Welcome to Beer Tastings, a weekly series in which Utah Beer News highlights a particularly tasty local brew. This week: Coffee Cream Ale by Kiitos Brewing. What are you drinking? Let us know!
Beer Tastings: Coffee Cream Ale
The Coffee Cream Ale from Kiitos Brewing is quickly becoming a go-to beer for me when I’m craving something coffee-flavored.
The beer is one of our 10 Utah Craft Beers Perfect for Your Next BBQ, and that’s due to its easy-drinking, full-flavored profile.
It pours a pale yellow, clocking in at a 3 on the SRM scale, according to Kiitos. With “coffee” in its name, it definitely catches you by surprise.
The brewery explains: “By using whole, unground Guatemalan coffee beans from a local Salt Lake City roaster, we’re able to create the rich, dark coffee taste without color change.”
But once you get within nose-shot of the Coffee Cream Ale, look out. It’s filled with “ferocious” coffee aroma. The flavor is slightly less coffee-forward, but it still packs a punch (with some vanilla notes as well).
It’s a 4% alcohol-by-volume beer, meaning you can occasionally swap the beer for your weekend morning cup of Joe, if that’s your thing.
- Brewery: Kiitos Brewing
- ABV: 4%
- Serving Style: Draft
- Date Tasted: August 16, 2018
- Purchase Location: Kiitos Brewing
Kiitos Brewing: Please and Thank You
For more on Kiitos Brewing, check out our Tastings column featuring the brewery’s American Lager.
Coffee Cream Ale — Kiitos Brrewing
Product Name: Coffee Cream Ale
Product Description: From Kiitos Brewing: "The wolverine, a solitary animal found throughout Finland, has a reputation for power and strength much larger than its size. Similarly, the Kiitos Coffee Cream Ale is a visually light & subdued beer that surprises with a ferocious coffee aroma and flavor. By using whole, unground Guatemalan coffee beans from a local Salt Lake City roaster, we’re able to create the rich, dark coffee taste without color change. The wolverine and coffee cream ale both prove that you shouldn’t underestimate strength by looks alone."
- Aroma
- Appearance
- Flavor
- Mouthfeel
Overall Impression
This light-colored ale (3 SRM) hides the fact that it’s bursting with coffee (aroma especially). Once you get within nose-shot, you’re again deceived slightly, as the coffee flavors are much more subdued (but still present) than the aroma would have you believe. It’s a tasty beer and an easy summer drinker at 4% ABV.
- Aroma: Coffee, some vanilla
- Appearance: Light, pale yellow; dissipating white head, effervescent
- Flavor: Coffee, though not as pronounced as the aroma would have you believe
- Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, tingly
But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Note: The tasting notes format is adapted from a Homebrew Academy Beer Tasting Mastery course I took in 2017.
