Dave, Desiree, Beer & Wine

Buckbean Brewing Company, the first package brewery in Western Nevada, began operations in April of 2008 with the release of their 2 flagship beers, Original Orange Blossom Ale and Black Noddy Lager.  Their Black Noddy Lager won a bronze medal at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival. They now have a third beer, Tule Duck Red Ale.

Today I received 3 cans of beer from Buckbean Brewing Company.  Yes, you read that right, cans.  Like the 21^st Amendment Brewing Company, Buckbean packages their beers in cans.  Why a can you ask?

Buckbean has several reasons:

• Cans protect beer quality better than bottles.
• Cans are lighter so it costs less to ship.
• Cans go anywhere – like lakes, parks, camping, golf and events.
• A case of cans uses 70% less paper and cardboard than a case of bottles.
• Cans are more compact and take less room in your fridge or cooler.
• Cans are the most easily recycled material.
• Cans are lined with an inert water based coating that keeps the beer from ever touching the metal and blind taste tests confirm the taste is indistinguishable from bottles.

Well, they have me convinced.  I’ll drink beer in a can…

I decided my first can would be their Original Orange Blossom Ale.  When I saw the name of the beer, my first thought was, “Oh yeah, another beer with honey, how original.”  Thanks goodness my first impression was wrong.  Not that I have anything against honey beers mind you, it’s just they seem to be the trendy thing these days, especially when trying to attract female drinkers.

Original Orange Blossom Ale is made with distilled orange blossom flowers.  The beer also uses Munich and light caramel malts along with American hops, famous for their citrus character.   All this leads to a very drinkable smooth beer with lots of malt character and a nice dry finish.

When I poured this beer, the first thing I noticed was the beer was opaque and gold, almost orange in color.  The head was white with retention on the low side, though I think this may not be the norm (It may be because my glass was washed in a dishwasher and that can screw up the head retention.  To all you beer tasters out there, please forgive my laziness …)

The second thing I noticed was the aroma.  This beer has a unique aroma of oranges tinged with a light perfumy character that must be from the orange blossom flowers.  This beer is an ale and I got a hint of fruity esters and very light hop aromas, all of which complemented the orange blossoms.

The flavor of the Original Orange Blossom Ale reminds me of an American Pale Ale with a twist.  The orange blossoms not only add a nice orange character but they also add a spiciness that is perfume-like, much like the aroma alluded to.  The American hops add a bitterness that is well balanced and they help dry out the finish, making the beer very refreshing and drinkable.  To back all this up, the malt flavors add a solid backbone so the beer remains balanced and keeps the hops from becoming too astringent.  As the beer warms up the malt becomes more pronounced and I think the beer is even better this way.

I have to say this is a very good beer.  I would buy it and I don’t pay for beer that I don’t think is worthy.  Unfortunately this beer isn’t anywhere near me so I will have to make sure to track some down next time I’m anywhere near Reno.

And for those ladies who only drink sweet or fruit beers, this is one that can sway them towards the dry side.  Come on ladies, come on over to the dry side.  I promise you can like it.

Look for reviews of the other Buckbean Brewing Company beers in the following weeks.

Desiree Knott
High Gravity Homebrewing & Winemaking Supplies
7164 S Memorial
Tulsa, OK 74133
(918) 461-2605
desiree@highgravitybrew.com
http://www.highgravitybrew.com

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This entry was posted by Desiree Knott on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 7:18 pm and is filed under Beer Related Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.