Beer Spotlight!
Charles Towne Light Show
$16.99 for the 16oz four-pack cans
More Hopped that Usual Golden Ale
With this brew, Charleston, SC’s Charles Towne Fermentory has caused us to ask the question that we hadn’t realized that we needed to ask — what actually is a “Golden Ale?”
Short Disclaimer:
We’re categorization geeks. We care about style definitions because it helps us make sense of a vibrant and ever-changing beer world, because it’s fascinating and fun, and because it ultimately enhances our enjoyment of the beers we taste. Not every beer lover or every brewer for that matter cares about strict definitions; not everyone has to. If you don’t, awesome. You be you. Just skip past the next two paragraphs.
Turns out the American Golden Ale is one of the more wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey styles. It’s there; it’s a thing, but there doesn’t seem to be a hard consensus on what a Golden Ale is. Even the Brewer’s Association Beer Guidelines talk more about what characteristics Golden Ales don’t have than do, making it sound like a beer that distinguishes itself by being unremarkable. Now, that just won’t do.
Said Brewer’s Association (the people behind no less than the Great American Beer Festival) has declared that there’s no difference between a Golden Ale and a Blonde Ale. Still, we find more helpful and more representative of our experience an article by young Mark Thomsen on www.expertbrewing.com. With Thomsen as our main guide, we’re willing to say that the American Golden Ale descended from the British Golden Ale, a weaker version of the pale ale brewed to compete with central European lighter lagers. The Golden Ale is low in alcohol, has a mild but not negligible hop character even with swapping out English hops for American hops, a citrus edge, and is often semi-sweet, even boasting honey notes.
Well, that doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Okay, so now that we know what it is, let’s see what Charles Towne makes of it!
Charles Towne hops the Light Show with neither English nor American hops, but with Nelson Sauvin hops. They’re New Zealand hops that work well both as aroma hops and bittering hops imparting fruit notes from passion fruit to white grapes. After choosing this little Kiwi sports car for their jaunt, Charles Towne lets their foot ride a little heavy on the gas. Heck, the Light Show’s almost as hoppy as an English Pale Ale. It has a delicious, deep mandarin orange flavor, which is full despite the brew being dry. There’s a creaminess to the mouthfeel, maybe due to the brew being unfiltered. After all this, the beer clocks in at only 4.2% ABV, impressive for how much flavor it has.
If you’re looking for something very tasty that’s not even gonna come close to knocking you out, give this brew a try.
Remember!
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