It's a gold mine

In the latest in our series on beer styles, Roger Protz reveals all about golden ale.

The original aim of brewers both in Britain and abroad who make golden ales was a simple and, at the time, desperate one: to attempt to counter the rise of global lager brands.

Small brewers, of regional and micro size, did not have the reserves available to invest in lager equipment, so they opted for beers that looked like lager but were made by the ale method. But now the beer scene has turned full circle. Heavily-hyped “premium” lagers are in decline and drinkers are moving in droves to crisp, quenching golden ales.

As a result of such beers using – in the main – just pale malts, hops are able to give full expression to not only their bitterness but also to the abundance of spicy, peppery, citrus, resinous, floral and herbal aromas and flavours.

In Britain, the golden ale movement was launched early in the 1990s by Exmoor Ales in Somerset with Exmoor Gold. It was soon followed by the likes of Hop Back Summer Lightning and Oakham JHB. Both have won many awards, in Hop Back’s case in bottle as well as cask. The sector was given an enormous boost when Crouch Vale in Essex won the Champion Beer of Britain award two years running, in 2005 and 2006. Golden ales are now a separate category in the competition.

As a result of consumer demand, it’s rare for a craft brewery to not include a golden ale in its portfolio while such sizeable regional brewers as Adnams and Fuller’s have muscled their way into the sector with Explorer and Discovery.

In Belgium the style is much older.....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Beers of the World to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

By Roger Protz

Section : Beer styles

Page number : 50