Fat Weasel Ale

Brewed by August Schell Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
New Ulm, Minnesota USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

12 oz bottle served in a snifter. Pour was a bright, clear gold with an inch of white head. Nose is apple juice, grass, and a ton of malt. Taste is apples and malt ... not much more and not that great. Its better then Budweiser, but the buck stops there.

Bottle from Trader Joe’s. Pours a clear golden color with a decent white head. Light malt aroma. Grassy. Nice dry taste. Some malt and a hint of hops. Crisp finish. Nice beer. Something I’d have on a golf course.

Aroma: Very grainy-- corn and cereal, still pretty pleasant although weak Appearance: Not much to say, clear, light, golden, with a large, white head Taste: Easily the most disappointing factor, leaves an unpleasantly bitter finish and tastes extremely griany Palate: Light body, pretty fizzy, especially in the finish

From bottle. Smells almost exactly like Fiddle Faddle or Crunch ’n Munch when you open up the box. Buttery, sweet. Very little hops in the nose. Dull amber clear with light hazyness, topped with thin foamy lacing head. Medium watery body with medium carbonation, mild fizzy burn. Starts with medium malt sweetness, caramel corn, and buttery. Light carbonic acidity with some chalky bitterness. Bitterness kicks in a bit more towards the finish, with a chalky, nutty sweet after. Mediocre at best.

12oz bottle. Filtered, thin orange-yellow color. Thin head. Herbal clove aroma with some sweet malt tones. Interesting that this beer has such a formidable ABV, I would have never guessed by the labeling. Somehow still remains medium bodied and drinkable, but also has a thin soapy sort of mouthfeel. Mild sweet honey tones with some underlying alcohol, there is neither enough malt or hop character to make this into something nice and respectable. Sort of like a really lame Imp. Amber I guess. Certainly fairly priced, this one is just too bland and filtered out to really enjoy.

12oz bottle, purchased at Trader Joes. Pours a bright, clear golden-yellow color; thin off-white head with patchy lacing; a very slight viscosity. Rather bland aroma of overripe fruits, honey, and stale malts; a touch of alcohol, but nothing rough. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: this isn’t much like an amber ale, for starters; more honey and residual sweetness than a biscuity, toasty malt core with a solid bitterness; minimal hops here, lots of heavy, sticky malt sweetness; one-dimensional and a touch of overripe fruit in the background; not bad, but nothing very good to speak of. This is simply a flabby, uninspired, higher-alcohol amber ale; the beer universe has seen far worse crimes. Medium finish: honey, sweet cereal, lasting sticky and stale maltiness.

Poured golden amber, crisp, malty, grainy, little hops, little ice tea, slightly bitter finish.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Trader Joes (Short Pump), 12/8/09
(Bottle says it was brewed by Steinhaus Brewing Co)

Aroma: Somewhat fresh smell of cereal, corn, lemon, grass
Appearance: Pours a clear yellow-orange color with a fizzy white head, some drippy lace
Flavor: Taste is somewhat sweet, lots of corn, there’s not much else there
Palate: Body is fairly light, highly fizzy mouthfeel, you don’t feel the 7.1% at all
Overall Impression: This is an Amber? I don’t see how, but anyway... This beer is a little unusual, first off, the description lists this one as being contract brewed by 2 breweries, and the bottle lists a third. It’s almost like the classic light bulb joke (How many breweries does it take to make a mediocre beer? Answer is apparently at least 3.) Anyway, I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it, but considering the price I can see a certain group of beer drinkers enjoying this for its relatively high ABV and how easy it is to drink.