As the nights draw in, and the weather is colder some people find that they have a preference for darker beers. Looking at what beer and cider is drunk over the course of the year, there is a notable shift towards darker beers in the winter time away from paler coloured beers.
Today, we are looking at where the flavour in dark beers comes from. We will look at some reasons as to why people prefer darker beers in the winter time as compared to paler beers in the summer time. We will also challenge some assumptions – there are logical reasons as to why people should choose certain types of dark beers in the summer time, but often this doesn’t make sense to people instinctively.
The two beers that we are drinking today are Hop City Brewing Company 8th Sin Black Lager and Black Sheep Milk Stout.
Where Do Dark Malt Flavours Come From? –
The fascetious answer is dark malt, but we are going to look at it in a little bit more detail.
There are many foods that go through a roasting process to develop flavours. Coffee beans when they are harvested from a coffee plant are white/cream in colour (after they have been removed from the pod). The brown to black colour that we associate with coffee beans is only generated after the coffee bean is roasted, and the exact method of roasting can have a significant impact on the flavour of the coffee bean. Barbequed meats are roasted on the barbeque, and the outside of the meat can develop a dark charcoal that contributes a roasted meat character to the meat.
Malted barley (or sometimes just barley) can be put through a similar process. When barley is harvested from a field, it is pale gold in colour. The malting house puts these grains through a process to make the barley appropriate for brewing – to turn it into malted barley. During this process of malting, the barley is tricked into thinking that it is time to grow and sprout (it is steeped in water, and warmed up to trick it into thinking that it has been planted in a field as the weather is warming in springtime). The barley kernel starts an internal process to build up a foodstuff – starch – to sustain the plant as it grows. Just as this process finishes, the maltster kilns the barley to stop this germination (growing) process, and keeps this starch so that it is available to the brewer.
If the kilning of the malted barley is done very gently, the malted barley retains its pale gold colour, and beer brewed exclusively with such grains will be golden in colour. If the malted barley is heated more aggressively before it has been dried out, the malted barley is ‘stewed’, and caramelised or dark sugar flavours can develop in the malted barley (flavours associated with red beers).. Drying the malted barley and roasting it can result in various roast flavours – roast bitter, roast acidity, charcoal, chocolate, coffee and other similar flavours. A relatively small amount of these roasted malts can contribute a lot of colour to the beer – even a single digit or low double digit percentage of these dark malts can result in a dark or even black beer.
Why Dark Malt Flavours in Cold Weather?
Sometimes a question like this can seem self-evident, but when we dig into it, we get some surprising results. Often if you ask beer drinkers why they drink dark beers in cold weather, they will respond saying that dark beers have more body, and that they are more satisfying as a result in cold weather. Some dark beers are full bodied beers, but not all.
Body in beer is a function of a few different things. The single biggest factor that contributes body to beer is residual sugars. In the brewing process, sugar in the unfermented beer is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. However, some sugars are not fermentable (they are called dextrins). These unfermentable sugars survive into the final beer, and can contribute body to the flavour of the beer. Other substances can dissolve in the beer that contribute to body as well (proteins and polyphenols from malt and hops).
Many dark beers are technically ‘light’ beers – or light bodied beers. It is true to say that some dark beers are full bodied (strong Dark Belgian Ale is an example that comes immediately to mind, but also many stouts such as Oatmeal Stout, Sweet/Milk Stout and Imperial Stout). However, Dry Irish stout, for example, has the same measurable level of body (final gravity) as a standard lager. True, the creamy head on a nitrogenated stout contributes a rich mouthfeel to the beer in terms of the head alone, but the main body of the liquid has no more body than a lager. As such, these beers should be just as attractive in hot weather as in cold weather if difference in the body of the beer is the driving factor.
