Night Shift Cul-de-Sac

The Stats
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 5.4%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.86/5
- Untappd: 3.66/5
- RateBeer: 3.52/5

"Cul-de-sac is a cream ale, dry-hopped with Amarillo hops. Our brewers came up with a nostalgic, yet innovative take on the cream ales of yore - drinkable and smooth with a kick of fruity notes from the dry-hop."

Pours straw yellow with a transparent body and a large, booming three fingers of solid white head.

The aroma is mild with subtle wheat and corn notes, but some lemon zest adds a refreshing touch.

A sweet corn flavor is accented by the (surprisingly large) dry hopping as notes of lemon and orange are far bigger that I had anticipated. The corn takes on a fresh cornbread flavor as opposed to being starchy and maize-like. Malts are bready and light without being too powdery or doughy. As it goes towards the back and on the finish, more of that lemon comes into play, but it comes dangerously close to being too artificial and shandy-esque, but luckily it is more refreshing and crisp rather than fake.

Mouthfeel is light, calm, and smooth. The Amarillo helps with the citrus and hoppy flavors and makes it easy to drink. Carbonation is decent, but not too high and the body does have a creamy texture.

Cul-de-Sac was a light and easy-drinking cream ale with a solid helping of Amarillo hops. The lemon flavor was a nice addition which helped the drinkability, but I think the base cream ale could also be released on its own. The smooth body was a big plus, but a little more carbonation would have been nice. This cream ale didn't have a generic, adjunct taste which elevates it above a lot of generic choices on the market.

Rating
7.3/10

Castle Island Chuck

The Stats
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 4.8%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.7/5
- RateBeer: N/A
- Untappd: 3.71/5

"Named in honor of the mighty Charles River, Chuck pays homage to the iconic Boston landmark by giving new life to a classic cream ale. Brewed with wheat and a touch of flaked maize, Chuck turns to peachy, piney hops for a big burst of fruity flavor, putting a new spin on this timeless style."

Pours golden yellow with a mostly transparent body (a bit of haze). The pour produced a finger of fizzy white head not unlike soda, and it disappeared almost instantly.

Pilsner malt aroma with corn and wheat. There's maybe a touch of cedar and then some doughy malts.

All my previous reviews of Cream Ales have been either imperial versions, flavored with coffee, or barrel-aged. This marks the first standalone Cream Ale (the closest to one, anyway) and it's pretty much what I expected and nothing much more.

The overall taste is similar to generic adjunct lagers (while this is not a lager), but the maize provides a moderate kick of sweetness which combines with the wheat for a sweet, cereal taste. The dry-hopping does actually lend some notes of citrus and lemon with more of the subtle cedar I picked up on the aroma. It's not a hoppy per se, but the hops are definitely noticeable. As it heads towards the back end, more of that wheat character tends to cut to the front of the line, but there is some room for more sweetness and a pinch of strawberry.

Mouthfeel is light and full of carbonation. It finishes clean on each sip, but the body itself, while calm, doesn't have much texture to grab on to. It is thin for the most part, but is on the verge of being watered down. Still, drinkability, thanks to the body and subtle fruity hop notes, is high.

Chuck avoided being lost in a sea of generic Cream Ales with its dry hopping that produced noticeable fruity notes and subtle hop bite. While still slightly ahead of the pack, this one still didn't do enough to distance itself enough in order to be special. It's perfectly suitable for the style and pretty much accomplished what it set out to do.

Rating
6.8/10

Otter Creek Orange Dream

The Stats
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 5.25%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: N/A
- RateBeer: N/A
- Untappd: 3.59/5

"We're stoked to set this flashback-inspired cream ale into the universe. Grab hold of this warm-weather treat and enjoy the subtle citrus notes of orange peel that are sublimely accompanied by a deliciously smooth vanilla presence, which won't wear out your sweet tooth.
Don't be fooled by the melting pop on the can, The OCB Crew worked hard to create a cream ale with orange peel and vanilla, putting proper emphasis and attention on the cream ale style."

Pours a hazy dark yellow, bordering on light orange with a finger of white head.

