Beer Talk 3.0

So my friend Ellyn has been a loyal follower from Day 1 of 716 Brewviews and has always wanted to do one with me. Well she got her chance, though instead we decided to do a Beer Talk to make it more enjoyable. The only requirement was Ellyn had to choose the beer and I would make it happen.

So here we go!

The Beer: Super Duper Jelly by Ellicottville Brewing Company

Style: Strawberry Cream Ale

ABV: 6.0% IBU: 23

Brewer’s Introduction

Found on Untappd:

”Inspired by our favorite local donut baker, we’ve created a SUPER CREAMY ale-with so much real strawberry flavor and lactose for a berry donut dream. Brewed for the adventurous beer lover!’

Cracking It Open

Jeff: ‘So first pouring it out into the glasses I was hit with a general overall strawberry aroma.’
Ellyn: ‘It’s definitely sweet. But not overwhelmingly sweet.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah there’s like a sweet touch to it.’
Ellyn: ‘It just uh…Smells tasty. Like you instantly want to have a sip.’
Jeff: ‘But once you really stick your nose in the glass, I kind of lost the strawberry aroma and got more of a typical cream ale aroma.’
Ellyn: ‘To me I just smell strawberry.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah I guess the aromas are shifting cause now again I am getting the strawberry. It smells like a strawberry donut but with a cream ale background.’
Ellyn: ‘But like I said it’s not like overwhelming but very pleasant.’
Jeff: ‘Yes very nice.’
Ellyn: ‘We should talk about the color too!’
Jeff: ‘Yeah it’s just a very nice golden, uh…Yeah golden straw color. Perfect and crisp color wise. I didn’t get a terribly big head on my pour.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah mine has none.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah we’ll see what we get when pour out the next cans because I’m sure they are going to flow very smooth.’
Ellyn: ‘I’m trying to compare the color to like a similar beer.’
(Jeff exits to fetch Ellyn his handy dandy beer book.)
Ellyn: ‘But I would say straw is definitely a good word to describe Super Duper Jelly.’
(Jeff enters book in hand.)
Jeff: ‘So I’m sure you’ve read on the previous beer talk with Kim there is what is called the SRM.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah now I know there is an official way to describe a beer’s color.’
Jeff: ‘So looking at my book, yeah there is definitely a straw color.’
Ellyn: ‘Umm…straw and an amber. Like a light amber.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah a light amber or straw color with a touch of amber.’
Ellyn: ‘It’s beautiful!’
Jeff: ‘It is.’
Ellyn: ‘Not what I would have expected either from this. I was totally expecting more of a strawberry tone with the description and all.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah I definitely thought there would be more strawberry in the color.’
Ellyn: ‘A pleasant surprise indeed!’
Jeff: ‘So I’m going to pull up the description again. “With so much real strawberry flavor and Lactose for a berry donut dream.” So I’m wondering if they used real strawberries or extract. Because the strawberry doesn’t show in the color.’
Ellyn: ‘Can we drink it now?’
Jeff: ‘Of course!’
Ellyn: ‘Well should we mention the flecks in your beer?’
Jeff: ‘Yes, I was planning on it. You can drink as much as you want Ellyn, you don’t have to wait.’
Ellyn: (In a high pitched excited tone) ‘OK!’
Jeff: ‘I sometimes wait because I don’t want to slam them when I’m writing. But in a Beer Talk there is no need to be cautious. If I were to start drinking right away in the beginning of a ‘Brewview’ I would cruise through them and most likely not be able to type straight.’
(Enter Kim to act as supervision.)
Jeff: ‘So I poured my can into my glass and there are a lot of floaters hanging out in there. So I wonder if there is an unfiltered touch to it.’
Ellyn: ‘It doesn’t say unfiltered anywhere, does it?’
Jeff: ‘No, but Ellyn’s beer does not have any floaters yet. But she still has some beer left in her can so we’ll see.’

Ellyn: ‘ Can we cheers?’
Jeff: ‘Yes of course!’
(Glasses click together as friends gather round to enjoy a delicious beer together.)
Jeff: ‘It doesn’t say anything about unfiltered but it does possess that appearance. Not so much with a haze, but obviously with previously mentioned floaters.’

