beverages have a more subjective character, depending on the brewer. Despite the name, it does not contain any kind of dairy products. Cream simply refers to the smooth, creamy mouth-feel of this cold-fermented ale, though some people believe the name comes from the creamed-corn-like aroma that that beer can sometimes have.
Cream ale has little fruity esters, and that gives it a cleaner flavor. Few of these ales also use lager yeast for the cold-storing stages. The adjuncts like corn and rice are used so that the flavor and body are not heavier.
Enjoying cream ale
In its early days, cream ale was known as a "present-use ale" because it was supposed to be enjoyed quickly and not meant to be kept on the shelf. Like the German Kölsch beer style, cream ale is lighter than the heavier ales because it has ingredients like rice, corn, wheat, or sugar in place of barley. Hence, cream ales are a light, refreshing, and drinkable beverage.
Commercial examples of cream ale:
These are some of the cream ales that you can order via Instacart:
- Not Your Father's Vanilla Cream Ale Bottle
- Orca beverage Bedford's vanilla creme Beer
- Mother Earth Brew Co Beer, Cali Creamin' Vanilla Cream Ale
- Swamp Head Brewery Beer, Honey Cream Ale,
- Anderson Valley Winter solstice 08
- Kentucky Vanilla Barrel Cream Ale, Vanilla Barrel Cream
- Due South Beer, Ale, Caramel Cream, and many more.
The vital statistics of this hybrid beer are:
- Standard Reference Method (SRM): 5 to 12.
- International Bitterness Unit (IBU): 10 to 22.
- Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.3 to 5.7%.
Tips to choosing the best cream ale
- Aroma: A good cream ale should have low malt notes, less aroma of hop, a balanced sweetness of corn with some fruity esters
- Appearance: The color should typically be a pale straw to gold. Carbonation should be high with a low to moderate heat. Clarity should be unblemished.
- Flavor: This dry beer should be mildly sweet with low hop bitterness and a mild corny flavor. Hop or malt, none should be dominating.
Cream Ale Near Me
Buy your favorite Cream Ale online with Instacart. Order Cream Ale from local and national retailers near you and enjoy on-demand, contactless delivery or pickup within 2 hours.
FAQs about cream ale
This light beer goes very well with salads, shellfish, Monetary Jack or Brie cheeses, and even desserts like lemon custard tarts. Cream beer should be served in a tall flute glass or a pint and even in a tumbler, ideally at 40 to 45 degrees F.
Nitro beers from the United Kingdom refers to the creaminess derived from nitrogenation, which is generally associated with Irish stouts. It is a process of infusing nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide for tighter foam, which is very different from the process used to brew American cream ales.
The top fermentation of cream ale, which was later cold-conditioned like lager beers, took about two-thirds the time a regular lager-style fermentation takes. The result was equally crisp and refreshing beer. That, of course, led to more production in lesser time and hence more profit.
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