A-Z Of Beer Styles: Juleol & Julebryg

Juleol is the Norwegian name for Christmas beer. There are around 50 different Juleols and most Norwegian brewers produce one for November and December. They are typical dark lagers that are strong enough that they are only available from the state run off-licenses known as Vinmonopolet. The Mack Juleol is mahogany brown in colour with a flavour combining woody malt and lashings of stewed fruit. The Aass Juleol has a more pronounced caramel flavour and a hint of spice. Some breweries deliverately produce weaker beers so they can be sold in supermarkets, the most highly rated of these is the Nogne O Julesnadder which, at 4.5% abv, is just weaker than the 4.75% abv cut-off. Over in Denmark festive beers are called Julebryg and given the more enthusiastic beer culture there it's no surprise to find twice as many Julebryg as there are Juleol. The Norrebro Julebryg is a potent 7% abv brew which contains a "secret Christmas spice" while other Julebryg are more standard dark lagers. Sweden also joins in with Julol.

Most of these beers are bocks which are often brewed around the world for special religious occasions such as Christmas or Easter, and many breweries still produce them on a seasonal basis, even if they are not that bothered about paying homage to the Lord. They are usually at least 6% abv in strength and doppelbocks can be even get up to 10% abv. Things get even stronger with eisbocks, which are lagers that are “crack distilled” by freezing a doppelbock to be able to separate out the alcoholic part of the mix. This process often requires an ice cream factory willing to let a brewer play with their equipment.

Bocks usually have a similar flavour to Munich dunkels but they add a warming alcohol feel to the combination of dark fruity and roasted malts. They can also have some surprising flavours: Norway’s Aass Bock even has a hint of carrot cake. One of the strongest bocks is the Austrian Samiclaus. This is a brewed once a year and matured for 10 months eventually coming out at 14% abv. It has a combination of caramel and raisins that do not get blown away by the alcohol. Over in American the Rogue Brewery brew a robust Maibock called Dead Guy Ale, and to give it a bit more of a kick they do a version aged in bourbon whiskey barrels called John John Dead Guy, which has an oaky taste with apricots, berries and all sorts of over-ripe fruit.

Five to try-
1. Mack Juleol
2. Aass Juleol
3. De Molen Juleol
4. Norrebro Julebryg
5. Nogne O Julesnadder

A-Z Of Beer Styles: IPA

It’s sometimes said the India pale ales were “invented” in the late 18th century by brewers looking to ship pale beers to India. However the original IPAs were no stronger than other contemporary beers and records show that porters of the day could happily survive for at least a year on ships and so could easily survive the 4 month trip to India. In fact beers had been exported to India quite happily for many years. What is true is that Hodgson’s Pale Ales were popular in India and by 1840 had gained the name India Pale Ale.

IPAs have a dry hoppy flavour that is bitter and peppery. Brewers such as Meantime produce IPAs to 19th century strengths and bitterness while chain pub staples Greene King IPA and Deuchars IPA tone down the strength and flavour to produce creamy beers
indistinguishable from other golden ales. A good middle ground, and modern day classic, is Thornbridge’s Jaipur which has huge fruity flavours to balance the dry hoppiness. Scottish troublemakers Brewdog started their rise with a Punk IPA that remains their signature beer.

IPAs are a phenomenon in American microbrewing. The US IPAs have massive citrus hop flavours and intense bitterness – sometimes it feels like sucking on a hop. These are often strongly alcoholic and you will commonly find Double and Triple IPAs whose strengths get close to 10% abv. Goose Island and Sierra Nevada are good places to start. Belgian brewers took notice of this and started fusing US IPAs with their strong pale Tripels, creating beers such as the Achouffe Houblon IPA. The US brewers then started doing versions of these Belgian IPAs creating a cycle of increasingly intense beers. Some brewers have even created black IPAs – such as Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black. These are a blend of a porter and IPA styles – now that has got to travel well.

Five to Try -
1. Thornbridge Jaipur
2. Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black
3. 1516 Victory Hop Devil IPA
4. Goose Island IPA
5. Samuel Smith India Ale

A-Z Of Beer Styles: Helles

Local pride can be a great motivator. The success of the hoppy golden lager from Pilsen led to many central European towns and cities wanting something similar. The people of Budweis wouldn’t want to say that their Budweiser was just a copy of their neighbours Pilsner – it’s a different beast which we could term a Budweis style of beer – a beer whose defining characteristic is that it can solely be brewed in Budweis. You could come up with 26 different entries – and frankly it wouldn’t be worth doing either – but Helles is one of the most notable local German lager variants. It clocks in at around 5% abv and has similarities with some of the other German lager styles. However it was pre-dated by the Dortmunder.

Dortmund lies in the west of Germany close to the river Ruhr. It started brewing pale lager abut 30 years after pilsners appeared when the town was populated by industrial workers and coal miners, thereby giving the beer a tough proletariat image. The heavy industry in Dortmund has died off in recent years and the beer’s popularity has also waned, partially because the style lacks a distinctive edge – it’s a balance of what you’ll find in other lagers. The original Dortmunder Union Export is available, but it is now made by a different brewery.

Munich caught onto the pilsner craze a little later than Dortmund but has had a more enduring impact. The helles beer originally produced by the Spaten Brewery is an incredibly pale coloured beer whose emphasis is almost entirely on the malt flavour. There is usually no aroma and hardly any bitterness at all. The beer was first sold in the port of Hamburg as a trial run, but it was soon selling strongly in the bars of Munich. Done well a helles is almost infinitely subtle, making best use of the purity laws. Done badly it’s just bland.

Five to Try -
1. Fischer Brau Helles
2. Ottakringer Helles
3. St Georgen Helles
4. Kaltenberg Hell
5. Stary Melnik Iz Bochonka Myagkoe