British Golden Ales

Idea Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by StJamesGate, Jun 11, 2021.

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  1. StJamesGate

    StJamesGate Grand Pooh-Bah (3,766) Oct 8, 2007 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    (There's a thread about these + dark milds, but it seems to have gone dormant...)

    I'd like to make the case that British Golden Ales should be a style of their own, based on:
    • Distinctiveness - their paleness, light body/low finishing gravity, high hop levels, and use of non-British ingredients mean they don't comfortable slot in under another style
    • Recognition - CAMRA, SIBA, Untappd and the Brewers Association all list them (though sometimes under different names) as do most homebrew magazines and competitions
    • Heritage - "Amber, Black & Gold," Martyn Cornell's history of British brewing, traces the development of Golden Ales as their own style
    • Audience - similar to how American Blonde is an accessible simple style that often appeals to non-craft drinkers, British Golden ales can serve the lager drinker who doesn't normally order cask ale
    • Ubiquity - many traditional breweries make one and, in London pubs at least, often you'll find half a dozen Golden Ales on cask but only one or two classic bitters
    • Quantity - I could list probably 50 of my own ratings that would be recategorized as BGA, and I'd guess there could be 200 entries without much trouble - that's as many or more than other established styles
    I can already hear some people saying, "But it's just a pale bitter!"
    I'd answer that the hop prominence is indeed similar, it's the restrained malt character that distinguishes BGAs.
    Some Golden Ales use lager malt; there's not another indigenous British Style that can say that.

    If anything, I think the grey area is not when a Golden Ale becomes a Bitter, but when it becomes a Pale Ale (as discussed here: https://zythophile.co.uk/2016/02/10/shall-we-call-this-new-british-beer-style-hoppy-light-ale/) but maybe that's a topic for later.

    To start, what do other people think?
     
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