Paupack Cream Ale by Wallenpaupack Brewing Co. is being evaluated according to the BJCP 2015 guidelines for Cream Ale, Category 1C in the Standard American Beer family. 

There is a strong note of sulfur that is volatile and diminishes as the beer sits. A low malt presence exists in the aroma without the addition of corn or hops. There is a low level of hydrogen sulfide that remains present but has greatly weakened from the initial pour. There isn’t anything remarkable about the aroma and that is one of the charms of the style.  The beer has impressive clarity with a small but tightly packed white head that falls apart quickly. The color is on the darker end of the spectrum for the style but well within guideline parameters. 

The flavor is where this beer goes south; there is a touch of acetaldehyde that is impossible to get past. The “green apple” or “water based paint” off-flavor of acetaldehyde is not a common one, but it is never pleasant. This is not present in an over-the-top kind of way, but with a style as naked as a Cream Ale, any minor flaw detracts from the beer. Trying to look past that, the beer seems well balanced with a concentration on light malt flavor supported by low hop bitterness without any hop flavor. The acetaldehyde character carries into the finish and lingers after each swallow.

Thankfully, this off-flavor of acetaldehyde is rare in commercial examples of beer. It is difficult to describe the sensory experience of it, although some say “pumpkin guts” or “permanent marker” along with the more common descriptors of green apple and emulsion paint. It is strongly tied to the health of a fermentation.  Yeast may be an ingredient that consumers don’t think about as often as hops or grain but without a great fermentation it is impossible to make a great beer. Had this been present in an IPA or imperial stout it would have been much more difficult to perceive due to the complexity of those styles, but with a Cream Ale it stuck out like a sore thumb.