
Kentucky common beer is a once-popular
style
Style, or styles may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal
* ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film
* ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film
* '' ...
of
ale
Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
from the area in and around
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
from the 1850s until
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
. This style is rarely brewed commercially today. It was also locally known as dark cream common beer, cream beer or common beer. The beer was top-fermented and was
krausened up to 10% making it quite highly carbonated. Like
cream ale, it was consumed fresh, usually as
draught beer
Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as
Name
Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served ...
. In 1913 it was estimated that 80% of the beer consumed in Louisville was of this type. Many local breweries made only this style of beer.
History
Before modern
refrigeration
Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...
, most breweries depended on
ice cut the previous winter for producing beer. The Louisville area usually did not have the weather conditions to produce enough ice for this. With an influx of European immigrants into Louisville during the mid 19th century, there was an increased demand for beer in the area. Common beer was fermented at higher temperatures like an ale, but was aged for a very short period of time if at all before being consumed, thus eliminating any need to keep it cool. (Compare
California common beer or "
steam beer", which has similar origins due to the lack of refrigeration.) This kept overhead costs down and made it inexpensive to purchase, so it was very popular among working-class people. Assumptions that Kentucky Common was a sour beer are based on the description of the style written in 1906 however, based on brewing records, the mash lengths and hopping rates would have made sour mashing impossible as ''
Lactobacillus
''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically div ...
delbruekii'' and ''
Lactobacillus hordei'' used in sour mashing are both hop sensitive, lacking the HorA gene. Nonetheless, in the same work, the bacteria identified in the beer was identified as “rod shaped”, which would indicate ''Lactobacillus'', but it would more likely have been ''
Lactobacillus plantarum'', which is hop tolerant and inhabits contaminated cooperage. The slight souring would have been incidental, even if widespread, and not a defining feature of the style.
, this style is not generally available, though there are occasional attempts at revival.
New Albanian Brewing Company produces one as Phoenix Kentucky Komon, Local Option from Chicago produces their own Kentucky common ale, Avenues Proper in Salt Lake City occasionally brews a Kentucky common ale called Bluegrass Brown,
Abe Erb brewed a one-off, called Yee Haw Magee Kentucky Common, and the revived
Falls City Brewing Company is serving their own version, called Kentucky Common, at its brew house. Darkness Brewing from Bellevue, Kentucky brews a Kentucky common called Bellevue Common. Upstate Brewing Company in New York has one, named Common Sense, and Keg & Lantern in Brooklyn brews Commie's Kentucky Common. Iron Duke Brewery of Ludlow, Massachusetts produces one, named The Common. Ten Mile Brewing in Signal Hill, California also brews one called Hidden Hollow. Level Crossing Brewing in Salt Lake City, UT brews a Kentucky Common called You-Tah Uncommon. Sawstone Brewing Co. in Morehead, Kentucky brews Kentucky Common. Ferguson Brewing Company in Ferguson, MO (metro St. Louis) brews one called Kentucky Common, Tampa Bay Brewing Company in Tampa, Florida brews one called Kentucky Uncommon. As of 9/2/2023, Shadow Puppet Brewing in Livermore, CA (in the San Francisco Bay Area) is brewing Kentucky Uncommon, an American amber ale.
Steeplejack Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon brews a Kentucky Common, which they serve on draft and as a cask ale. In April 2024 Four Fathers Brewing in Ontario brewed a one-off called Saloon Monsoon. Ghost Brewing Company in Bay Shore, New York make a Kentucky Common called Afterlife. It has a cherry cola finish. Hops Brewery in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque brews Dad Joke, a Kentucky common, year-round. Dispensaire microbrewery in Montreal, Quebec brews Derby Draft. Crusader Brewing, located in
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region.
Bakersfield's population as of th ...
, produces a Kentucky common beer known as Commoner, which is available fresh on tap. Trellis Brewing in Louisville, Kentucky often has "Actually", a Kentucky Common, on tap or canned. It is a medium amber/caramel with smooth flavor and minor bitter/sour finish.
In 2021, the
Brewers Association
The Brewers Association is an American trade group of over 5,400 brewers, breweries in planning, suppliers, distributors, craft beer retailers, and individuals particularly concerned with the promotion of craft beer and homebrewing.
Two of th ...
added the style to its updated 2021 Beer Style Guidelines.
Characteristics
This kind of beer was usually made with 6 row barley, approximately 25 to 30 percent
corn
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
grits and 1 to 2 percent each caramel or caramel malts and
black malt to counteract the high bicarbonate water. It had an
original gravity of 1.040-1.050, an average bitterness of 27
IBU. The beer was typically kegged and served relatively young, with a short time of 6 to 8 days from mash in to keg. The beer is an easy-drinking, slightly sweet, dark amber to light brown ale.
See also
* ''
''
* ''
''
References
* "American Handy Book of the Brewing, Malting and Auxiliary Trades," Robert Wahl and Max Henius, 1902
* "The Essentials of Beer Style," Fred Eckhard, 1989
* "Radical Brewing," Randy Mosher, 2004.
Old American Beer Styles, Lost and Found
External links
Kentucky Common beer to stand out at BrewFestYup - Kentucky Had a Beer Style - Kentucky Common BeerKentucky Common – An Almost Forgotten Style
{{Beer in the United States
American beer styles
Cuisine of Louisville, Kentucky
Beer in Kentucky
1850s establishments in Kentucky
Food and drink introduced in the 1850s