by Richard Pliny, Beer Correspondent

Style: “Blended IPA”
Color: Orange-straw
ABV: 9%
Price Point: $8 for 22oz
Technical Notes: From the Southern Tier website, “High in the winter sky, two parallel stick figures are visible & known as “the twins,” or the constellation Gemini. The astronauts of the 1960s flew as teams of two in a program named after the celestial pairing. At Southern Tier, we have our own fraternal twins, Hoppe [reviewed here] & Unearthly. Blended together & placed in this vessel, the mission of our Gemini is to travel high & take passengers on a journey far into the heavens.”

Hedonic Notes: The beer pours a translucent pale orange with very little foam.  That foam which does form is characterized by large bubbles and a brilliant white shade.  There is a slightly cloudy appearance and the bottom of the bottle has a healthy amount of sediment. Floral, aromatic hop notes pervade the aroma.  A slight bit of citrus follows, accompanied by a thick, almost honey like malt backbone.  The hop notes are complex yet subtle, with hints of pine and grass mixing with the stronger floral and citrus notes.

As the beer warms, the subtler hints become more pronounced.  Hop bitterness reminds one of an American style IPA, with prominent pine and citrus.  A delightfully sweet caramel malt forms a subdued yet appropriate contrast and highlights the more delicate aspects of the hop bitterness.  Grapefruit and orange notes dominate, while grass does not play as prominent a role as in the aroma.  Earthy notes are not as noticeable as one may expect in the finish, which is more dry than bitter.

In spite of the 9% alcohol, any sort of solvent texture is minimal, even as the beer warms.  The finish is very dry and imparts a clear astringency that quite distinct from a hop bitterness.  A surprising smoothness accompanies this dryness and astringency, making for a very unique finish.

Overall the beer is very drinkable.  It is more drinkable than Hoppe, though arguably not as good a vessel for exploring the many facets of hop bitterness.  Personally, I found Hoppe a more interesting experience, but perhaps this beer isn’t trying to compete as much as complement.  It should be noted that this beer was aged for a few months, perhaps subduing the hop flavors.  That said, it was quite unique and a delight to drink in general.

Rating: 4/5 Corks. Gemini is a delightful IPA to drink, but perhaps not as high in the sky as Southern Tier’s Hoppe.

The final frontier: beer in space!

In 2001 Kirsten Sterett, a graduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, conducted experiments brewing beer in space.  With the help of Coors, Sterett had a small fermentation experiment fly on a shuttle mission, with a control sample on earth.  Experiments looked at cell counts and protein expression levels.

Sterett's brewery apparatus. Thanks to NASA for the image.

Under the influence of gravity (i.e., on Earth), cells form aggregates and settle out of solution.  This results in a layer of sediment at the bottom of the beer and is largely responsible for the slow progression of aging.  In microgravity, however, the cells remain in suspension throughout the length of the fermentation.  Moreover, carbon dioxide bubbles don’t leave the system since there is no bouyant force in the absence of gravity. In remaining in suspension, the cells are able to consume sugars more rapidly since the diffusion limitations are lessened.

Sterett found, somewhat paradoxically, that total cell counts are reduced when fermentation is conducted in orbit.  However, certain proteins were expressed in higher levels. Later experiments focusing on pharmaceutical production would find that bacterial cells are able to produce better target molecule:biomass ratios in microgravity.

Though the precise mechanism is not clear, efforts are underway to engineer organisms that are able to produce similar results in gravity. The bulk of earlier microbial experiments in space focused primarily on pathogenic bacteria.  Findings from Salyut in 1982 and Spacelab D1 in 1985 seemed to indicate that microbes have increased antibiotic resistance in microgravity.  It appears microbes are able to form more dense biofilms in the absence of gravity, making mass transfer to the center of the population difficult.

The ISS would make a great place for a pub. Image courtesy of NASA

So is beer production possible in space?  The question is currently unanswered, but appears promising.  Sterett did taste about 1ml of her beer, but noted that it did not taste very good.  Space beer would no doubt be a rather different drinking experience without a proper head forming (not to mention drinking from a straw and having limited aroma due to container constraints).

Japanese brewer Sapporo offered a beer brewed with barley descended from samples grown in orbit.  The beer launched in early 2009, with a mere 100 liters were produced and sold to a lucky 250 customers chosen from a lottery for 10,000 yen (roughly $110US) per six-pack.  (as an aside, if any readers out there happen to have a bottle of this sitting around I would love to write a feature on it!) Is space beer going to be the beverage of the future?  Probably not… and I’m still waiting for my jetpack.

