Welcome to the final night of our Cinco de Mayo tasting! We are officially celebrating the big day today and finishing up our tasting of 25 different Lager beers from around the United States and the rest of the world!
So, please, go get your favorite beverage, sit down, kick back and enjoy as we do our tasting!
Our first beer is…
BEER: Fast Pass to Helles (Lager)
BREWERY: Berryessa Brewing Company – Winters, CA
ABV: 5%
MATT: 4/5
DANIELLE: 3.5/5
LOOK: Pale gold and clear
SCENT: Wheat, honey, corn, bubble gum, citrus
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: A nice Helles style Lager. Good body and very sweet with a lot of honey and bubble gum.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: This is reminiscent of Allagash White in that it has a lot of character and complexity — despite billing itself as a “Lager”. It has all the markings of a white ale with that slightly thick body and sweetness a white ale offers. It’s a great beer but lacks a bit of a savory element that might be needed to offset the almost-saccharin flavoring.
BEER: Don Gordo (Mexican Style Lager)
BREWERY: Gordon Biersch Brewing Company – San Jose, CA
ABV: 5%
MATT: 3.75/5
DANIELLE: 3.25/5
LOOK: Gold and clear
SCENT: Wheat, honey
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Sweet, crisp, and refreshing with a light mouthfeel.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: Very much like the last beer, only without the body or the earthiness, Don Gordo is an insanely crisp and refreshing, crushable beer. The issue is that it’s a little too sweet and lacks any other character beyond that sweetness.
BEER: La Fuerza Aztec Lager
BREWERY: Berryessa Brewing Company – Winters, CA
ABV: 5%
MATT: 3.75/5
DANIELLE: 3.75/5
LOOK: Gold and clear
SCENT: Wheat and tree fruit
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Another sweet beer with nothing to offset that sweetness.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: This is the third beer which throws all the sweetness the world has to offer at you. A little earthy much like the first Berryessa beer we tasted tonight but lacking the complexity of that beer. Still, another good tasting from this company.
BEER: El Sully Mexican Style Lager
BREWERY: 21st Amendment Brewing Company – San Leandro, CA
ABV: 4.8%
MATT: 3.5/5
DANIELLE: 3.25/5
LOOK: Gold and clear
SCENT: Wheat…and that’s about it
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: A bit more body and character. Bubblegum and wheat on the tongue.
FINAL REFLECTIONS: Another same-ish Lager as the last three. More bubblegum, more sweetness, more wheat. Nothing to balance it. Nothing to make it stand out from the others we’ve tasted. Not a bad beer, though.
BEER: Free Kittens Lager
BREWERY: Berryessa Brewing Company – Winters, CA
ABV: 5%
MATT: 4/5
DANIELLE: 4.25/5
LOOK: Pale gold and clear
SCENT: Wheat, rice, honey
MOUTHFEEL/TASTE: Nice balance of sweetness, wheat, and carbonation
FINAL REFLECTIONS: This is a nicely balanced Lager with some nice sweet wheat and honey flavor to it. It lacks the savory element but the carbonation helps it along nicely. We really liked this one.
FINAL THOUGHTS: 25 up, 25 down. This was one of our biggest tastings with some real nice standouts. We enjoyed it — though we might go differently next year by expanding past Lagers. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
HEAR OUR FINAL THOUGHTS!:
NEXT WEEK: We are LIVE from the Barebottle Brewing Company out in Santa Clara, California! Join us then!