I'll be distributing two beers for the Prose, Music & Beer online event on December 4th.  

Corn Beer (Cream Ale)

A mostly historical style, from the American 19th century and pre-Prohibition times, largely brewed today by homebrewers and hobbyists.  There are exceptions, though.  One commercial example is currently nationally distributed, from Genesee Brewery.  Here in Chicago, a local brewer, Around the Bend, brews a Pistachio flavored version of a Cream Ale as one of their flagship beers.  

The background of the style is interesting and wrapped up in our nation's history and nature as an immigrant society.  The first brewers in this country came from England and brewed using the English techniques and styles they knew.  A wave of German immigration in the 19th century brought a group of brewers with different techniques and stles - they brewed lagers as opposed to the English ales. The lagers became ver popular, with the rise of breweries like Anehuser (founded in 1852) and Pabst (founded in 1844).  Some American commercial ale brewers developed a lighter ale style that mimicked the German lagers - dry, crisp, and very pale.  Key to this style was the use of corn in the grist - both because it was widely available and because it tends to lighten and dry out a beer, compared to traditional barley malt.  

Today, a corn beer or cream ale should be easy to drink, moderate to low alcohol, dry, balanced with a low level of bitterness, lieelte or no hop flavor or aroma, and muted flavors and aroma in general.  Some examples, like the Genesee commercial example, are quite estery and fruity (think of apples and pears), but many homebrewed examples are 'clean' without those flavors.  Also, today, some homebrewers don't use corn but rather rice to lighten the beer.  Whereas corn often lends a flavor or aroma that is identifiable as corn in the beer, rice is essentially flavorless and odorless in a beer, usually.  

Foreign Export Stout

Sometimes called a Foreign Extra Stout, this tyle is considered to be British, but the brewer who popularized the style commercially was the Irish brewery Guinness, albeit in service to the British Empire.  Like the Scottish styles, there are three tiers to the Irish Stout styles, with each tier going up in strength and corresponding flavors.  The Foreign Export Stout is the largest of these styles, more alcoholic, more bitter, more dark roasted flavors and malts.  But it still keep the basics of the famous Irish Stout style - an impression of dryness, nothing overwhelming, everything in balance.  Drinking a well-made Foreign Export Stout should not be like drinking an Imperial Stout - the largely American style that is often huge, very bitter, sometimes a little sweet, a little boozy, made for sipping.  A Foreign Export Stout is still made to be drunk the pint, although probably not more than one pint at a sitting!

The Foreign Export Stout was first brewed to be shipped via ocean travel to British troops and expats in India, Africa and the Caribbean.  It was made both more alcoholic and more bitter than the traditional Irish STout in order to help preserve it for its long journey in warm Temperatures.  Eventually, the Foreign Export Stout spawned a new style developed by brewers in these former colonies - the Tropical Stout.  The Tropical Stout is much fruities, much sweeter, and usually less balanced towards roastiness than the Foreign Export Stout.