Tasting Day: Pomegranate Cream Ale

Recipe and Brewday here.

After about 3 weeks in the bottle, I popped open a bottle of the Pomegranate Cream Ale.

The last time I had a pink or pinkish colored beer was at Punjabi By Nature and I ordered it based on its description. The nose smelt of vomit, which contributed to a poor drinking experience. This pink beer however has a lot going for it.

The Cream Ale has proved itself to be a very good base beer. My other choice at the time of recipe formulation was a wheat beer but I’m glad I went with the Cream Ale. The low SRM of the Cream Ale and the dark pomegranate juice is the reason why this beer appears pink. Against the background, the body of the beer may not seem pink, but it is.

On the pour, a bright white head forms slowly and it sticks around for some time. The body is light and as you can see, pink. In fact, it is lighter in body than the Cream Ale. The use of a secondary fermenter has also provided a remarkably clear beer when compared to the Cream Ale, which remained hazy throughout.

The first sip was revealing: truly tart beer, and an inviting tartness at that. The pomegranate tartness is pronounced, but it isn’t overwhelming. I was hoping for a bit of sweetness too, but I guess all of the natural fruit sugars may have fermented out completely. 

I smelt a sour note on the nose, but this isn’t really a sour beer. I think the tartness provides a slightly different sour note and not a real sour note like a Berliner Weisse.

The light body, easy drinking and that slight tartness makes this a good summer beer.

I would rate this beer as a marginally good beer. It isn’t a particularly good one where I would speak volumes of it but as I said earlier, a marginally good beer. However, it is miles ahead of the Watermelon Wheat Ale I brewed earlier with no dank, vegetal notes and unpretentious drinkability.

The thing I’m glad about is that fact that the Cream Ale has proved itself to be a worthy base beer and I’ll continue to use it for other fruit beers or beers where I have additions in the secondary. Like a Mango Ale during the mango season.