“R&D Report for ‘Space Barley’” Sapporo.

Suds in Space. NASA.  2001.

Wilson et al. “Space flight alters bacterial gene expression and virulence and reveals a role for global regulator Hfq.“ PNAS. 2007.

                          

Style: India Pale Ale
Color: Amber
ABV: 7.5%
Price Point: $8 for 6-12 oz bottles
Technical Notes:
From the Ithaca Beer Company Website:  “Enjoy the clover honey hue and tropical nose. Simultaneously Punchy and soothing with a big body and a finish that boasts pineapple and grapefruit. Flower power is hopped and dry-hopped five different times throughout the brewing and fermentation process.”

Hedonic notes:

The pour is a rich amber color with a slightly off white foam.  The carbonation persists at an appropriate level throughout the tasting though the foam dissipates in a few minutes.

A strong citrus hop aroma dominates and is clearly composed of Amarillo hops.  A pine scent floats around faintly in the hop scents.  Very slight honey malt notes rest in the background.

Citrus/floral hop flavors dominate the palate.  A sweet grapefruit and grassy note characteristic of Cascade hops forms the middle of the hop flavor, followed by an almost pungent or spicy, earthy lingering finish reminding one of Columbus hops.  A light malty sweetness balances slightly, but does not disrupt the hop flavor and does not linger.

The mouthfeel is somewhat light despite the low yet appropriate level of carbonation.  Mouthcoating bitterness lingers as a reminder.  One would never guess that this beer is 7.5% alcohol.

This beer is quite delightful to drink overall.  As far as American IPAs are concerned, this is a very good example.  The clear dominance of Cascade and Amarillo (Amarillo is often described as a “super cascade”) hops imparts a clear citrus flavor and aroma that clearly places this beer in the American style category.  Though not as balanced as some, the malt flavor is present merely to mask undesirable aspects of very high hop beers, allowing the beer to showcase the pleasant side of the selected hops.  That said, it is perhaps not the most drinkable beer for those who do not enjoy IPAs as it is quite bitter (Ithaca Brewing Company reports 75 IBUs).  Within its style, however, Flower Power is a great example of an American IPA that is able to showcase citrus characteristics of hops.

Rating: 4/5 Corks.  This beer is a prime example of an American IPA.

This week’s review was published to commemorate Ithaca Brewery’s Flower Power IPA making it to the top 8 in Brewing News’ Third Annual National IPA Championship.  Flower Power made it to the final four last year so it should show well this year.  I will depart from the usual format of beer and science to instead discuss beer history.

The pale ale style finds its origins in the mid 1600s, when malters began the practice of using coke fired kilns to dry the malt.  Prior to this point, malt was difficult to dry properly to create a pale grain.  Moreover, these ale styles demanded a harder water than was typically available.   Lacking sufficiently hard water, London is known more for its brown ales and the pale ales never caught on in Colonial America.  American Colonists used their cheap pale malt to make lagers, which would become the dominant style of American beer for some time.

The need for hard water meant that Burton-on-Trent  became the epicenter of pale ale production, where brown ales remained the dominant beer in London.  Today, Bass beer (brewed in Burton-on-Trent) is a good example of this style.  The high sulphate concentration brings out the hop flavors.  Addition of gypsum was discovered to emulate this effect in other water sources, bringing about pale ale production in London in the late 1700s.

In most of Britain, pale ale and bitter are synonymous words (except in Burton-on-Trent, where it denotes their unique local style).  A number of brewers in Britain lost their export licenses to Russia (a huge beer market at the time) in the late eighteenth century, causing the consolidation of a number of well known pale ale breweries in the area.  Reeling from the loss of a large market, brewers pursued contracts with the British East India Trading Company.

One of the first brewers to win a British East India contract was Samuel Allsop and Sons Brewer located in Burton-on-Trent.  Allsop made a pale ale in the style of Hodgson, a previously famous London pale ale that had failed due to the loss of the Russian market.  The beer was very light with a stronger hop flavor than most pales of the time.  It is unlikely that this beer was much stronger than the contemporary bitters, though it was hopped more aggressively.  These beers were fermented to a very low residual content, creating a very dry flavor and mouthfeel.