The base Cream Ale comes through nicely on the aroma. Orange rind and orange soda are prominent. An overall cream soda feel would be the basic BossTones (The impression that I get...*rimshot*)

The orange and vanilla take some time to develop on the taste as the base beer is what hits me first. The dessert ingredients make up a lot of the confectionery flavors, but the base Cream Ale adds its fair share of sweetness, mainly sweet corn and cereal with light malt flavor. No hop presence to speak of, but given the description, I didn't anticipate much. Letting this warm up does a world of difference as this is basically orange-flavored cream soda. I don't get a typical vanilla flavor, but more vanilla cream, but, hey, I guess that's what they were going for. I get more of an orange candy or orange Jolly Rancher rather than orange peel and it mixes well with the vanilla, so I can't complain. It really is shocking how the Cream Ale itself was dominating, but a change in temperature turned it into a completely different beer.

Mouthfeel is light, but feels bigger than 5.25%. There's plenty of carbonation to go around and this one drinks very easily. The orange makes it refreshing and drinkable and the vanilla does not make it too sweet.

Orange Dream has a good Cream Ale base to go with dessert-like flavors. Again, it is orange soda with vanilla in a can, so Kel Mitchell would probably get a half pack of Rolaids in his pants when he puts this one to his lips. As for me, I liked this unique twist on the style, but to get the full effect, do not drink it right out of the fridge.

Rating
8.0/10

Barrel House Z & Vitamin Sea House Call

The Stats
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 9.1%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: N/A
- RateBeer: N/A

A collaboration with Vitamin Sea Brewing out of Hull, MA, House Call is an Imperial Cream Ale aged in rum barrels with vanilla beans and golden raisins. 

Pours a completely hazy light orange with a finger of white head.

The aroma has ghosts of adjunct lagers past, but that's where the similarities with generic cream ales end. Raisins and dark fruits followed by a kick of rum highlight the nose and there's a dessert-like whipped cream character too.

Cream Ales are something I never really got into, but Regular Coffee by Carton Brewing was an amazing beer that opened my eyes to what can be done with this style. House Call might have usurped Regular Coffee as my favorite of the style.

This is an intense vanilla and raisin bomb if I've ever seen one. Actually, I don't think I have, so hooray for new experiences. I wasn't expecting this to be a dessert beer, but here we are. Marshmallowy (that's not a word) vanilla cream is a sugary ride throughout, but not too sweet as to make the beer off-putting. The raisins work excellently with the rum barrel for a dark fruit bonanza with even some spicyness tossed in for good measure. The dark fruits and warming rum can almost make you think this is a stellar Quad at times, but seeing that golden body snaps you back to reality. I'd almost say the vanilla with rum creates a minor pina colada experience, but if you're not into yoga and have half a brain, you should realize this is delicious on all fronts.

Mouthfeel is full and never thin at any point. On the other side, it also never syrupy or too thick. Some good carbonation bubbles move the 9.1% along nicely and you never actually get an alcohol taste. The dessert-like flavors will mask the abv, so tread carefully.

House Call was an unexpected surprise for me. I am not that into Cream Ales and rum-aged beers typically aren't my preferred barrel. This one though was seven thumbs up from start-to-finish. It's an imperial ale, a dessert beer, and a barrel-aged beer all in one. Barrel House Z has proven in a short time that they can produce a stellar array of styles and I am looking forward to the opening of Vitamin Sea Brewing in the near future.

Rating
9.3/10

Carton Brewing Regular Coffee

The Stats
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 12%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.12/5
- RateBeer: 3.5/5

"A Classic Jersey-ism is “regular coffee.” Here when you order a “regular coffee” at any place you trust to make a pork roll and cheese you get a paper cup of coffee with “milk and 2 sugars” rather than a “black coffee that hasn’t had the caffeine removed.” Acidic bitter coffee flattened by milk and sweetened; the perfect foil for the salty unctuous savor of breakfast on a roll. For our homage to Jersey’s breakfast beverage, we teamed up with our neighbors at Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters looking for an elevated version of classic crappy coffee. We chose Mexican Chiapas for its bitterness akin to artichoke, roasting it a little darker than usual, along with Ethiopian Sidamo for its pleasant lemon-like acidity, which we pushed up through fermentation. We added this coffee blend to a high gravity golden cream ale, contributing our “milk and 2 sugars.” Drink Regular Coffee because running over a black beer with coffee is no way to get to work."

