Episode 067 – Thomas Hooker Blonde Ale, Monty Python Holy Grail Ale

We start off with a very interesting type of ale – a Cream Ale, which is actually a cross between an ale and a lager. A traditional ale, made with lager yeasts! Next we head to the Castle Anthrax to try out Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale, brewed by Paul Theakston at the Black Sheep Brewery in the UK.

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  • castello
    After reading the comments, I'd better watch again. What did you do with Little King cream ale?
  • Hi Tom!

    Yeah, cream ales are hardly creamy. But as it turns out, Thomas Hooker seems to be the one with the naming irregularities. If you'll notice, both on Thomas Hooker's site, as well as Beer Advocate, it's listed as a Cream Ale:

    http://www.hookerbeer.com/beers/#blonde-ale
    http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/696/9801

    If anything, it's mislabeled as a "Blonde Ale" as a definition, but the name may just come from the color. It does use lager yeasts. Here's a definition of a Cream Ale that does discuss using lager yeasts at the end of the brewing cycle:

    http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/6

    Thanks for your feedback, we hope you're enjoying the show!
  • Tom Goodwin
    Ok, first off there is a difference between Blonde and Cream ales. Cream ales, like you mentioned, were brewed to compete against the mass market lager beers of the day. Some were brewed with lager yeasts but I've never heard of someone actually combining lager and ale yeast, especially at the end of the fermentation where there would be no point. Krausening is the process of adding still-fermenting beer to beer you want to carbonate, which you might be referring to.

    They're usually brewed with a little corn and have very low malt and hop flavor. The "Cream" moniker was added simply to make the beer sound more enticing towards consumers; it doesn’t posses any sort of creaminess that any other middle of the road beer wouldn’t have.

    Blonde Ales, when referring to anything other than Belgian Blondes, are more very light pale ales with low hopping. They're typical fare at most brewpubs. I've had the Hooker Blonde, and while it has a little bit of that corny taste, it's from the torrified wheat used (I asked the brewer). The beer is not a Cream ale.
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