North Coast Brewery serves up old style stock ale
Mike Partel
Issue date: 5/15/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Ok, I've got a brief history lesson for all you. Beer was not always what we see it as now.
Today, we have dozens of styles from all over the world and technically only several "pure" ones that don't share any commonalities with others. A few hundred years ago in England, you more or less had the choice of mild or old. Please keep in mind that these are the overarching branch styles. The mild was a nice session ale to have a few pints after a good day's work at the docks, while the old ale was more of a sipper. It was the aged brother of the mild, having complex layers of flavor developed by cellaring it for months or years. Today, I bring you such a beer - North Coast Old Stock Ale.
North Coast Brewing Company is one of the larger players in the microbrew scene, often seen as one of the top 10. Finding its roots in 1988 in the town of Fort Bragg, Calif., it has achieved great success, receiving more than 70 awards from all over the world. Mark Ruedrich, the brew master, has been a driving force, helping the brewery to attain its popularity and worldwide acclaim.
As I was saying, Old Stock Ale is an example of the old ale style dating back hundreds of years. This is one of the broader categories as the prerequisite for being called an old ale is to be just that - an ale that has been aged for a long time. In the past, the aging process was done in wooden barrels that overtime, would introduce a lactic sourness and complexity that drastically changed the original flavors. Sometimes, the older ale, called the "stock ale" would be blended to taste into the patrons mild, adding a bit of variety into an otherwise simple beverage. Today, old ales can be created by aging the beer with a strain of Brettanomyces bacteria. These bacteria were responsible for adding that sourness to the beer and usually remained in the wooden kegs used to age. Since the barrels were reused multiple times, the bacteria would stick around. Old ale ranges from a simple 5 percent ABV to mind-numbing over-10 percent barley wine levels. This is a broad style so it is to be expected that the flavors and alcohol contents would vary.
Today, we have dozens of styles from all over the world and technically only several "pure" ones that don't share any commonalities with others. A few hundred years ago in England, you more or less had the choice of mild or old. Please keep in mind that these are the overarching branch styles. The mild was a nice session ale to have a few pints after a good day's work at the docks, while the old ale was more of a sipper. It was the aged brother of the mild, having complex layers of flavor developed by cellaring it for months or years. Today, I bring you such a beer - North Coast Old Stock Ale.
North Coast Brewing Company is one of the larger players in the microbrew scene, often seen as one of the top 10. Finding its roots in 1988 in the town of Fort Bragg, Calif., it has achieved great success, receiving more than 70 awards from all over the world. Mark Ruedrich, the brew master, has been a driving force, helping the brewery to attain its popularity and worldwide acclaim.
As I was saying, Old Stock Ale is an example of the old ale style dating back hundreds of years. This is one of the broader categories as the prerequisite for being called an old ale is to be just that - an ale that has been aged for a long time. In the past, the aging process was done in wooden barrels that overtime, would introduce a lactic sourness and complexity that drastically changed the original flavors. Sometimes, the older ale, called the "stock ale" would be blended to taste into the patrons mild, adding a bit of variety into an otherwise simple beverage. Today, old ales can be created by aging the beer with a strain of Brettanomyces bacteria. These bacteria were responsible for adding that sourness to the beer and usually remained in the wooden kegs used to age. Since the barrels were reused multiple times, the bacteria would stick around. Old ale ranges from a simple 5 percent ABV to mind-numbing over-10 percent barley wine levels. This is a broad style so it is to be expected that the flavors and alcohol contents would vary.
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