Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Pale Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds review looks at one of my all time favorite beers - Saranac Pale Ale.

I have often heard people review this beer as a gateway beer for those wishing to expand their palates from macros into the world of craft beer. Not long after my friend Yehuda F moved to West Hempstead from Brooklyn, we were walking home from shul on Friday Night talking about the perfect cholent beers, when he mentioned that he had once had a Saranac Pale Ale, but could never find it again. Yes, I remarked, this is the perfect cholent beer and I could definitely find a few six packs for you. A friendship began and now periodically I drop off six packs beer at his house so that there is always something available for cholent.

So what is a cholent beer? No, its not beer made from cholent. It is a beer which can go well with a stew made of meat, potatoes, beans, barley and onions which has been simmering at low heat for 18-24 hours. When looking for a cholent beer it is important to not to choose one that is too sweet or too heavy. The sweet flavored beers will clash with your cholent. Meanwhile, the stouts will either drown out your cholent or fill you up. It is for this reason that I try to have pale ales, IPAs (India Pale Ale) or wheat beers with my cholent.

The Saranac Pale Ale is a year round brew which pours a rich yellow gold with a fair amount of foam. As with all Saranac products, the carbonation is perfect for drinking with a meal or just on its own. The beer itself has some bitterness, but not to the level of an IPA and there is a little bit of citrusy tone to make you want to have another sip right after finishing what's in your mouth.

Saranac Pale Ale is under the kashruth supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as are all other beer produced by Saranac. For the experts take on Saranac Pale Ale, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/914.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

Finally, as a public service announcement, please be advised that I have received updated LOCs from the Va'ad of Detroit for Saranac, Pete's, Brooklyn and Shiner beers. I have added several new beers to the list from the pre-purim post (http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-night-suds-rising-moon-spring.html ) as the new LOCs added various styles which are now also under the Detroit Va'ad.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!