Genny, Genny, it’s You That I Turn To: Our beer expert’s fave is inexpensive, not cheap!

Got Beer? readers – from diehards to casual page-flippers/screen-scrollers – know that there’s an embarrassment of beer riches out there. The deluge of craft/independent/top-shelf beer is undeniably droolworthy; it’s easy to get overwhelmed, and even easier to drain your debit card. But when your beer budget has been exhausted (those $18 four-packs make a deep dent) and you need to go econo for your suds fix, there are some sure shots: Narragansett (“Hi! Neighbor” – it’s in your 401 DNA!), PBR and our fave cheap beer – Genesee Cream Ale (30-packs go for $17.11, tax included, at many budget-friendly packies).

Wait, what’s that noise? Ah, the howls of disgust and the tut-tutting of many Got Beer? readers. We’re used to getting variations on, “You’re kidding, right?” when we extol the simple pleasures of Genesee Cream Ale. When we recently told a better beer-loving aficionado that we’d been working through a GCA box whilst saving up for $18 four-packs, she replied, “Why bother?” But we’ve proudly beat the Genny drum for years and tongue-in-cheekily deemed it the “Official Sponsor” at our other beer-soaked enterprise, the Bottles & Cans blog. (Full disclosure: Genesee does not sponsor Got Beer? and/or the B&C blog.)

Let’s share a bit of history about cream ale. In a 2015 piece in All About Beer, Tom Acitelli noted that it “is one of the very few beer styles born and raised in the United States. Predating Prohibition, the style grew up as a response to the pilsners flooding the market via immigrant brewers from Central Europe. Cream ales were generally made with adjuncts such as corn and rice to lighten the body of what would otherwise end up as a thicker ale; brewers also fermented and aged them at temperatures cooler than normal for ales.” (And no, dear Got Beer? reader, there is no cream in cream ale.) Genesee Brewing Company is New York’s oldest beermaker, established in 1878 in Rochester (it’s now owned by North American Breweries, which contract-brews Narragansett Lager). Genesee’s Cream Ale debuted in 1960 and was an instant smash. And it has been an affordable go-to ever since in iconic green-and-white cans (and, in the good old days, handy draft beer balls).

GCA has garnered a fair share of hosannas. It has won 10 medals – two of ’em gold – at the Great American Beer Festival. In a 2016 Washington Post survey titled “Cheap cans of beer, ranked” (by ABV, can design and taste), Genny took the top slot (Narragansett placed second). Writer Ryan Ermey said, “Genesee would have you believe they’ve achieved some sort of beer alchemy by combining a lager and an ale. They haven’t. But they do make a pretty agreeable beer. It’s creamy, but doesn’t leave a filmy aftertaste. It’s a little fruity, but not overly sweet. Packing the biggest ABV punch on our list [5.1%], it’s a model of the form: cheap, tasty beer that makes you look good when you drink it. Cheers to that.” And last year, the local beer enthusiast known as Coach Donovan, who was amused by our constant proselytizing for GCA, sent us this tweet: “I am in Buffalo for a meeting so tonight I ordered my first ever @GeneseeBrewery Cream Ale and it was actually great.” That proves it! (Oh wait, that phrase belongs in the “Cool, Cool World.”)

We’ve been barrel-aging this valentine to GCA for a while; it got pushed to the fore a few weeks ago when the inspirational brew got a sweet shoutout from Bissell Brothers, the acclaimed Portland, Maine, brewery. When BB unveiled Kickflip, their take on the cream ale style, they sent some tallboys to Rochester with this message: “Genny, Cheers to a damn good cream ale… Hope you enjoy our ‘homage.'” In their notes about Kickflip, the BB crew describes cream ale as a “beer-flavored beer.” Beer-flavored beer – what a concept! We’ll drink to that! All hail Genny! (And did we mention that a 30-pack – aka five six-packs – can be yours for $17.11, tax included?) (P.S.: We’d like to recommend a stellar local cream ale for the folks who just ain’t buyin’ this Genny folderol: Grey Sail’s Flagship Ale. Huzzah!)

Mandatory Local Beer News Item: Apponaug Brewing Company is now open for beer (and wine and spirits)- and food-serving business at its gorgeous HQ at Pontiac Mills in Warwick (334 Knight St). Go to apponaugbrewing.com for beer lists and menus and hours and other enticements.

For more beer news, check Lou’s blog, bottlescansclaphands.wordpress.com, or follow @BottlesCansRI.