Edison Light Beer
New Century Brewing Company

Edison Light BeerEdison Light Beer
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From:
New Century Brewing Company
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
Light Lager
ABV:
4%
Score:
68
Avg:
2.65 | pDev: 25.28%
Reviews:
30
Ratings:
33
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jul 05, 2012
Added:
Dec 02, 2001
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
All-malt light lager; reformulated recently.
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Ratings by gpogo:
Photo of gpogo
Reviewed by gpogo from California

3.68/5  rDev +38.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A- Brilliantly clear light golden yellow with a bright white head. Very lively carbonation. Head dissipates a bit, but stays very white and leaves a lacing.

A- Light sweet malt and corn aroma with just a hint of bitterness, surprisingly no skunkiness!(I was worried).

T- Very clean taste, not overly sweet or bitter, nor was there any skunkiness.

M- Very light in body, not so much as Miller Lite or Natural Light. High carbonation with that carbonic bite. Very refreshing.

D- I think this is one of the better light lagers out there. It has more of a flavor, but still within range of a light lager. The packaging did have me worried though. I've picked up other beers in clear bottles from trader joe's that tasted like a horse's butt.
Mar 06, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3 by Dapperticus from Kentucky

Jul 05, 2012
 
 
Rated: 2 by ColSanders123 from Georgia

Nov 15, 2011
Photo of BeerAdvocate
Reviewed by BeerAdvocate from Finland

3.65/5  rDev +37.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Review from BeerAdvocate Magazine Issue #43 (Aug 2010):

Yup, we hate the thought of light lagers, but we give every beer a chance. This beer's head stays strong with its perfect clarity. There is some dry grain and a lime-leaf hop note in the aroma. It's smooth with an obvious light body, but it's not bone dry. There's clean grain in the middle, with a balancing bitterness and vague oil flavor from the hops. This beer ends clean and dry. This is proof that not all yellow fizzy beer is the same. It is what it is ... a light lager, but a better choice than the mainstream.
Jan 11, 2011
Photo of beerprovedwright
Reviewed by beerprovedwright from Georgia

3.17/5  rDev +19.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Clear bottle, light yellow color lager. Pours with little head that willowed to nothing in mere seconds. Some lacing remains that has a little cling. Color rates a 5 on the SRM chart. Smells like lemon, wheat, bran and yeast. Not a bad balanced taste of orange peel, wheat, malt, and yeast. About an average brisk feeling over my tongue and back palate. Not too shabby for a light beer, more flavor than most. I would choose this over many other light beers on the market.
Oct 23, 2010
Photo of matjack85
Reviewed by matjack85 from Illinois

2.18/5  rDev -17.7%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
I got this single 12oz clear glass bottle at the Trader Joe's in Glen Ellyn, IL for just 89¢. There was no freshness date or information about the beer anywhere on the label.

The beer poured a clear pale gold color and made a 2 finger white head, but it didn't last long and it left no lacing whatsoever.

As for the smell, what smell? This stuff smells like water. There was nothing foul smelling about it, but there was nothing good about it either.

This beer is very weak in the flavor department, even for a light beer. If anything, I would say it has more of a hop flavor than a malt flavor, which is unusual. It could have used more malt sweetness to help balance out the hop bitterness instead of the other way around. It also gets nasty the warmer it gets, so drink this one fast and ice cold.

There's not much of a mouthfeel to describe. It's light bodied, but it's a light beer, so it's supposed to be light. It's also fairly well carbonated so it does have a spritzy, refreshing feel to it, but come on, there has to be some flavor in here besides a few bitter hops.

It's easy to drink, but then so is water. I'll pass on this one and grab a Sam Adam's Light if I want a decent light beer.
Jan 03, 2010
Photo of MadTown1000
Reviewed by MadTown1000 from Virginia

3.44/5  rDev +29.8%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a flat dull pale yellow. Very little fizz to it, and it recedes quickly. Not an auspicious start. The smell has a little bit more to it than your average light lager, though, and the mouthfeel and flavor are definitely more substantial than its macro competitors. It approaches the level of taste of a decent non-light macro lager. Now, is that impressive in the grand scheme of beerdom? Not really. But for a light, refreshing beer, this one does the trick.
Sep 28, 2009
Photo of thesyko56
Reviewed by thesyko56 from Georgia

2.98/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
A: Very light yellow with one finger head

S: Very fruity. Similar to a hefeweizen.

