Me Visiting Sugar Creek Brewing Company
In honor of North Carolina Beer month and beer week, I am sampling a beer from a brewery in Charlotte, North Carolina. I saved this brew from a Beercation, I took down there. I am looking forward to travelling down to Charlotte again soon hopefully. There are some great breweries around the city that are a must visit. I am trying a favorite of a relative that lives down in the Charlotte area. When I visited she made sure that this brewing company was on the list of breweries we checked out while I was there. Let's find out more about the brewing company I am trying this brew from.
Explanation behind the Sugar Creek Brewing Company Logo
I am trying an ale from Sugar Creek Brewing Company. They are located Southside Drive in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sugar Creek is focused on brewing ales in a style and commitment representative of Belgian Trappist Monks. Why Belgian Brews though? This style is complex and delivers unique flavors that create a unsurpassable drinking experience. To create such great beers they examined Belgian Brewers and noticed the great beers. A commonality was the breaking the rule ideal. Most people that learn about beer and study it, know about the Reinheitsgebot Law, which restricts the ingredients in beers to these four main ingredients only: water, hops, yeast, barley. By breaking this rule, there has been the creation of some of the most complex and interesting brews in the worlds. No one thought about texture, aroma, visualization of a particular taste, until breaking from the norm. #BreakTheRules Sugar Creek infuses traditional recipes with modern tastes and techniques to create beer that nourishes both mind and body.
Label of White Ale
Tonight I am trying Sugar Creek Brewing Company's White Ale. This White Ale is an unfiltered Witbier. This recipe dates back to the 14th Century and is one of their most traditional craft beers. The interpretation is inspired by Pierre Celis and his efforts to resurrect this style. White Ale has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 4.9% and an IBU or bitterness of 16. The yeast that ferments this beer is cultured from the original stain near the town of Hoegaarden. Let's find out more about this beer in regards to taste, aroma, and appearance.
Appearance of White Ale
Appearance wise this beer has a straw colored haziness to its appearance. The haziness is from the ale being unfiltered as some witbiers are. The color is a pale straw or pale golden hue to the beer. When I poured the beer out there was a noticeable head or foam the beer. The foam was white and thick. The does linger around then leaves thin layer around the top of the glass. The aroma of the beer is what I would expect for this style of ale. I notice lemon citrus notes in the aroma. That is followed by a peppery note, that gives a unique aroma almost like a saison. The peppery note is followed with a spice note, which is a hint of coriander. The last aroma note that is a finishing aroma note is a funky aroma, in terms of funky it's a malt sweetness aroma.
Time to taste this witbier. I took my first sip and was instantly noticing all the notes that are from the aroma. This white ale is light bodied ale that is crisp and refreshing. First taste note I picked up on was the citrus note. There is a orange peel note that is partnered with a lemon zest citrus. The spice note is not as noticeable in the taste aspect. The coriander and peppery notes are linked together. I enjoy that the coriander is not overpowering, like some witbiers do. To me this is the right amount of coriander in this style of ale. Coriander to me can kill some witbiers because they tend to add too much for my liking. The last note that I picked up on is a subtle sweetness not that I can't pinpoint flavor note wise.
Check out Sugar Creek White Ale
To me, Sugar Creek Brewing created a great witbier brew. Noticing how they break the rules and combine different styles, I think this ale is almost a combination between saison and witbier. The lemon and spice notes combining the orange peel is why I think this. It's a great combination and I think I will now be comparing witbiers to this beer. The light and crisp body are something that make this white ale great for all year. Breaking the Rules and creating this White Ale is something that wouldn't have happened if people followed the purity laws.
Check out Sugar Creek Brewing Company's social media and their website:
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