Let’s Drink
Ellyn: ‘Oh wow! Holy cow, very strawberry. It’s delicious.’
Jeff: ‘Hmm, yup. I’m only getting a cream hint in the beginning and then the strawberry really jumps in and takes over.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah, to me it tastes like a straight up dessert beer.’
Jeff: ‘Uh huh, in the description it does mention it being a dessert beer.’
Ellyn: ‘I would tend to agree with that.’
Jeff: ‘I would too. I just did the Chocolate Cream Porter by Big Ditch(Brewview#80) and that’s definlty a dessert beer on a more slower drinking rate. This one is more slam able.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah more crush able, I could easily drink a lot of these.’
Jeff: ‘It’s not very complex, but sometimes you need that.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah simple is best sometimes.’
Jeff: ‘To recap. So right in the beginning the cream ale feel and then the strawberry really takes over.’
Ellyn: ‘To piggyback on the not overwhelming sense of the beer. It’s not overwhelming smell wise or taste wise. In terms of the strawberry but that is the most prevalent flavor to me.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah there is not a lot of aftertaste to it. And I’m not sure how much Lactose they used. I don’t think they’ve used a lot of Lactose in this beer because every other beer with Lactose in it that I’ve had before is very sweet. And Super Duper Jelly has a minimal amount of sweetness. But there is some.’
Ellyn: ‘So when you talk about mouthfeel what do you mean by that?’
Jeff: ‘It’s the body of the beer; light, medium, and full. For a cream ale this is very light. It doesn’t leave a creamy residue. Like some IPAs have a hopyy resiny feel to it(Ellyn is an IPA girl). Cream Ales like a Genny Cream Ale aka Screamer, leaves a creamy coating. There is not a lot of creamy coating with this. It’s definitely a good one that you could drink a lot of and won’t keep you thirsty.’
Ellyn: ‘Right I wouldn’t describe it as refreshing either though. Compared to a light refreshing beer, it does have an easy drinking characteristic to it but…’
Jeff: ‘It’s easy drinking but still has some thickness to it. You’re not going to drink this after mowing the lawn.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah, I guess that’s what I meant.’
Jeff: ‘You’re going to drink this around the table playing cards or watching a movie.’
Ellyn: ‘But still you could have a bunch of them and still feel OK.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah the 6% is great. It doesn’t have a heavy ABV feel at all, not that 6% is crazy.’
Ellyn: ‘So far I’m really into it. Should I rate it out of 10? I would give an 8.3/10.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah, the only thing is I’m trying to figure out the Lactose and I’m not really getting too much of it honestly.’
Ellyn: ‘And what does Lactose do?’
Jeff: ‘Have you had a Milkshake IPA?’
Ellyn: ‘Yes.’
Jeff: ‘It’s the sweetness.’
Ellyn: ‘I think they just proportioned everything very well. It’s not too much of anything.’
Jeff: ‘I’m noticing more of a body now that my glass is half empty. It does have a cream ale feel but it’s still a medium body. Very light to medium.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah, agreed. Jelly donut for sure.’
Jeff: ‘It’s just a smooth beer. There’s nothing that’s jumping out or going crazy. You’re not on a roller coaster of flavors. But it does its job.’
Ellyn: ‘It hits the nail right on the head with that jelly donut.’
Kim: ‘Boom!’
Jeff: ‘I do like the jelly donut feel in the background. It’s not a strong flavor strawberry wise, like a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat where the cherry is in your face. This has the jelly donut that sits in the background and accents the cream ale characteristic of the beer.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah, neither is overwhelming.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah they pair perfect, it’s not one of the other.’
Ellyn: ‘I’m a fan.’

Concluding Thoughts
Jeff: ‘So to sum it up. Umm…quality of the beer…Quality overall, it has that cream ale consistency and a jelly donut feel to it. The flavors aren’t jumping out at me. Which is sometimes nice, I do like a simple beer. Though I don’t want to say simple with a bad connotation to it, but just a good relaxing beer. You’re not searching for flavors or bombarded by numerous flavors. You get what you paid for when you look at the description.
Ellyn: ‘I mean looking at the can you definitely have this predisposition or idea of what it’s going to be. Like I said I thought it was going to be more of a strawberry color and then you poured it out and it was a nice amber/straw color.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah I was expecting more of a different color and it didn’t have that which is nice. Because it looks like a beer and still tastes like a beer.’
Ellyn: ‘I’m very impressed.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah it’s very enjoyable. Looking at the can I kind of expected something crazy. Not that I will judge a beer by its can design because you could have the world’s shittiest beer with a crazy can design and still sell it off as a good beer. But this not the case. Fun can with a fun beer.’
Ellyn: ‘I kind of do, I’m not going to lie.’
Jeff: ‘But in this case like I said it worked out. It’s a fun can with a fun beer. I think Ellicottville did what they set out to do. Mission accomplished to Ellicottville.’
Ellyn: ‘I totally I agree. I would totally recommend this beer to anyone.’
Jeff: ‘It’s a shame it’s not in the summer though because this would’ve been a great summer beer.’
Ellyn: ‘I agree, lighter and sweeter. Yeah crush able but not in the sense where you’re thinking Coors Light or Bud Light.’
Jeff: ‘I really enjoyed the jelly in the background.’
Ellyn: ‘Yeah and I really don’t go for sweet beers. I am pleasantly surprised.’
Jeff: ‘Yeah it did surprise me. When I read Lactose I was wondering what we were getting into and with the jelly donut aspect. But this beer is not overly sweet.’
Ellyn: ‘Not to go back to the appearance or anything. But it’s not thick looking that you could see through it. There’s no haze besides the floaters.’
Jeff: ‘Very true. But yeah I would suggest this, probably not to my Dad.’

Jeff and Ellyn: ‘Cheers Ellicottville Brewing Company!’

So there you have it. Ellyn finally got her wish and here we are with Beer Talk 3.0! Ellicottville brewed a simply delicious strawberry cream ale that I hope to find more of!

Cheers!