Cream Ale
Threshers Brewing Co.

This is a very nice, smooth, tasty brew! Mellow malt with just the right hops. very clean and perfect for a nice sunny day, or whenever. Can't go wrong with Threshers!

Smell is apple cinnamon stick, apple cider. Taste is cinnamon teddy graham cookies, some cider and more cinnamon. Really good but not a cream ale. Finishes clean, nice mouthfeel. Very drinkable

Pint can - no date - poured into a flared lager pint at 45°F.

Pours slightly dark golden/light amber hue topped with nearly four fingers of dense, creamy, snow white head that slowly recedes to a perpetual finger, leaving moderate to significant lacing behind. Quite clear with some unfiltered haze, and plentiful visible effervescence.

Nose: Sweet cereal grains and clean yeast lend a bit of a pale lager type aroma, but it comes across a bit fuller, sweeter, and rich. Like sweet cream-filled pastry. A hint of very natural canned pineapple sits atop that pastry note. Some very gentle hopping, lends a touch of spice and herbal grassy notes. Clean, simple, and inviting.

Palate: The beer greets the palate with moderately swert cereal grains and a malted barley roundness. This very intriguing cinnamon spice bite follows. It isn't quite cinnamon, but more like the warm cinnamon spice note found in amburana wood or Hungarian oak. Not exact, but it almost leans towards a pumpkin spice note. Coincidentally, there is also a cream note as well. Sweet Italian cream with a hint of vanilla. The cinnamon spice note lingers into the finish where the malt sweetness subsides, and some very clean, well conditioned yeast peeks through. The hops are restrained and subdued, but they lend some classic Euro hop spiciness, similar to Noble or Saaz. The faintest hint of bitterness is revealed, though it's almost imperceptible, and this quickly fades, leaving a dry finish of clean feral grains and a whisper of cinnamon spice.

Mouthfeel/Body: The body is clean and crisp, though surprisingly full. It doesn't have the real fluid snappy feel of a light lager, but rather a full, almost creamy feel that brings this close to medium-bodied. Effervescence is moderate - not quite as lively as one might expect. Minimal drying, zero warmth.

Overall: To be entirely upfront, this is my first cream ale, so it's difficult to rate it when there's nothing to compare it to. I'm basically comparing it to a pale lager or pilsner, but that may not be fair. It's certainly not a typical lager, and it has some very unique traits. That cinnamon note is wild. It's exceptionally drinkable, a touch sweet, it's crisp, it's fairly light... It's a nice pale beer with enough character to not be boring. I'd drink it again.

Taster at Portland on Tap