Heavy Seas Gold Ale

Clipper City Brewing Co.
Baltimore, MD
Heavy Seas Gold Ale

A slow, slightly glugged pour yields little in the way of head, though a lacy white honeycomb sits on top of this mildly carbonated ale. The clarity is just this side of glassy. There is some blush through the middle of the glass, but the color is otherwise a wonderfully tawny gold.

The nose is biscuity – warm bread crust and honey on top of some slightly floral hop perfume. A light vegetal smell sits beneath the slightly murky lupulin layer.

The mouthfeel is nice and even; soft at first as a mild ale should be, but opening up towards the back of the swallow with sweet tangerine and mandarin that carries just a faint tart pop. The finish hangs on for just a moment, coating slightly, before gradually dissipating into a slightly malty sponginess.

Again, this is a mild, though not entirely quiet session ale. I’d sit down with a couple more of these in front of me.

Uinta Hive

Uinta Brewing Co.
Salt Lake City, UT
Four+ Hive Ale with Honey

While I’m awfully skeptical about the prevalence of crappy products with honey added, it makes sense in beer, what with brewing’s relation to mead.

The pour is lively, with a very tightly-knit, cloudy white head that has just the faintest hints of orange. The head is active and the surface teems as fine carbonation swells up throughout excellent clarity.

Less yellow than I expected, this really looks like a jar of honey – amber thinned out by marigold and some faint dun tones. As the head recedes to just below a half-inch, it clings to the inside of the glass like a wet sheet.

The nose is wonderfully malty and reminds me of East Anglian pubs – there is an earthy smell of wet wood, flour batter, hay, and a little bit of lemon zest.

The feel is quite good – the frothy head helps – and cereal grains show up first, though more thinly than the smell originally let on. There’s an interesting moment when the (very) faintly sweet honey mixes with the grassy hops; it’s not a battle between the two, but they don’t necessarily get along at first. Rapidly though, the honey becomes less sweet, and more floral while the hops become a bit more like lemon soap.

All in all, a pleasant brew, and an impressively delicate session ale (not lager!). While I might not seek it out as something incredibly complex, it is interesting enough, and infinitely refreshing.

SweetWater 420 Extra Pale Ale

SweetWater Brewing Co.
Atlanta, GA
420 Extra Pale Ale

This is a gorgeous beer – a golden orange, late summer sunset over a hayfield, with a slight haze from the lack of pasteurization adding to the effect. A crackly lemon sorbet head persists at over half an inch. That same foam catches at the edges of the glass and the ultra-fine carbonation is frenetic and constant.

The nose is sticky sweet like an orange Creamsicle. Some subtle pine needles emerge as slow and as sap, and with the malt coming through just as sweet with mild sourdough pungency. This is shaping up to be an elegant English pale.

The mouthfeel is good, though the start of the first sip is a bit thin. It kicks it up a bit though after a couple of sips and the warmth of my hand around the glass. There is no hop uppercut – everything here is subtle. The wash of hops is very green with lettuce and cucumber being the most distinctive tastes. The malt provides some breadth to the sip and expands out from the middle of the tongue with touches of honey and caramel malt.

Certainly a good session beer (though at a shade over 5%, I’m not sure if it technically qualifies) and if you don’t necessarily want a full-on assault on the palate, this beer is like the perfect blind date: beautiful, smells nice, and has a lot more character than you initially thought. There’s a funny simile about lace in there somewhere, too, but I’ll let it go.

Shiner Kosmos

Spoetzl Brewery
Shiner, TX
Kosmos Reserve

Named after the original Shiner brewmaster, Kosmos Spoetzl, this beer is meant to be a German-style lager similar to what Mr. Spoetzl initially brewed.

A pillowy, pure-white head stands to about a half-inch before settling to a  solid quarter-inch, maintained by agitated, snaking strands of carbonation.

The clarity is crystal clear, and the color is a bit more gold than straw, perhaps with a drop of orange.

The nose is very clean – a slightly candied aroma of malt, followed by fresh cut grass and barnyard rain.

The mouthfeel is pretty good, coming across a bit on the thin side though the bubbles help you overlook that. The first flavor is a very twiggy greenness that borders on metallic. The hops do their part to bring out a thoughtful, if not elegant or subtle, bitterness. The finish is smoother and creamier than you might expect from such a hoppy beer.

