Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week:" Anchor Small Beer

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Mar 31, 2010 7:00PM

I've been on a small beer jones lately. The term itself — "small beer" — can have a litany of meanings. In this instance, I'm referring to a very strong beer mash, like a scotch ale or a barley wine, that's been sparged a second time to create a milder beer. These can result in low alcohol brews like Belgian table beer or breakfast ales. Or they can result in a milder ale that retains some characteristics of its primary brew while having a character all its own. An example: Limb & Life, the small beer complement to the Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Life & Limb collaboration.

Another example is this week's "BotW" selection, from Anchor Brewing. Anchor's Small Beer is made from the second runnings of its popular Old Foghorn barleywine. Both Old Foghorn and the Small Beer are ales, since they're brewed from top fermenting yeast. While they come from the same mash, the two couldn't be any more different. Old Foghorn is all heady esters, dark sugars and high octane vapors on the nose. The Small Beer has a flavor profile more akin to an English bitter and a mouthfeel similar to a lager. Although some sugars and color remain from the 2-Row barley malt, where Small Beer gets its flavor from is the spice imparted from all those Cascade hops.

Pair this beer with steakhouse fare, like lamb chops, Prime Rib, or roast beef. This could also work well as a drink for a Friday night fish fry. You can buy Anchor Small Beer at the Bluebird (1749 N. Damen, $9 for a 22-ounce bottle) or Hopleaf (5148 N. Clark, )