It’s my son’s 16th birthday weekend, but since incidents of COVID have picked up, it was a pretty low-key weekend around here. I’ve spent quite a bit of time this weekend just working around the house, and studying. I’m starting on a financial services designation, so it’s consuming a lot of my time lately. Other than that, since I’m sitting here studying, I figured I’d grab a beer (and write this, as a distraction from studying). My friend Joe gave me this along with several other beers from down south. The can says, “Our Praline Amber Ale is brewed with a generous addition of Georgia Pecans and Madagascar vanilla. We also add lactose to accentuate the natural caramel flavors from the malt. These additions combine to produce a flavor reminiscent of a traditional Southern candy, the praline.” The code on the bottom doesn’t provide any clues as to when this was brewed or canned.
Location: Poured from the can into a snifter style pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL
Numbers: 5.2% ABV, ~180 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It has a deep amber color with brick-red and brown hues. It’s slightly cloudy and had a big, rocky white head on it that fell after a few minutes. It has a nice caramel-toffee malty aroma with a bit of nuttiness.
Taste & Feel: The body is light-medium and the mouthfeel is quite crisp from the carbonation. The flavor up front is quite metallic, with a bit of maltiness – that, when combined with the metallic flavors, tastes a bit like licking rust. In the middle, the metallic flavor turns somewhat tart, and both the metallic flavor and tartness grown in the finish, along with a malty backbone thats detectable behind the other flavors. It’s the tartness that dominates the finish with the metallic flavor behind it.
Food Pairing: I did not finish this beer and wouldn’t recommend it, let alone pairing it with any food.
Overall Impression: I will admit that I’m unsure how old this beer is, which could have had an impact on flavor, but I was extremely disappointed with it. I was expecting something sweet and nutty, and while there were some decent caramel-toffee malt flavors in the nose, these flavors were hidden behind a metallic flavor and tartness that I just couldn’t get past. After taking a few notes, I poured out what remained, as it just tasted infected. I’m curious to get my hands on another, to see if the one I got was just a bad can or bad batch, but this was not good at all.
My Rating: 
August 14, 2021
That beer is at least five years old and it is not a beer meant for aging. We haven’t used printed cans since 2016 (switched to labels due to being shut out from printed can supplier). We’re sorry you got such an old beer. If it has a legible date code on the bottom, please email it to me. And if your friend knows where they picked it up, please let me know that as well.
Cheers,
Kevin
August 16, 2021
Sorry, I didn’t save the can and my friend doesn’t know exactly where he got it. He was on a weekend trip in the Savannah area.