T: Not bad for a light beer. Decent amount of flavor. Very crisp fresh taste.

M: Very light but a better feel than the mass produced light lager.

D: Very drinkable.
Sep 27, 2009
Photo of BZero007
Reviewed by BZero007 from Virginia

2.49/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Poured from a bottle in to my Guinness glass. Color is a very bright and clear Golden yellow. With a very light white head that forms. I had to pour the beer straight in to the middle the whole pour to get the head to form correctly. The aroma was what you would expect of a light beer, it was crisp and clean smell. The taste of the beer was very light and clean aswell as crisp flavor.
Body was extremly light and not over bearing alcohol is low and makes this beer a nice beer to have on a hot summer day. Though the below avg flavor to this particular beer would keep me from purchasing it in the future for my self.
May 16, 2009
Photo of cagocubs
Reviewed by cagocubs from Illinois

1.9/5  rDev -28.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
Stumbled across a sixer of this at Trader Joe's so I thought I would give it a try. There is nothing appealing about this beer. Its appearence is pale gold with lots of active carbonation and a quickly dissapating white head. The smell is absent, really just watery. The taste was the tiniest sweet but most dominated by nothingness. The mouthfeel was ok. The drinkability was decent because it is light in every meaning of the word, especially flavor.
Feb 16, 2009
Photo of montageman
Reviewed by montageman from Michigan

2.98/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 4
Poured into a pint glass.

As far as light beers go, this one is perfectly fine. Pale in color, there is not much to the appearance or the aroma for that matter. The most obvious part of the aroma is corn, which is not a good thing. The taste is sweet with a decent hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is watery - like any other light beer. All of that said, this beer goes down easy and could easily be drunk all night. Recommended.
Nov 04, 2008
Photo of TheManiacalOne
Reviewed by TheManiacalOne from Rhode Island

1.43/5  rDev -46%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1
Poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a pale gold color, with a thin white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of macro adjuncts along with faint traces of light malts and hops.

T: The taste is bready and a little sweet, but all I can taste is adjuncts with exception of a very brief and light burst of hops bitterness that fades as quickly as it comes in. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Not smooth at all with a little crispness, very light body, medium-to-high carbonation, finish is clean at least.

D: Not very tasty, goes down ok but not nearly as easily as a light beer should, not filling at all, there are very few beers that I can honestly say this about, but this beer actually makes Coors Light, Corona & Bud Light look good.
Jan 06, 2008
Photo of monkeybeer
Reviewed by monkeybeer from California

1.97/5  rDev -25.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5
A- Pale golden yellow, heavy carbonation with large white head that quickly disappeared, almost no lacing

S- Light hop and Malt

T/M – somewhat bitter and sour, over carbonated, left of sticky bad after taste in the mouth.

D- Not very drinkable, I finished it but barely, like stated above left a dab after taste
Nov 20, 2007
Photo of garcia2a
Reviewed by garcia2a from Pennsylvania

2.6/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Picked this up the other day in Framingham Mass during a business trip. This beer has a very pale straw color with a thin fleeting head. For the first minute or two there was a small amount of carbination.

I really did not detect a bouquet of sorts, so I proceded to my sip test. There was a tiny bit of taste that rapidly left the ol' taste buds. Nothing really remarkable.

Mouthfeel was OK, but again, this beer, like many in the non-mass produced light category, suffers from the need for something either taste or appearance to make it stand out.

