HONEST PINT: NARRAGANSETT CREAM ALE: CRÈME DE LA CREAM

Faithful drinkers of Narragansett’s tall boys can rejoice—a new craft beer style from the Rhode Island based brewery is coming, and it’s staying year round. To decide on the style, ‘Gansett posed the decision to fans to vote between a rye and Cream Ale and the Cream Ale—dare we say it?—creamed the rye with 720 votes versus the rye’s 565.

“I think it felt the most comfortable,” said Narragansett CEO Mark Hellendrung (aka Chief Gansett). “If we did a super hopped-up, heavy IPA, everyone’s doing that. This is more true to our roots and I think people get what our brand is about.”

What Gansett’s brand is about is well-crafted drinkability served alongside a large helping of history and nostalgia and in that respect, the Cream Ale nails it.

Cream Ale is one of the few original American styles, “brewed by ale brewers to compete with the lager brewers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states,” according to the BJCP style guidelines.

A hybrid style, it combines the smoothness of lager with the flavor of ale. How this unique style is achieved varies—from using a blend of ale and lager yeasts to using ale yeast at cold fermenting temperatures—

but the result is always a light, crisp ale that’s low on hop bitterness and high on the refreshing.

(The “cream” part most likely comes from its creamy lightness).

The first beer ever sold in a can was a Cream Ale, from the brewery Krueger’s (which was later bought by Narragansett), and Gansett also brewed a Cream Ale in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

“There are a couple guys who I’m good friends with who grew up drinking beer in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s and they just remember that Cream Ale as being a really frothy ale on draft.”

The style is not brewed too often today. On the craft beer side, there’s Sixpoint’s Sweet Action and Haverhill’s Haver Ale, as well as local Somerville brewery Slumbrew’s latest release, My Other Half, an imperial Cream Ale.

The best-known Cream Ale, however, is the very popular Genesee Cream Ale—fondly referred to as Genny Cream.

“That’s really gonna be one of our biggest challenges—to make sure that people know that this isn’t anything like a Genny Cream.”

Somewhat ironically however, the Gansett Cream Ale will actually be brewed by the same Genesee Brewing Company as the Rochester, New York based brewery contract brews all of their year-round beers.

Gansett’s Cream Ale differs from mainstream cream in two respects. One: it’s a pre-prohibition style, meaning there is a greater hop presence. (For comparison, Gansett’s take has 22 IBUs, Genny’s has 12 and Sixpoint’s has 31-33). Two: it’s all malt, while many mainstream Cream Ales use corn or rice adjuncts.

“Once you’ll put it in your mouth, you’ll know the difference.”

The release of the Cream Ale also marks a new era for Narragansett: brewing craft beer styles year round. Currently they sell the classic lager and light version year-round and the Fest, Porter, Bock and Summer Ale seasonally, all of which have been enormously popular.

“Eighteen months ago we were just getting into the seasonal game. Our seasonals just took off, so then we said, what the hell, we gotta do it year round.”

Hellendrung had just tried the first cans the day before I spoke to him.  So how’d it taste?

“I think it’s super refreshing, palatable, with pale malt flavor that has just enough hops to satisfy my desire for that, but still be super refreshing.”

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