Similar to their Dortmunder-style Frost, Kosmos Reserve makes you think ‘Pilsner.’ The clarity, color, and Noble bitterness are reminiscent of those Bavarian styles. This is a smooth session beer that will provide a bit more substance than many of the bigger American lagers, and is worth a try.

Lancaster Rare Rooster Rye

Lancaster Brewing Co.
Lancaster, PA
Rare Rooster Rye Ale

The color is a copper-honey deep orange, that pours with slow and steady carbonation, providing a decent, but quick to deflate, off-white head. The clarity is perfect – a very limpid amber ale.

Lancaster Brewing Co. Rare Rooster Rye Ale

The nose is sweet, with warm honey notes, touches of overripe orange, dried caraway, and celery.

The mouthfeel is decent, with some malt that isn’t really chewy, but whose sweetness has more body than cloy. Some peppery quality at the start of the sip is surprising for such an amber ale, but perhaps not for one with rye in it. Mellow caramel notes rise through the fairly flat effervescence, leaving you to think it’s all over.

At the end of the swallow though, a bitter hop tang hits the tongue quickly and the dryness of the rye flavor comes out just subtly enough. Some traces of orange peel show up in the back, perhaps, but the end is altogether smooth, if not a bit on the sweet side.

This is a really nice example of how a session beer can have some complexity. Try this with some rye bread, mustard, and ham or sausage I’m sure you’ll be tempted to have a second.

Pocono Lager

Lion Brewery
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Pocono Lager

The pour doesn’t yield a lot of head and what does show up is a bit weak, missing any real froth. No matter, the effervescence is lively and the clarity is great. The color is a deep, clear amber. A faint brown touch mingles to create a nice roan beer.

The nose is very malty with soft brown bread aromas mixing with a cotton-candy sweetness and just a faint hint of grass and dandelion (no pun intended) in the back. The mouthfeel starts off well, but gives way to a thinner flow towards the end of the swallow. The hectic effervescence is still there – and adds a nice texture – but there is a lack of a solid body.

The flavor is a bit sweet, not really cloyingly so, but has hints of caramel and confectioner’s sugar. The middle is where the body seems to thin out a bit, as a soft and slow-rolling grassy hop back takes over.

It easy to forget, with the color of this beer, that you are quaffing what is really just an easy-drinking lager. The malts used here give it the really lovely copper tone and the sweet bready smell. While this isn’t the most complex beer, it is certainly a good session brew and has a time and a place. I would be happy to indulge in a few of these while watching a baseball game in the summer

Appalachian Mountain Lager

Appalachian Brewing Co.
Harrisburg, PA
Mountain Lager

ABC boasts that its Mountain Lager is a tribute to the classic German Dortmund-style lager. The last ABC offer I tried, I wasn’t wild about, but a good lager will surely save the day.

The pour yields a half-inch of briny head that is kept afloat by an absolutely gorgeous eddy of lively carbonation that starts at the bottom of the glass and snakes its way upwards in a very active flow.

The color is a flawless flaxen gold with excellent clarity. The nose is grassy, with notes of damp straw, though it is more sweet than earthy with a touch of tart green apple.

The mouthfeel is excellent, I must say. The head retention on this beer is impressive and sits softly on top of the beer like a proper pint. The sip is very even, if a bit bland at first, but is really exceptionally smooth. What comes across is a faint grain taste, followed by a slight green-twig snap of crisp hops that is refreshing and not at all metallic.

This beer really is a classic lager. I would drink this anytime – during a meal, a night out, or a 10-mile run. I’m glad ABC has come back wit a restorative effort here. This is one to try if you’re looking for a light session beer.

Sand Creek Pioneer Lager

Sand Creek Brewing
Downing, WI
Pioneer Lager

From this relatively new brewery in the very old brewing state of Wisconsin, Pioneer lager is very coppery and pours with a very thick, very white head, despite what seems to be little relative carbonation. The head dissipates into a thin, light lace. The nose is pleasantly malty with a slight sweetness. The flavor is biscuity and neat, with soft bread notes finishing on the back of the tongue. Very drinkable.