558. Bell’s Brewery – Lager of the Lakes

Posted By kkozlen on Mar 20, 2013 | 0 comments

My wife and son are out tonight, and I’m relaxing at home with my daughter. She’s playing in the basement, so I thought I’d take the chance to do another review. I can’t remember if I picked up this beer on a trip to the brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan last year, or if I got it in a mixed six pack at the local liquor store. Either way, the bottle has a batch number of 10204 on it. The label says, “ As refreshingly crisp as a morning swim in a Great Lake, This brew is crafted with Pils And Munich malts. The pronounced hop character of this golden water sparks thoughts of sandy beaches and rocky islands.”

Location: Poured into a Stella Artois chalice from the bottle at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 5% ABV, 1.05 OG, 150 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s crystal clear and bright golden in color. The head fell almost immediately to just a ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass. The aroma is lagery with a pilsner breadiness.

Taste & Feel: The body is light and the mouthfeel is crisp. The crispness makes it difficult to recognize any flavors upfront, but in the middle, there’s a crisp, light, pilsner-bready, cracker-like flavor. It finishes with an earthy-spicy noble hop-like bitterness, which lasts for a minute in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This is a light, crisp beer with some cracker and bready flavors, and a slight bit of earthy-spicy bitterness in the finish. With a lighter beer like this one, I think it goes very well with a lighter meal. For me, a beer like this goes nicely with a salad or a light, lemon-seasoned, fish dish.

Overall Impression: This beer delivered exactly what I was expecting – a light, crisp, drinkable lager with some bready and light noble hop flavors. I enjoyed the pilsner malt flavors, and felt that the bitterness at the end had the right amount of flavor and intensity. Although I enjoyed it, and it’s definitely more flavorful – but just as drinkable as – a Budweiser, I think I still enjoyed Full Sail’s Session Premium Lager a bit more, since it offered a bit of graininess to it.

My Rating: