12 oz can, many thanks to Kevin for the chance to try this American classic. Pour gives lots of typical, American Adjunct Lager classic traits, but the body is a quite strange glassy affair with alarming clarity. As is son often the case the beer produces an initially very good head, but it fades very quickly and leaves no lace. Poor retention. Nose is slightly vegetal but with no really offensive notes. Tastes are much the same as the nose in terms of their neutrality and non-offensiveness...
Notes on beers brewed by
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout
12 oz single from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pour is a nice looking one, with all the requisite attributes for the style, plus some really nice alcohol legs. Head and lace are not amazing, but solid. Nose is pretty strong, but mainly in alcohol and little else. Usually that's not a good sign but this particular aroma sits OK with me. Very light in the mouth which adds to the drinkability. The beer is a collection of maltiness wrapped inside more alcohol. Obviously some roastiness but very...
Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss
$1.35 as a 12 oz single from Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pour is an extreme clear solution with a modicum of bubbles. Head is disappointing and lace is non-existent. Nose is typically macro-adjunct like with a boiled vegetal note. Tastes reflect that and are even more disappointing since I was anticipating some degree of honey-sweetness. As far as I can tell there is none of that, which, if it had been there, would have been a saving grace. Uninterseting beer that I will not drink again.
Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss
$1.35 from Green's on Buford as a single. Well, it is what it is, no more and no less so in that respect one cannot be too disappointed. Twist-off cap yields a strangely colored, orange/pinkish body with a light, fizzy head and some very light lace. Nose reveals plenty of fruit but it seems a little artificial Taste is ALL, light blackberry/indistinguishable fruits that lead to a pretty distinct sweetness but it does have a sharpish ending. If the truth be know if the weather is hot this IS...
1888 Bock
12 oz single from Tower on Buford, Atlanta, GA, USA. 5.2% ABV advertised on the label. Nice pour with a very nice chestnut brown body and a high (if somewhat light, off-white head). Good clarity, some lace and some retention. Bready nose. Malts are refreshing with a tiny hop bite in the back end of brew and in the aftertaste. Extremely refreshing and for that reason I found the drinkability very high. Almost lemony or citrus in parts like sweetened grapefruit. NOT grapefruit in a classic IPA,...
Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown
12oz single from Mac's Midtown, Atlanta, GA, USA. Winter Warmer?? No it isn't. Frankly this drinks like a maple nut or honey infused brown ale. There were words on the label that said something like "infused with natural flavors" - a bit of a worry to me. Fairly astringent caramel flavor which seems artificial. Good clarity on the pour, nice head and really it looks nice. Has a sweet taste that seems like honey to me, but it is pretty sweet whatever it is. Won't be to everyones taste. A little...
Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest
12oz single, Mac's Downtown, Atlanta, GA, USA. Simple pour with nice clarity but very little life. Not much head and the retention is just not there. Very light lace. Slightly acidic nose with some sweetness. Some weak malty character and some extra carbonation. A little soda like in the mouth. Pretty typical in terms of taste, but it seems lighter than many. In summary, just above macro beer.
Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy
12 oz single for Mac's, Atlanta, GA, USA as part of the $6.99 mixed sixer. OK, let's be quite clear about the problem here. The original Shandy is made with a mixture of mediocre beer of some desciption (either lager or bitter) and ENGLISH lemonade. English lemonade is a sugary, carbonated NEUTRAL beverage similar to Sprite or 7-Up. The whole "lemon" thing when it comes to English lemonade is a bit of a misnomer. NOTE TO MILLER: Do NOT use American style lemonade in Shandy's! This leads to a...
Leinenkugel’s Big Butt Doppelbock
12 oz single from Mac's downtown, Atlanta, GA, USA. Now also available in GA in six packs. Good carbonation (lots of fine bubbles) and some small head; a little lacing. Good deep brown color with a slight tawny-red hue. A little alcohol in the nose. Obviously malty, obvious sweetness but an alcohol taste that is bigger than the ABV would suggest. A tiny alcohol bitterness in the cleanish finish. Not a bad offering, and the kind of beer I could enjoy a few of in a session. Decent, simple,...
Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat
From a brewery that I have been underwhelmed with in the past, and a style that is certainly not my favorite, and drinking it at the wrong time of year when it was probably older than was good for it...I wasn't really expecting this to be a very good experience, but actually not bad. Just goes to show that you never know. Cloudy, butterscotch pour with a decent head, but shortlived. Some lacing. An odd aroma of licorice at first followed by a more familar corriander, lemon and orange....
Leinenkugel’s Red
Good looking and better than average beer all around. Distinct red tinges to the pour and a decent looking head with some better than expected lacing. This is a pretty malty beer and I expect the name will fool lots of people. Obviously not a "red" as such, this shows more depth and character than those often disappointing brews. Definte hops do a great job at balancing the brew and it has the unusual combination of malt sweetness and clean refreshing bite. Quite a difficult combination to...