Bells Oarsman Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Wheat Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

Serve in Shaker, Weizen

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Bit of foam at the top. Light gold color. Hint of tartness in the nose. Tartness is mild, comes in at the end. I like tart beers, and this achieves a refreshing amount that isn't overpowering. Good stuff ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Crisp, bright yellow body, outstanding clarity. A rather foamy 3 finger heady set atop. Retention is quite decent, the head works its way back quite slowly. A thin but solid sheet of lacing left plastered to the walls of the glass. Soft pale wheat malt backed by a pleasant lemony scent. There is a slight grassiness just behind. Very simple and straight forward. The flavor, much like the aroma, is rather simple. Many time simplicity is viewed in a negative light, seen as dull or uninteresting. Maybe it is just me and my soft spot for this beer but I appreciate the simplicity. Wheaty malt flavor melds with a lemony tartness. The flavor will not satisfy someone looking for a Berliner Weiss, but that is not what Bell’s brewed. What Bell’s brewed was a slightly tart wheat session beer, and did rather well with it. Very light bodied beer, carbonation is on the high side and appropriate for the beer. Lively carbonation felt on the tongue. The finish is dry and refreshing. More so than most in the Bell’s line up, I have a soft spot for this beer. A true session beer, simple yet enjoyable flavor and highly refreshing.

20110613 12oz bottle from Capones. Hazy pale gold with quick but tall white head of streaky foam. Aroma is mineral, freshly cut oak, light grass, slight lemon. Light on the palate with even, explosive, soft eff, late mild rice wine vinegar acidity, skim milk astringency. More mineral on the palate, somewhat chalky which is distracting from the otherwise snappy but mild acidity, gose-like, very mild banana, thyme. I like this beer a lot and would drink it by the bucket if it was locally available and less that twenty bucks a six pack (paid $3.50 for a bottle at Capone’s).

Sampled on draft at the Headkeeper in Greensburg PA this beer poured a hazy yellow color with a small white head. The aroma was tart, sour and lactic with a fairly strong citrus element and a touch of wheat. The flavor was tart, sour, lactic and citric with a light musty wheaty undertone. The finish was long, dry, tart and citric. Medium body. Complex. Very nice.

Bottle: The aroma is light-moderate lemon with a touch of mustiness and the slightest hint of sweetness. It pours a hazy, bordering on cloudy, dull yellow with a two finger white head with pretty good retention. The flavor starts with some faint sweetness that quickly turns to light-moderate lemon tartness. The is a slight mustiness in the finish. Light bodied with moderate soft carbonation. I’ve had this a few times now, and maybe time has increased the tartness of the beer. Fresh on tap in July at the MI Brewers Guild Summerfest, it had minimal tartness and was more or less lager-ish...probably would have rated it just under a 3. In the bottle two weeks ago, a slight sourness was noticeable, but nothing that would make me think of a Berliner Weisse as it was originally described (listed as a Wheat Ale now)...probably would’ve rated a low 3. Today, it’s a Berliner Weisse and a nice refreshing session beer. Hopefully Bell’s continues this in bottles as a summer seasonal.

12oz Bottle. It’s 96 degrees outdoors, 85 inside. I can’t imagine a more perfect beer for right now. Light faintly tart wheaty aroma, neutral yeast and a bit of straw. Colored in lemon and sand with a whitish head. Flavors are gentle, lightly sweet wheat, some signature Bell’s minerals and yeast (almost a la Oberon). Ends on some cheerios and candy sugar and dry light alcohol. A super-refreshing nice drinker for a day like today. I’ll take a quarter-barrel of this in my beer cooler, please. Thanks Sean!

On tap at The Hopleaf. Pours a hazy, yellow color with thick white head that fades quickly. Aroma is of light sour grapes, aged wheat, light sour lemon and mild hops. Taste matches the aroma and proves to make this a highly sessionable Berliner.

Interesting beer. Served at a good temperature with a small, off white head that rapidly disappeared and no lace. Color is a very clear yellow with some large bubble trails. Aroma is yeast, malt, wet grain, white sparkling wine. Flavor is similar to nose with a little tartness up front, plenty of carbonic tang, an ever so faint fruit sweetness and yeast bitterness. Body is good and is dominated by the acid. Finish is clean and like flavor; strangely, there seems to be a little alcohol warmth. Maybe that’s an illusion due to the tartness. Any case, a touch of fruit syrup could work nice with this. Cooking too.

12 oz bottle: Aroma has a nice grainy scent to it with a bit of lemony citrus intermingled. Appearance is a clear golden with a medium white had that diminishes quickly and really carbonated in the glass. Taste is subtle refreshing, lightly sour, wheat, lemon, and overall realyy clean and smooth. Palate is light, aquious, soft and aprupt. Overall, Really nice session beer. I could sit outside and drink these all day. Cheers!

Handed to me thinking it was just an american wheat, woah! .. great sour touch to it, like berlinner style! .. . light yellow, medium foam .. lemon, hay, wheat, jack lemmon, and tart wheat .. . why is my eye twitching!! .. . a great summer time beverage! .. . .
My hiney’s asleep!

Fine... we’ll keep our voices down.