Harlem Brewing Company - Sugar Hill Golden Ale

This brew presents a rich golden amber color topped by a sizeable, fluffy, off-white head that retains very well and drops to a persistent collar. Unlike some golden ales, Sugar Hill offers up a readily discernable malt character on the nose, with a nice touch of caramel, some biscuits, and a wisp of toffee. Hops add a subtly complex profile including herbal, lightly spicy, earthy, and mildly floral notes with a dab of citrus. On the palate, we were impressed by what is a fairly substantial feel for a golden ale; it’s satisfyingly medium-bodied with considerable smoothness. This is not one of the wimpy versions of the style that we often encounter, and is certainly among our favorite golden ales that we’ve sampled recently. The malts provide notes of caramel and mild biscuity sweetness, while the hop contribution lends a noble hop character, including a bit of a lightly spicy, earthy, herbal and citric flavor with acidity to balance those malts. A very drinkable ale, Sugar Hill is remarkably food-friendly and will pair well with an enormous variety of foods. We tried it with baked chicken with spicy rice, and it was a great match! Cheers!

Harlem Brewing Company’s founder, Celeste Beatty, entered the world of brewing through her love of cooking and of infusing beer into her recipes, as well as through – perhaps surprisingly – a love of music. Eventually her interest grew into a homebrewing hobby that, years later, has grown into a full-fledged, successful brewing company.

Legend has it that during Prohibition a beer was brewed surreptitiously in Harlem, NY that became popular throughout Harlem and was the drink of choice for many of the musicians and artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Inspired by this story, Celeste began experimenting with brewing in her Harlem apartment in the mid '90s. After travelling extensively to study brewing, working in breweries both in New York as well as Europe, Beatty opened Harlem Brewing Company in 2000 and launched the flagship Sugar Hill Golden Ale, which can be found in restaurants throughout Harlem, including the iconic Sylvia's and famed chef Marcus Samuelsson's Red Rooster.

Sugar Hill Golden Ale is currently brewed in Saratoga Springs, but Celeste is working on plans to build a brewery in Harlem in the near future, although with so much local residential property it’s been tricky finding a location. She’s also working to expand Harlem Brewing’s lineup to include several more styles, including the Renaissance Wit which we’re pleased to bring you this month. For more info, visit www.harlembrewing.com.