Kentucky common beer is a once-popular style of ale from the area in and around Louisville, Kentucky from the 1850s until Prohibition. This style is rarely brewed commercially today. It was also locally known as dark cream common beer, cream beer or common beer. [1] The beer was top-fermented and was krausened [2] up to 10% [3] making it quite highly carbonated. Like cream ale, it was consumed fresh, usually as draught beer. In 1913 it was estimated that 80% of the beer consumed in Louisville was of this type. [4] Many local breweries made only this style of beer.
Before modern refrigeration, most breweries depended on ice cut the previous winter for producing beer. The Louisville area usually did not have the weather conditions to produce enough ice for this. With an influx of European immigrants into Louisville during the mid 19th century, there was an increased demand for beer in the area. Common beer was fermented at higher temperatures like an ale, but was aged for a very short period of time if at all before being consumed, thus eliminating any need to keep it cool. (Compare California common beer or "steam beer", which has similar origins due to the lack of refrigeration.) This kept overhead costs down and made it inexpensive to purchase, so it was very popular among working-class people. Assumptions that Kentucky Common was a sour beer are based on the description of the style written in 1906 [5] however, based on brewing records, the mash lengths and hopping rates would have made sour mashing impossible as Lactobascillus delbruekii and Lactobascillus hordei used in sour mashing are both hop sensitive, lacking the HorA [6] gene. Nonetheless, in the same work, the bacteria identified in the beer was identified as “rod shaped”, which would indicate Lactobascillus, but it would more likely have been Lactobacillus plantarum , which is hop tolerant and inhabits contaminated cooperage. The slight souring would have been incidental, even if widespread, and not a defining feature of the style. [7]
As of 2014 [update] , this style is not generally available, though there are occasional attempts at revival. New Albanian Brewing Company produces one as Phoenix Kentucky Komon, Local Option from Chicago produces their own Kentucky common ale, [8] Avenues Proper in Salt Lake City occasionally brews a Kentucky common ale called Bluegrass Brown, Abe Erb brewed a one-off, called Yee Haw Magee Kentucky Common, [9] and the revived Falls City Brewing Company is serving their own version, called Kentucky Common, at its brew house. [10] Darkness Brewing from Bellevue, Kentucky brews a Kentucky common called Bellevue Common. [11] Upstate Brewing Company in New York has one, named Common Sense, [12] and Keg & Lantern in Brooklyn brews Commie's Kentucky Common. [13] Iron Duke Brewery of Ludlow, Massachusetts produces one, named The Common. [14] Ten Mile Brewing in Signal Hill, California also brews one called Hidden Hollow. [15] Level Crossing Brewing in Salt Lake City, UT brews a Kentucky Common called You-Tah Uncommon. [16] Sawstone Brewing Co. in Morehead, Kentucky brews Kentucky Common. Ferguson Brewing Company in Ferguson, MO (metro St. Louis) brews one called Kentucky Common, Tampa Bay Brewing Company in Tampa, Florida brews one called Kentucky Uncommon. As of 9/2/2023, Shadow Puppet Brewing in Livermore CA (in the San Francisco Bay Area) is brewing Kentucky Uncommon, an American amber ale. [17]
In 2021 the Brewers Association added the style to its updated 2021 Beer Style Guidelines. [18]
This kind of beer was usually made with 6 row barley, approximately 25 to 30 percent corn grits and 1 to 2 percent each caramel or caramel malts and black malt to counteract the high bicarbonate water. It had an original gravity of 1.040-1.050, an average bitterness of 27 IBU. The beer was typically kegged and served relatively young, with a short time of 6 to 8 days from mash in to keg. The beer is an easy-drinking, slightly sweet, dark amber to light brown ale. [19]
Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Beer is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, at home by a homebrewer, or communally. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archaeological evidence suggests that emerging civilizations, including ancient Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia, brewed beer. Since the nineteenth century the brewing industry has been part of most western economies.
Stout is a dark beer which is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout, though can also be cold fermented, such as Baltic porter.
Adnams is a regional brewery founded in 1872 in Southwold, Suffolk, England, by George and Ernest Adnams. It produces cask ale and bottled beers. Annual production is around 85,000 barrels.
Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed domestically for thousands of years before its commercial production, although its legality has varied according to local regulation. Homebrewing is closely related to the hobby of home distillation, the production of alcoholic spirits for personal consumption; however home distillation is generally more tightly regulated.
Irish red ale, also known as red ale or Irish ale, is a style of pale ale that is brewed using a moderate amount of kilned malts and roasted barley, giving the beer its red colour. Its strength typically ranges from 3.8% to 4.8% alcohol by volume, although some craft varieties can be as high as 6%.
Smoked beer is a type of beer with a distinctive smoke flavour imparted by using malted barley dried over an open flame.
India pale ale (IPA) is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale.
Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick, west London, England, is the former brewing division of Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC. It was a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019, when it was sold to the Japanese international beverage giant Asahi.
Victory Brewing Company (Victory) is a brewery founded in 1996 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States. The main brands are HopDevil, Prima Pils, Headwaters Pale Ale, Golden Monkey, DirtWolf, and Storm King, which are distributed in 34 states and nine countries. Victory Brewing is located at 420 Acorn Lane Downingtown, Pennsylvania 19335.
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
Beer, called maekju in Korean, was first introduced to Korea in the early 20th century. Seoul's first brewery opened in 1908. Two current major breweries date back to the 1930s. The third brewery established in Korea, Jinro Coors Brewery, was founded in the 1990s. It was later acquired by Oriental Breweries (OB). Hite Breweries's former name was Chosun Breweries, which was established in 1933. The company changed its name to Hite Breweries in 1998. OB Breweries established as Showa Kirin Breweries in 1933. The company changed its name to OB Breweries in 1995.
Beer styles differentiate and categorise beers by colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin.
Wild Rose Brewery, established in 1996 as an independent craft brewery in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is now a part of Sapporo Breweries of Japan.
The beers of the Caribbean are unique to each island in the region, although many are variants of the same style. Each island generally brews its own unique pale lager, the occasional stout, and often a non-alcoholic malta beverage. Contract-brewing of international beers is also common, with Heineken Pilsener and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout being the most popular. The beers vary between the islands to suit the taste and the brewing method used.
Captain Lawrence Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Elmsford, New York. The brewery is owned and run by head brewer Scott Vaccaro. Vaccaro, a homebrewer since 1995, trained in brewing science at UC Davis.
Cream ale is a style of American beer which is light in color and well attenuated, meaning drier. First crafted in the mid-1800s at various breweries in the United States, cream ale remained a very localized form with different styles until the early 20th century. During Prohibition in the United States, a great number of Canadian brewers took up brewing cream ale, refining it to some degree. Following the end of Prohibition, cream ale from Canada became popular in the United States and the style was produced anew in both nations.
Ale is a type of beer originating in medieval England, brewed using a warm fermentation method. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
Ukrainian golden ale is a local Ukrainian beer style, originating in the Donets'k region in 2009.
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