Otter Creek Otter San

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: Specialty Grain
Middlebury, Vermont USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

Cantaloupe, cottage cheese, and crab apple nose, with an obvious sake character. Hazy amber, thick yellow head. Cantaloupe, lemon, and chestnut flavor. Very neat idea and skillfully brought to fruition. Unique and enjoyable. Mouthfeel is beery and perhaps a bit too fizzy. The flavors are more like sake, but it’s still recognizable as beer. Easy to drink, but it’s such a niche beer, that I’m not sure I would drink it regularly. In essence, I don’t think it could give rise to a new style of beer. Perfectly suited as a one-off or limited release.

Poured into a pint glass. 4.0 A: Dark yellow/slightly orange in color. Crystal clear. Thick frothy head with average retention and sparse lacing. 3.5 S: I can smell the similarities between this and sake, but the rice is much less pronounced. Bready sweet malts are there, and mild earthy hops to balance. 4.0 T: Definitely an american red as a base, but this has some wild flavors. It’s different, so I appreciate it. It tastes good, so I enjoy it. Having had sake just a few days ago, I can pick up on some sake taste. Lots of fruity flavor (pear and plum in particular). A bit bready as well. There is some hop character present, but not enough to balance out the mad malty sweetness that is present. 3.5 M: Medium bodied. Not a whole hell of a lot of carbonation. Smooth as silk with a sweet, but somewhat finish. 2.5 D: Though I really like this beer, it can’t be consumed in any sort of large quantity. It’s simply too damn sweet. Too bad they sell it in big ass bottles. Make sure you have some friends present when you pop it open. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 11-01-2008 00:10:11

Bottle. Amber bodied with a fading white head. Unique aroma that is dominated by grains. Soft sweet malt, light rice, and faint yeast. Taste is rather sweet with plenty of malt, yeast notes, strong grains/rice, light caramel, and soft spiciness. Body is medium with a soft carbonation. Ends with more sweet malt, rice, light graininess, almost a honey-like flavor, and yeast notes. Surprisingly good!

A: snifter. slightly hazy yellow, orange hue. white head with great retention and great lacing. S: interesting aroma. pear hints are strong. some sake aromas, very yeasty. slight spice characteristics. T: very fruity off the bat but it mellows out. the yeast both helps the fruit flavors, but also brings it down. interesting malts with a nice mellow hop finish. M: medium body. crisp and mellow. solid mouthfeel. D: very interesting palate. nice beer, and if you like weird/odd ones, then this is for you.

Clear amber, medium sized white head. Aroma- caramel, grain. Taste is the same, a little on the plain side. Thin body.

Appearance is a slightly cloudy golden color. Aroma seems to be mainly of malts, citrus, yeast, and fruity hops. Taste is a little different. It’s full of citrus and malts, with some yeast and spices. Has a bitter sweet aftertaste. Not too bad.

Bottle sample at Noogfest High 5. Poured golden with a off-white head. Aromas of yeast, dough, apples, and cashew. The flavor found much the same with a slight hint of vanilla also. Medium body and sweet.

A gold pour with a creamy white head and lace. Medium doughy, yeasty aroma. Light brown sugar with a hint of oxidation. A tad foamy but still a decent beer.