Food & Drink

Craft Beer: Letting off steam

Bullhouse's Pioneer is a steam beer, which is essentially a lager which is brewed using a kind of crossover of techniques...
Bullhouse's Pioneer is a steam beer, which is essentially a lager which is brewed using a kind of crossover of techniques... Bullhouse's Pioneer is a steam beer, which is essentially a lager which is brewed using a kind of crossover of techniques...

EARLIER this month we had 'Blue Monday' which is unfortunately not a time when that New Order classic gets an outing on radio stations, but rather the day identified when we are most likely to miserable and grumpy.

It has been worked out that because it is: A. a Monday; B. Far enough away from Christmas for all the festive cheer to have died down but not far enough for the weather to have improved; and C. Still a seeming eternity to pay day, it is the one day we are more likely to down in the dumps.

Sometimes you get the urge to let off a bit of steam and, as ever, beermakers have a style for every eventuality.

Steam beer is a style most associated with the US, and the most famous example is made by the Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco.

The American West was flush with pioneers during the early and mid parts of the 19th century and one local brewer famed for their own pioneering spirit, has hoped on the steam beer train.

Bullhouse have brought out a steam beer which they have called Pioneer, in a nod to the brewery's perpetual attempts to bring Northern Ireland licensing laws kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

In the meantime, they have undergone a rebranding and are still churning out great beers. A steam beer is essentially a lager which is brewed using a kind of crossover of techniques.

Apart from the yeast used, one of the main differences between lager and ale is that wort is cooled before fermentation for lager while ale is made use warm fermentation.

In steam beer, lager yeast is used, but the beer is fermented at higher temperatures.

Pioneer clocks in at 4.2 per cent and pours a golden colour in the glass. There are crisp, fresh aromas like freshly laundered cotton sheets. There are initial tastes of malt sweetness, with slight hints of caramel and earthy and herbal hop vibes along with some subtle fruit flavours. It has a crisp and dry finish and it has quite a light mouthfeel.

The sweetness gives it moreish quality and it is a highly-sessionable beer, perfect for letting off some steam at the end of a hard week.