It happened that the Indian market very much enjoyed this beer.  Its lighter taste made it well suited for the warmer climate and the bitter flavor appealed to customers.  The legend that the beer was developed as a high alcohol and high hop beer for the lengthy sea voyage to India is probably not true.  Porters of the time survived the trip despite higher residual sugars and lower alcohol content than IPAs of the time.  It is sometimes said that these beers would be infected with Brettanomyces during the voyage, resulting in the characteristic horse blanket flavor.

The birth of the modern American IPA would not be until sometime after the British IPA was well established.  In the early 1990s, with the rapid growth of the American craft brewing industry on the west coast, the American IPA as we know it today developed gradually.  Availability of American hop varieties (Cascade, Centennial and Willamette most notably) enabled brewers to make the distinctly citrus aromas that are characteristic of American IPAs.

Cascade hops (photo by michaelstyne on Flickr)

Invention of the Double IPA marked the formalization of the American Style IPA.  In 1994, Vinnie Cilurzo (now of Russian River fame) made a mistake in producing an IPA while working at Blind Pig Brewery.  He accidentally added 50% too much grain, and made up for the balance by adding double the hops.  It should be noted that some often credit this invention to Rogue Ales’ I2PA, first brewed in 1990, which followed a similar formula of increased malt and hops.

American IPAs have relied on the development of super hop strains that provide sufficient bitterness.  While Cascade, Centennial and Willamette provide great aroma, varieties like Warrior and Chinook lend a bittering kick to any beer.  More recent developments (called super alpha hops) like Summit, Tomahawk and Apollo have enabled American brewers to take the IPA and double IPA to a new level of bitterness.

Further Reading:

Bamfroth, Charles. Beer: Tap Into the Art and Science of Brewing. Oxford University Press: Oxford.  2009.

Daniels, Ray.  Designing Great Beers.  Brewer’s Publications: Boulder, CO.  2000.

Woolsey, David Alan.  Libations of the Eighteenth Century.  Universal Publishers. 2002.

                          

Style: Double Pale Ale
Color: Amber to Red
ABV: 10%
Price Point: $10 for 22oz
Technical Notes:
From the Middle Ages Brewing Co. Website:  “Brewed in the style of an American Double IPA in celebration of our 10th anniversary. This beer is golden in color, has medium to full body, intense hop bitterness, flavor and aroma. Ten additions of American hops are made throughout the brewing process.”

Hedonic notes:

The beer pours a deep red with a slight orange hue.  A slightly off white head forms and persists for some time.

Citrus hop notes dominate the aroma and are joined by a faint pine/grass like hop scent.  Sweet malt smells are reminiscent of caramel and form the backbone of the aroma.

As in the aroma, citrus hop dominates the palate.  A slight earthy hop note is present, in addition to a slightly stronger pine flavor than is present in the smell.  Sweet malt flavors are largely caramel-like and balance the hops very well.

The beer is medium bodied and has an appropriate level of carbonation for a double IPA.  Despite the strong malt flavors, the mouthfeel is not too sweet.  There is very little hint of alcohol though the beer is 10%.

Overall, Middle Ages’ X IPA is a very well-balanced beer.  It is not as aggressively hopped as many other double IPAs, but the bitterness is rounded out very well with malty sweetness.  The hop notes are largely citrus and pine/grass, with less earthy notes.  This nearly single aspect of hop flavor makes the beer seem a bit one-dimensional, but the properly proportioned malt flavor works to compensate for this shortcoming.

Rating: 2.5/5 Corks.  Though very well balanced and drinkable, the beer does little to set itself apart in a sea of American IPAs.

Science!
Hops are generally added to beer for two reasons: aroma and bitterness. These components come at different stages of the beer brewing process.

Isomerization reactions in the boil process make hop oils soluble and have profound consequences for beer flavor.  During the boil process, humulone reacts to form isohumulone, which is far more soluble.  One key difference is the absence of the aromatic ring structure, which makes the compound more stable in solution with water.

Beer bitterness is measured using international bitterness units or IBUs.  One IBU corresponds to one part per million (microgram per liter) of isohumulone.  This figure is typically measured using spectrophotometry or liquid-liquid extraction.  The precise value of this measurement is often of little importance since a malty flavor easily mask the bitterness.

Typical bitterness levels for India Pale Ales is often in the range 40-60 IBUs.  Double or imperial IPAs represent a wide range from 60 to 120 IBUs.  Most wheat beers are under 20 and lagers tend to be in the range of 10 to 30 IBUs.  These figures are in accordance with Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines that define style parameters.

