Lula’s Kentucky Common

Brewed in Toronto by Great Lakes Brewery in collaboration with a homebrewer, Lula’s Kentucky Common is a 5.3%, 23 IBU alcohol ale made with flaked rye, flaked corn, and molasses. It’s a handsome brown beer that pours with a thin cap of white head and sold in 473mL cans with a hound dog on the label. It’s a member of GLB’s 7 Barrel Series.

Lula’s has a sweet, sticky aroma with molasses and malt notes leading the way. A classic brown ale scent. The flavour is malty, woody, and flecked with notes of sweet, dried fruit. It finishes sweetly and with only limited bitterness. Through it all, there is just a hint of rye heat.

Lula’s is my first experience with a Kentucky common, so my frame of reference is limited to a field of one. Wikipedia tells me that it’s a dark cream ale classically brewed pre-Prohibition. It’s apparently not a frequently produced style. Based on my experience with Lula’s, I found it to be a sweetish brown ale—sipable and agreeable, with a smooth body. Lula’s was perhaps a touch too sweet, but it has nice brown sugar, toasty caramel, and molasses notes. As a brown ale fan, I can understand how beers like Lula’s used to be en vogue in the Louisville area. I don’t know whether this is a good exemplar of the style or a poor one, but I can safely say it was tasty and interesting. It had English ale characteristics, with a whisper of low-yeast Belgian dubbel thrown in for good measure. I liked it a lot and I’d like to try more in the style.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.