Lakefront New Grist Sorghum Beer

Brewed by Lakefront Brewery
Style: Specialty Grain
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

Bottle. This wasn’t so good. Quite watery, with some light diacytel, green apple characters, with a slight stail character, not the most pleasant beer, but it was interesting to try a "sorghum" beer, even if it didn’t pass the test.

Pours clear yellow and minimal head from the pour and that is gone instantly. The aroma has a light sweetness and something odd - could be the sorghum, I have no idea what aroma that gives off. Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Taste is different - it is sweet and cloying with light citrus aspects. There is a stale and sour aspect along with some rice. This beer is not pleasing at all. However, if I was unfortunate enough to have to be gluten free I may actually drink this. Oh, I hope that never happens. I don’t want another one of these.

Slightly yellow with only slight wisps of bubbles. Aroma is is very light and sweet.

I really respect Russ and Jim for making this beer for Celiacs but this is by no means a beer that a Ratebeerian would enjoy IMHO. Minimal head, almost clear color. Has a light grainy/fruity sweetness. Hop profile difficult to pin down. Very light in body.

Mmmm, sorghummy. Vague Wonder bread flavor, mixed with a some sourness. just rong

Bottle from the LCBO. Starts out well with a nice appearance - bright golden with a small white head - but the aroma is another story. On first whiff, it’s oddly reminiscent of pizza crust, i.e. doughy with Italian herbs, then it develops a vague fruit character. The lack of barley becomes very apparent in the body, which is thin to the point of being almost non-existent, and also in the flavour, which has none of the elements that would come from the use of malted barley. Instead, there’s a nondescript sweetness that is neither sugary nor caramelly, followed by a mildly sour graininess and hints of overripe apple. Hops are supposedly present, but are pretty much undetectable in the flavour.

Pour is a bright yellow with a white head. Aroma is very sweet. Flavor is also very sweet and thick. Almost a winey vinagar hits the tounge after the first sip. Im not sure what sorghum tastes like but im sure its in there somwwhere. If you not a fan of a pale lager this is not the beer for you. Very sweet and bland.

20-Mar-08 (12-oz bottle, Brewed July, 2007: Purchased 23-Dec-07 for $1.59 at the Pizza Port Bottle Shop in Carlsbad, CA) Possibly the most requested gluten-free beer at my store, it’s good to finally see some local distribution. Sweet, fruity nose combines the scents of apple cider, peach, apricot and grape with wine barrel oakiness. It smells too much like fruit juice though, so it’s good that the flavor is significantly different. Unfortunately, though still a bit fruity with light sweetness, the flavor is just plain weird and makes me wince. I’m strongly reminded of white wine barrels, but more accurately, this beer tastes like the brewer aged a cheap pale lager in a white wine barrel. There’s no noticeable contribution from hops, and I have to wonder if a nice hop profile wouldn’t help the flavor tremendously. Medium in carbonation, but the bubbles are large and rough on the palate. Without hops bitterness, the palate quickly becomes stale and begs for a toothbrush. Clear, pale-golden body is briefly capped by a small, white, very bubbly head that crackles as it rapidly dissipates. Overall, it has an fun, interesting nose, but the pale lager/white wine barrel combination just doesn’t work for me. For all the hype over this beer, usually praised by customers as the best sorghum-based beer on the market, I think Bard’s Tale is much more palatable.