It is true to say that dark malt flavours can contribute depth of flavour to a beer. This depth of flavour can contribute to a perception of fuller body in the beer, but really it is a taste/arome phenomenon rather than a mouthfeel phenomenon. A certain quality of dark malt flavour can ‘lift’ body. Roast acidity can lift the body of the beer on the palate and make it taste lighter. Again, using this logic, light bodied darker beers should be just as appropriate to warmer weather as colder weather.
My personal feeling is that the reason why people sometimes have a preference for darker beers is because of flavour associations. The flavours associated with dark malt are flavours that are sometimes associated with ‘Comfort Foods’ and ‘Comfort Drinks’. Coffee is a comforting drink to drink in warm weather. Likewise, foods like barbeque food (or, more appropriately roast meats) can be ‘comfort foods’. I feel that the cross-association of these flavours makes people feel that the flavours that they are getting from dark beers are more comforting in colder weather.
An interesting thing to watch over time will be how this might change as these flavours are associated with different drinking occasions. Iced Coffee is a relatively new drink in Ireland – ten years ago, it would have been unusual and twenty years ago, it probably didn’t exist on this island. One has to wonder if things like this would lead people to form different cross associations with the types of flavours in dark beers. When this happens, it is likely that certain beer styles – like schwarzbier (or black lager) – will be more readily understood as equally appropriate as a summer drink as a beer for the winter time.
8th Sin Dark Lager –
Beer Style - Black Lager (Schwarzbier)
Alcohol by Volume - 5.0%
Brewed by - Hop City Brewing Company
Brewed in - Brampton Ontario and St John New Brunswick, Canada
8th Sin is a Black Lager – a style of lager that is described as ‘Schwarzbier’ in Germany and originated in East Germany. The foundation for the beer is that it is brewed with lager yeast – so the flavours from fermentation are clean, allowing the flavours from malt and hops to shine through. As a schwarzbier, the malt flavours in the beer are predominant, with hop character present to complement in the background.
Initial aromas in this beer deliver all of the promise of roast malt character. Coffee and chocolate together with roast character come through on initial aromas, and blend with an interesting ‘sweet’ smell that is reminiscent of rose Turkish delight. The body of this beer is light on the palate, but there is great depth of flavour. As one drinks the beer, the eight roast malts used in brewing offer a substantial depth of complexity, blending espresso coffee, fresh coffee grounds, liquorice, marzipan, malteser and a hint of chocolate. Bitterness is relatively low (25 I.B.U.’s), but the heat of black pepper spice and roast character provide their own counterpoints to balance out this beer. Roast acidity from the dark malts further lifts the body of this beer with an interesting juxtapositioning of flavour perception – the beer has the depth of flavour of a satisfying dark winter beer, while still having the potential to be a light bodied beer with quite easy drinkability for its colour in summer months.
A truly delicious beer!
Black Sheep Milk Stout
Beer Style - Milk Stout
Alcohol by Volume - 4.4%
Brewed by - Black Sheep Brewery
Brewed in - Masham, Yorkshire, England.
Milk stout is an interesting style that is not as prevalent as it would have been a few decades ago. It seems to be enjoying a resurgence as a style for craft brewers to experiment with as an alternative to the better known stout styles. In contrast to dry Irish stout (the stout style with which we would be most familiar in Ireland, as the mass market stouts in Ireland are brewed to this style), milk stout has more lactose sweetness and more body.
Black Sheep Milk Stout bursts with coffee aromas. Fresh coffee grounds and espresso coffee all combine to give distinctly strong coffee flavours. Vanilla/marshmallow combine with this and the depth of flavour is complemented by lactose sweetness that comes through as reminiscent of sweetened condensed milk or even the creaminess of cheesecake. This beer has a velvety body from the residual sugars that is lifted by roast acidity – a contradiction as the beer has a medium body, but the mouthfeel is vibrant and lively. Cola cubes and molasses develop on second and third tastings.
This beer would be an interesting beer to taste beside a dry Irish stout. The fuller body of this delicious milk stout would provide a contrast that would highlight the lighter body associated with dry Irish stout.
Most definitely a beer to try if you like stouts – satisfyingly tasty!
