Bards Tale Dragons Gold

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Specialty Grain
Palo Alto, California USA

Bottle courtesy of sloth. Pours gold with a thin white head. Smells of sweet caramel, rice, cookie dough. Tastes watery with some weird underlying sweetness. Saccharine like finish.

When I read of this beer a few months ago, I thought, "What a noble cause. Here’s someone trying to help out beer drinkers who develop an allergy to gluten." Then I bought a sixer of this overpriced brew at a Whole Foods. After reading the inanities on the package (see austinpowers’ review), I was sure that this was just a gimmick. On to the beer - - It pours a hazy straw color with (initially) a bubbly white head and (initially) lively carbonation. Both soon vanish. The aroma is wheaty and corny and oily with little of any sign of the advertised "pleasant hop aroma." This flat drink has an acrid, tinny flavor with a little grainy sweetness and a whisper of light hopping. The aftertaste was metallic and sugary and I had to brush my teeth before having another beer. I would NOT let this warm up. Now I’m not sure if this is a gimmick or a sorry joke.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/>Whole Foods Market, Willowbrook, IL<font size=-1>

Light golden liquid with a thin lid of white bubbles. Hints of herbal honey tea. Some berries and cream also in the nose. Interesting light honey and fruit flavors. But then again it does have some sweet lager characteristics, that while not that appealing, Actually quite a bit better then the few other sorghum brews that I have tried.

Bottle: Yellow gold, light white head, light lacing. Nose of light dust and hops, some odd grainy notes. The flavor is ok, somewhat toasty and moldy, but distinctly not barley. The finish is spicy. Meh.

Bottle. Poured golden color with an average frothy head that diminished quickly and left fair lacing. Medium sweet grainy aroma. Medium body with soft carbonation. Medium sweet syrupy flavor with a bitter sweet finish of short duration.

Dark golden with a small white head. Sweet grainy malt aroma, with notes of nuts and prunes. Sweet fruity flavour, with a slightly sour fruit juice-like note. Considering the other ratings, it must have been oxidized. And that may not have been a bad thing...

Pours gold with little head. Some hops and malt aromas. The taste is grainy, with some thiols detected. Medium palate. This one was expensive, and a disappointment.

Bought at Party Source, July 05. Lightly hazy blonde with brownish chunks. Rather neutral malt aroma with slight marks of burned rubber (*the bottle was heat shocked in my trunk). In mouth, rather refreshing mix of light crisp grass with decent bitterness for the style. Not bad considering its gluten free. A notch above Messagère.