Beaus Lug Tread Lagered Ale

Objectively speaking: Clean and refreshing ale despite the fact that we drank it at a rather high temperature.
I like: Fun german grassy, herbal hops. Pleasant grainy, cerealic, hay-like malts. Well-assembled and clean.
I dislike: Lacking the classic Kolsch tall head and vigorous foam. Not as crisp as it could be. Certainly nothing to write home here.

My Bottom Line:
Surreptitious herbal hopping sneaks into clean straw flavors throughout this very drinkable but a tad underachieving Kölsch.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the clear pale blond.
-Some watery moments disappoint.
-The light hopping does provide bitterness in the finish, but it will never bother those who aren’t used to it. This is a very approachable ale for newbies.
-The slick cereal sweetness offers nice flavors, but these do not dwell in a compelling mouthfeel.
-This bottle was incredibly clean, so I guess they’ve solved the issues which plagued the first ratings for this beer. Great!
-I get the impression this is better on tap. Hope I can try it soon!

Bottle.

750 ml ceramic bottle courtesy of recent houseguests. Hazy pale golden beer with a thin white head. Aroma is of light pale malt, fairly crisp with a light crackery maltiness. A kiss of herbal/grassy hops and some minerally bitterness. It’s lightly yeasty as well, lending it a certain breadiness. Moderately creamy body with a softly hoppy finish. It’s substantially better than the last time I tried it and actually quite a nice take on the style. If they can sort out the consistency problems, this should be well-received.

Draft at the Cottage and a Kitchen, August 25, 2006, with GRM. Golden lager with a thin white head. Sweet fruity aroma with notes of watermelon and light sulfur. In mouth, a rather sweet unbalanced kolsch, with lots of phenolics, nail polish remover, and an oily mouthfeel. A rather cloying offering. I will have to give it another chance when the second batch is available as this is the first batch by these courageous entrepeneurs (just consider what happened to OVBC, Harts, Masters, Abe and Roscoes, Copperhead...in the difficult eastern ON market!...Ottawa is a hard nut to crack!).

Draught half-pint at The Manx in Ottawa, July 18 2007. Hazy bright gold with a nice lasting small white creamy head and more than a spot of lacing....fresh, grainy, lightly hoppy-grassy aroma offers faint pungent-farmy notes, honey and a light but distinctive noble hop character....rather sweet on the tongue but plenty of grassy hops keep things very drinkable, fairly crisp and dries out quite nicely at the finish, a nice light mineralic bite caps the experience....could be just a bit fuller and the sweetness is a tad overdone, but these are minor complaints; this is solid, whether pilsner/helles (what it tastes most like) or kolsch (what it’s listed as). Very odd experience....not the beer itself so much as getting to a computer and reading about it here. Did I have the same beer all of you did? I knew nothing about what this was at all when I saw it on the board at the Manx, and was hugely impressed. I’m sure it helps that the tap lines for both beers I tried were obviously very clean, and this was very, very fresh....but still, the ratings mystify me. At any rate, I’ll look for it again when I’m next in Ontario and see if this was just a fluke, a huge improvement in quality, or if perhaps my taste is just very different.

On tap at the Clock Tower in Ottawa as a guest tap. Fresh. Pale yellow with a good head.Significant candy sugar aroma. Watery. A faint bitterness offsetting the taste of sugar and water. Drinkable.

Tap. Pours gold with large white bubbly head. Gentle sweet aroma, malty lagered ale. Chewy texture, caramel and toffee, Sweet in short. Short lasted finish.

Draught. At BeerBistro, 2006 Golden Tap Awards. Initially wasn’t going to rate this based on the story I heard about the genesis of this "Kölsch" - but if the brewer is going to keep trotting this out at festivals, I’m rating it. Yellow with a wisp of white head - vaguely smells of stale grainy malt and a stale herbal sort-of bitterness. The taste reminded me of a sort of punk-ass, semi-nasty, slightly herbal but mostly stale Gritstone knock-off - grainy, a little harsh, harsher on warming and a slightly ugly aftertaste. Acceptable body, grainy and fizzy - didn’t hate it as much at the end, but Lordy not a good beer - something’s not right. And kolsch? Yeah - and I’m a Patagonian sheep-herder ... * update: let me clarify - this beersickle IS interesting, but it’s neither a Kolsch nor a bock - it’s not awful, but I found it sort of harsh and boring - I never bought in to the "if life gives you lemons, make lemonade" pollyannaism.