Breakdown of these compounds is often blamed for stale flavors in beer.  Decomposition of isohumulone in the presence of oxygen and sunlight results in the formation of 3-Methyl-2-butene-1-thiol.  This compound imparts a distinct stale taste and skunky odor.

Other soluble compounds from hop oils are responsible for a substantial portion of the beer’s flavor profile.  Efforts to characterize the precise flavor contributions and taste thresholds hold promise for further understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of the brewing process.  Additionally, such knowledge enables brewers to very accurately plan the precise flavor profiles of beers.  Characterization of these compounds also has applications in beer haze and foam stability.

Fix, George.  Principles of Brewing Science.  Brewers Publications, Boulder CO: 1999.

Pozdrik, Richard, Roddick, Felicity A., Rogers, Peter J., Nguyen, Thang.  Spectrophotometric Method for Exploring 3-Methyl-2-butene-1-thiol (MBT) Formation in Lager. J. Agric. Food Chem. 53(17): 6123–6129. 2006.

Weiss, A., Schönberger, Ch., Mitter, W., Biendl, M., Krottenthaler, M., Back, W. Sensory and Analytical characteristation of reduced, isomerised hop extracts and their influence and use in beer. J. Inst. Brew. 108 (2) 236:242. 2002.

                          

Ithaca Beer Company Excelsior! Alphalpha

Style: Double Honey Bitter
Color: Amber
ABV: 8.5%
Price Point: $11

Technical Notes: Brewed with local alfalfa honey and Cascade hops. Like the other Excelsior! Beers, this is bottle conditioned and the last pour includes a bit of yeast.

Hedonic Notes:
The first pour is very frothy and carbonated, a thick and stable head develops instantly. A slight cloudiness makes the honey amber beer a bit opaque.

Citrus-hoppiness pervades the aroma with a Belgian ester/clove scent forming the backbone. The scent is clearly Cascade hops. Orange and lemon scents make the bulk of the citrus sensation. The hoppy aroma is not as dominating as one might expect from a double IPA, or “double honey bitter,” but the citrus dominance of the Cascade hops is appropriate for the style.

As expected, the beer has a good deal of hoppy bitterness. Surprisingly, the brewers were able to get an earthy bitterness that is almost uncharacteristic of Cascade hops. A citrus and grass/hay-like flavor lingers on the palate. The earthy and citrus characters balance one another creating a well-rounded bitterness. A good amount of roasted and caramel malts were used, imparting a sweetness to the finish. Honey, too, adds a bit of sweetness in the finish, but is noticeable far more in the texture than flavor.

Somewhat sweet texture with a bit of maltiness constitutes the bulk of the mouthfeel. Initially the carbonation is very high, but it subsides quite quickly leaving a nearly flat texture within almost 20 minutes when served at the proper temperature. A honey softness is present in the finish, but it is a bit difficult to notice.
The beer is more palatable than most double IPAs, though if it’s overwhelming bitterness you are expecting then this beer may not be for you. For having used only Cascade hops, the beer has a remarkable range of hoppy bitterness, including not only the expected citrus notes, but also a refreshing earthy hop flavor in the finish. The bitterness is backed up by a wonderful fruity ester and clove flavor reminiscent of a Belgian Enkel, providing a wonderful balance. The alcohol content is listed at 8.5%, but the malt character balances it quite well and hides the solvent like character. Exceptional balance and a well-defined hop character make this beer a pleasure to drink.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 corks .

Science!

Hops are used to create a bitter flavor in beer. From their early adoption as a means to curtail bacteria growth as an alternative to expensive spices, hops have become a flavor additive in modern beer. Current trends in brewing have seen the pursuit of extraordinarily bitter beers. New hop strains and even some techniques to increase hop oil solubility have created beers that reach the limits of not only the hops but also the human palate.

On the right is the generic structure for an alpha-acid.  Depending on the structure of R, the compound has a number of different properties.  Solubility is directly related to the size of the hydrophobic group in the domain represented with the R.  Cohumulone is often considered to impart an unpleasant bitterness.  Noble hops (the four original varieties native to Europe that tend to have high aroma and low bitterness) tend to have high cohumulone levels relative to total alpha acid concentration.  This is often perceived as an astringency in the beer.  Traditional Czech pilsners often feature this particular attribute quite well.  By contrast, humulone is the commonly recognized bittering agent in hops.  Adhumulone’s role in bittering is not fully understood.