At American Social Restaurant & Bar, we pride ourselves on the quality of our menu and we carry not only the best food, but the best beer as well. A craft beer can refer to any number of different types of high quality beverages.

When you buy a craft beer, you’re not so much buying a specific type of beer so much as you’re buying a well-made beer. With that in mind, we carry a wide selection of craft beers covering several different types which are explained in detail below.

How To Pick A Craft Beer

    • Ales and Lagers

Ales are a complex beer with subtle flavors. They are full-bodied brews and have traces of fruit or spices with a hoppy finish when you drink them. They are a darker beer and range in color from dark golds to rich amber. Directly compared in terms of flavor, ales are generally stronger than lagers. Lagers are German in origin and these crisp, smooth beers are highly popular. Despite covering a wide range of brews, the average lager is of pale to medium coloring with a medium to strong hop flavoring. Examples include: Newcastle Brown Ale, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Sam Adams Cold Snap, and New Belgium Fat Tire Amber.

    • Pale Ales and IPAs

Pale ales are one of the most common craft beers on the market with IPAs (India Pale Ales) being the most popular type of pale ale you’ll find. A pale ale is the color of copper and has the taste of fruit. These easy-drinking beers pair well with spicy foods. The difference between an IPA and a pale ale is the extra hops. Some examples include: Dogfish Head 60 Minute, Goose Island IPA, Funky Buddha Hop Gun, and our own American Social Pale Ale.

 

common craft beers

 

    • Belgian Ales

Belgian Ales run the gamut from lighter to darker, but most share the characteristics of complex flavors, malts, fruit flavors, and spices. Also many Belgian Ales have very high ABV with eight to 10 percent not being uncommon, although, these strong beers are quite drinkable. Examples of Belgians include St. Bernardus Abt 12, Delirium Tremens, and Victory Golden Monkey.

    • Fruit, Spice, Wheat and Hefeweizens

These are all smooth, lighter-colored beers that lack in bitterness and have a lighter malt component. Easy to drink, these beers are flavored with sweet fruits and spices with wheat and German Hefeweizens both being brewed from wheat. Slightly more carbonated than other beers, they can be a bit foamy. Examples include: Magic Hat #9, Blue Moon, Angry Orchard Cider, and Abita Purple Haze.

    • Porters and Stouts

Porters and stouts are strong, dark beers such as Guinness, Breckenridge, and Lagunitas. Porters and stouts are similar but there are some subtle differences. Stouts are not as sweet as porters and have a creamy head that tastes of barley when poured. The use of barley in the brewing process gives stouts a flavoring not too dissimilar to coffee.

American Social Restaurant & Bar
As the above shows, we at American Social Restaurant & Bar are proud to carry a wide selection of craft beer options to fit different preferences, tastes, and meal choices. Our wide selection includes not only the above listed beers but several other choices and seasonal favorites. Visit us today to enjoy an old favorite, or discover a new one!