This beer is fine as a thirst quencher on a really hot day, but not one for a tasting adventure.
Aug 08, 2007
Photo of JayTheFinn
Reviewed by JayTheFinn from California

2.94/5  rDev +10.9%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
I picked up an Edison at Trader Joes in Santa Barbara, CA. It was in the loose bottle section, which worries me. I'm concerned that they've been sitting on the shelf for a while. And when you're talking about clear glass bottles, that's not a good thing. This one may have suffered from a bit of exposure, but even so it wasn't terrible. In fact it was probably my favorite light beer ever...which isn't saying much, but there it is.

A - Pale golden. Crisp, clean, clear body. Looks like a ginger ale. Plenty of fizz. Small head that doesn't last long.
S - Phew. Corn adjunct.
T - Thank god it tastes better than it smells. Still a corn flavor, but with a hint of hops and pilsner like banana flavor reminiscent of Bitburger.
M - Light.
D - The lighter airiness makes this easy to drink. The flavor and smell hold it back a bit. If I had to pick a light beer, it'd be this one...but it'd be a sad day if light beer was the only choice.
May 17, 2007
Photo of bluejacket74
Reviewed by bluejacket74 from Ohio

2.63/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
The beer pours a clear golden yellow with a small white head. It smells mostly like sweet malt, but there's a little bit of skunk aroma too. Luckily there's no skunk in the taste, but it just tastes like your standard light beer. It tastes like sweet malt, grain and adjuncts. The mouthfeel is light and watery. Drinkability is OK, it does go down easy. I guess I could drink this again if I was in the mood for a light beer, but it's not a light beer I'd go out of my way to buy. There's nothing about this beer that makes it stand out from all the other light beers out there.
Jan 28, 2007
Photo of granger10
Reviewed by granger10 from Wisconsin

3.35/5  rDev +26.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Clear bottle, $.79 from Trader Joe's. What the hell, might as well try it.

Golden amberish color with a smallish head that fades a bit quickly. Decent signs of carbonation though with bubbles rising. Aroma is nondescript for the most part. A bit of a spicy hop like character, but I'm not sure. Also might be some astringent grain. Not great but no off flavors or strong adjunct flavors. Taste is better. Malts are going to be weak but they give a nice body and mouthfeel to this beer along with a slight sweet cereal taste. Hops are noticeable with a bit of fruity type acidity. Slight butterscotch in the end but the finish is crisp and dry. When reviewing to style, this is not too bad.
Jul 20, 2006
Photo of daliandragon
Reviewed by daliandragon from Maryland

1.81/5  rDev -31.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5
This is another refugee I picked up from the nice woman at the New Century booth as the fire marshal gestapo was in the process of shutting down the ill fated LI beer festival last weekend. If you were lucky enough not to be in attendance, you missed something I can only imagine as akin to the fall of Rome as hundreds of patrons scrambled for the remnants as the brewers packed what they could carry and gave the rest away or simply left it to the vultures like me. Total chaos.
Pours light straw with a decent head that doesn't last. Smell is sickly sweet and extremely unappetising. Taste is not quite horrible because of its weakness but certainly not even in good's basement. A little hoppiness in the aftertaste but otherwise a typical crappy light beer. Watery, spineless mouthfeel.
Again, this beer was free so if that's not the reason you're considering drinking it, treat it like kryptonite and back away slowly and then run like hell.
May 15, 2006
Photo of Frozensoul327
Reviewed by Frozensoul327 from Michigan

3.13/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Oh, how tastes differ... Contrary from my good friend below me (rousee), I found this beer rather do-able. Great? No way. Palateable? For some, perhaps. For Me? Maybe...

Poured out to a light yellow color with a short lived head. Minor notes of lacing, and medium level of carbonation. Aromas were very weak, with corn and watery malts filling the nose. Not offensive, but not yummy either. Taste was better than most light lagers, but again, nothing great. Flavors of light malts, corn, some biscuts and grain were present. More complexity here than you will find in any other "macro" made beer. Mouthfeel was accentuated by the carbonation, which kept things zesty and exciting on the tongue. Drinkability is average. If I wanted a light beer to fall back on, this would be a solid choice. I think i'd come back to it...
Jan 30, 2006
Edison Light Beer from New Century Brewing Company
Beer rating: 68 out of 100 with 33 ratings