Great Waters Skip and Go Naked Oat Ale

Brewed by Great Waters Brewing
Style: Specialty Grain
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

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Sampled via growler pour thanks to Doug H at the 29th Annual ABA Meeting in Bloomington, MN. Pours a semi-clear straw colored brew with a thin white head that slowly dissipates to a thin ring. Aroma of hefe-style yeast, lemon zest, golden grain malt and a hint of bubble gum. Taste is quite smooth for a medium bodied beer, soft carbonation with flavors of golden grain malt, yeast, and a lemongrass presence that brings an artificial wintergreen flavor. Finish is light, crisp and a light yeast and golden grain aftertaste.

Fresh flavor--lemon but with that spicier dimension: lemongrass is an underappreciated ingredient for brewing, because it gives such complexity. Hazy yellow with a clinging foam. Thinner/less intense of aroma than I’d like. But this is a legitimately good beer. (on tap at brewpub, St. Paul)

Graham Coloring with White Skin. Sweet Oats Aroma. Nice Light Malt and Sweet Oat Flavor..Citrus, and Lemon Grass for a Characteristically Grassy Dry Finish. Pleasing Light Ale.

On-tap at the brewpub: Solid looking dark gold hue with a shimmering light clearness with darker hazed receding edges. Cap is beige-like and puffy, standing about a finger high and staying for a good while before fading to a solid collaring and light broken skim. Lacing is light and patchy with foggy strings and spotting. Aroma is down right beautiful! Wow, the lemongrass is majorly held on top with a lovely aroma adding what is the element of captavation here. Quite perfumed with the lemongrass herbal tones. Reminiscent of lemon meringue pie mixed with some Key Lime pie filling. Light bready tones underseige the lemon hold as does a frothy full oat cookie dough fluffyness. Fresh and invitingly nice to wiff in! Taste is just as nice. Very solid lemongrass flavors take front stage immediately. Light herbal qualities as well as oaty characteristics take place all throughout its tasting. Earthyness pursues into the finish with wet dirt and sand notes flaoting across the left over lemony tones and baked oats. Quite a nice treat. Very flavorful. The lemongrass is by far the best thing about it as is its peculiar balance between the oats and malts. Feel is about medium with a smooth creamyness to its nature. Perhaps a nudge more carbonation could help it become full on wonderful to the senses, but as is, its still remarkably clean, refreshing, creamy, and smooth. Slides right down without much effort. A fantastic and unique brew from GW. One to come back to and venture out for.

Strange floral spiciness with lemongrass presence (of all things)! But really kind of interesting, at least initially. But again very timid hopping, and a lack of both yeast and wheat make for a very strange hefeweizen, no?

The citrus-lemongrass-herbal aroma is strange but pleasant. Light brown color with a small head. Some sweetness in the taste with a strong herbal flavor. A gruit? Maybe; I can’t taste any hops. Innovative and good. Brewers should be applauded for experimenting like this.

To start off, I love lemongrass. Really, I do. That love, however, is apparently not as boundless as the evening sky. Vaguely hazy tan-brown. Astoundingly spicy nose, smells completely and utterly like loads and loads of lemongrass. Flavor is interesting, very spicy, lots of mint and lemongrass. Quite fizzy, mixes with the flavor to make it burn at the end like biting into a whole bunch of peppermint Altoids. Very interesting as an experiment, but after a sip or two it’s just too overpowering.

Hazy orange color with a medium head. Well, the lemongrass is beyond obvious right up front. It’s a nice mix of freshly cut grass and citrus. There’s more of it in the taste, mixed with some sugar and oatmeal. Overall it is on the sweet side, but not syrupy. It really reminds me of Town Hall Thunderstorm. Damn tasty summertime brew!