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It’s Sunday afternoon, I just finished mowing and trimming the yard and had a turkey sandwich for lunch. I looked into the beer fridge for something appropriate and passed on all the stouts and double IPAs. I found a New Glarus Golden Ale which sounded pretty good. The 500ml bottle has all of the details on the label and it says it was brewed on 3-23-09 and bottled on 6-18-09. Additionally, it says it was a 160 BBL batch, an OG of 15^P, 38 I.B.U.s, and an ABV of 7%. It also lists the Brew Master’s notes: “Bold floral bouquet sweeps forward encouraged by Maris Otter malt. Ale & Brettanomyces promote complex Brett characters – dry finish. Alive and still fermenting this bottle will continue to build carbonation. Pour w/ care.”
Even before I open the bottle I noticed a bit of yeast sediment at the bottom. When I ported it had nice carbonation that faded pretty quickly. However, the beer continued to bubble almost like champagne for quite a while. It’s color was a golden orange and it was clear with a tiny bit of haze. It had a nice floral and citrusy aroma.
It had a sharp, crisp carbonation bite on my tongue and it had a thin body. It had a flavor almost like butterscotch mixed with a dandelion. The finish was dry and sort of a floral and lemony dryness. As I continued to drink it, I noticed the floral hop bitterness come through in my mouth, as well as a bit of alcohol warmth in my throat. The Brettanomyces favors weren’t very noticeable until it began to warm up a bit.
It was fairly refreshing for a hot summer Sunday full of work. It has turned out to be the perfect preparation for an evening Asian dinner with the in-laws. If you paired this with a food, I’d suggest grilled or baked chicken, fish, or, even better, shrimp on the BBQ. I think the flavors would really complement the butter and lemon with those foods. Overall, it was a pretty good beer. If I had another few bottles, I’d be interested to see how this one would change with age.
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