Pours a murky, dark orange with less than a finger of off-white head.

Roasted, but incredibly rich coffee beans blow your hair back on the aroma. It has a creamy and iced coffee smell with even hints of wood and a nutty finish.

Was I expecting much from another coffee beer? Let alone a coffee Cream Ale? Not really, but Regular Coffee has certainly just surprised me. Following in the steps of what seems to be all the rage these days, the dark-flavored, but light in appearance beer is becoming the "it" thing to do, and Carton has delivered an exceptional one.

Almost smokey coffee (is that a thing) is the dominant presence which takes it a step beyond typical roasted notes (though those are abundant). Where things get interesting is in the middle and on the transition as heightened sweetness overwhelms the coffee as I get a sugary cream or even vanilla flavor which turns this into a dessert beer. As far as I know there is no added chocolate, but I swear there is a finish of cocoa powder and milk chocolate which really makes this a diabetic's worst nightmare. I think the 12% abv is a joke because you'd probably see ESPN apologize to Tom Brady before you found any alcohol in this beer.

Mouthfeel is a little flat, but not thinned out or watery. It doesn't feel like a massive 12% beer and all of its dessert-like flavors make it absurdly drinkable. That 12oz can will be gone in no time.

Coffee beers are a dime a dozen, so finding one that blows wind up your dress can be a challenge. Carton Regular Coffee put a delicious spin on a style that not typically known for its world class offerings. It delivers on its promised coffee, but it blindsides you with the wide range of sweet chocolate, vanilla, and cream flavors. It's so unique that it's hard to compare it to anything else, but basically, this is everything that Ballast Point's Calm Before the Storm should have been...and more.

Rating
9.2/10

Ballast Point Calm Before the Storm

The Stats
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 5.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.85/5
- RateBeer: 3.48/5

The Cream Ale is an area I have little-to-no experience in and I can't really list  any great example off the top of my head. However, Ballast Point has made a name for brewing a broad range of styles and actually delivering on them too. Very slowly, the idea of putting stout-like qualities into golden-colored beer styles has come alive lately, but few breweries can make an elite example. Hopefully BP can give us something to remember.

Pours a hazy orange with noticeable sediment floating around. I got three fingers of a fluffy white head that didn't last long.

This is the kind of beer that messes with your head because the aroma doesn't match the appearance at all. It smells dessert-like with a blast of vanilla, but also huge coffee as well and even a small bit of dark chocolate. It's not dark roast coffee, but rather coffee with cream and sugar. Very inviting.

The taste comes up a little short. The coffee is here, but nowhere near as big as it was on the aroma as only coffee bitterness seems to be the only indication it was actually here. The same can be said for the vanilla as some of the vanilla cream taste is barely noticeable and is lacking any dessert-like pop of sweetness. In addition, I am getting qualities associated more with adjunct lagers like Bud, Miller, and Coors with a corn or potato taste, pale malt, and wet grain. The finish has more of the iced coffee experience, but it's more like sucking on an ice cube that had been sitting in your cup of iced coffee.

Mouthfeel is relatively tame. Luckily the adjunct lager notes and dark coffee don't linger and spoil the experience. It can be a little watered down at moments, but it's tolerable.

Is this the new trend in the beer world, or was Calm Before the Storm just a fun experiment that won't catch on? I can't render a verdict just yet as the sample size is still small and I've had blonde-looking beers with coffee that have been really good. In this particular case, the aroma was promising, but it fell flat on the taste. It's not a terrible offering, but considering the plethora of coffee and/or vanilla beers out in the market (including a great one from Ballast Point), this one doesn't have the "wow factor" to make you return for another one.

Rating
7.3/10