Lighting Bolt Gold
Hops Grillhouse & Brewery

Lighting Bolt GoldLighting Bolt Gold
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Hops Grillhouse & Brewery
 
United States
Style:
Light Lager
ABV:
5.1%
Score:
70
Avg:
2.4 | pDev: 22.08%
Reviews:
11
Ratings:
14
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 17, 2013
Added:
Jul 22, 2002
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
View: More Beers
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 2.5 by harpus from Alabama

Sep 17, 2013
 
Rated: 2.5 by LXIXME from New Mexico

Feb 24, 2013
 
Rated: 2.25 by KevieJames from Florida

Jul 24, 2012
Photo of Thorpe429
Reviewed by Thorpe429 from Illinois

1.71/5  rDev -28.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5
On tap at the Alexandria, Virginia location.

Pours a bright, clear yellow color with minimal head and a few bubbles on top as the head settles down. The nose is quite grainy rather than malty with some husk and fairly-strong astringencies. The taste is more grain and maybe a faint hit of some herbal hops. Astringent grain husks rule in this kingdom, though. Off, harsh finish. Light body and pretty far bell average drinkability.
Dec 20, 2010
Photo of erosier
Reviewed by erosier from Connecticut

3.23/5  rDev +34.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Had this at the Newington, CT location.

L: Pours a golden straw color with a medium sized and light bodied white colored head that laces the glass somewhat on the way down.
S: Smells of lightly toasted malts and some floral and earthy hops.
T: Light in taste - toasted malts, floral and earthy hops at the end, like the nose.
M: Very light bodied, fresh and refreshing with the perfect amount of carbonation.
D: Very drinkable beer as there is not much to it.
Aug 21, 2009
Photo of twi1609372
Reviewed by twi1609372 from Florida

3.65/5  rDev +52.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
while it isnt lightning, it is isnt disgusting. overall light taste, not much here. but it isnt totally devoid of flavor. run of the mill average beer from hops, and average overall when comp[ared to other beers. a lot more taste than the clearwater light, but not as much as some others.
Mar 08, 2005
Photo of GCBrewingCo
Reviewed by GCBrewingCo from North Carolina

1.46/5  rDev -39.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1
This beer arrived a pale straw slightly gold color with a decent head. The aroma is huge diacetyl (butter). The flavor is buttered no salt popcorn. No hop aroma or flavor. Their is a malty flavor behind the butter. It had a medium light body.

Diacetyl should not be present in a lager and is a serious flaw, but some people cannot detect it.

(Sampled at the Charleston location)
Dec 19, 2003
Photo of GeoffRizzo
Reviewed by GeoffRizzo from Texas

2.18/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Clear, golden hue, slight hops detected on the nose. Very light and watery body, fails to develop any sort of character. Saaz what? Little to no hop detection going on here. Clean body, but no flavoring, I'm detecting a trend with their beers, slightly below average is their average.
Sep 14, 2003
Photo of SetarconeX
Reviewed by SetarconeX from Florida

2.57/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
A nicer color than a lot of light lagers I've seen. A bit darker than normal perhaps. No head to speak of. No scent to speak of. Very little taste to speak of. Slightly malty, but in general fairly bland. Considering the name they gave this one, I expecting a beer with a bit more power. I guess the hops give it a tiny bit of spice, but it's not so much a lightning bolt as licking a 9-volt battery.

This one just fails to impress all around. Order one of Hops' darker brews.
Sep 07, 2003
Photo of AtLagerHeads
Reviewed by AtLagerHeads from Ohio

2.39/5  rDev -0.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Decent gold color with very little head and some light lacing. There was no nose on this beer - none. The hops flavor was not bad, rather fruity from the Saaz hops ingredient. The mouthfeel was better than expected and a bit smooth. Overall a drinkable beer if the smell was just present, but it is not.
Apr 03, 2003
Photo of stegmakk
Reviewed by stegmakk from New York

2.5/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
This was slightly darker gold than their pilsner...overall gold color with white head...
aroma...none...
taste...well there was some flavor of hops but VERY little
Thin and watery feel
There are better beers at hops than this...however it does have more flavor than any US macro...
Mar 30, 2003
Photo of OldFrothingSlosh
Reviewed by OldFrothingSlosh from Pennsylvania

2.2/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Listed as "Lightning Bold Gold" on their website, it claims to be a medium-bodied beer. Medium-bodied compared to what?

Appearance: Very close in appearance to their ultra-light beer (Clearwater Light), it's a light golden yellow beer with agressive carbonation. Again, there's no head to speak of.

Smell: Very difficult to pick anything out here. Very slight spicy aroma?

Taste: Small quantities of hop flavor are evident. The carbonation really covers everything, but it DOES have some flavor.

Mouthfeel: Certainly not "medium-bodied" as advertised. Thin, watery, and carbonated.

Drinkability: Thank goodness for those hot summer days here in Virginia! That'd be the only time I'd have this one again.
Feb 01, 2003
Photo of Dogbrick
Reviewed by Dogbrick from Ohio

2/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Standard Lager stuff here. Unimpressive. Why do they bother going to the trouble of importing Saaz hops if they are going to use so little of them, are they that expensive? Only slightly better than Clearwater Light.
Oct 11, 2002
Photo of StevieW
Reviewed by StevieW from Florida

2.5/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Another superlightweight beer from Hops. A little darker yellow color than the Clearwater Light. Just as many bubbles. Some more noticable beer qualities in this one. Faint buttery sweet corn smell, that smells good, but in a beer ? Crisp hop bitterness to start and finish the beer. Very watery, thin feel, also has weird metallic aftertaste. Still lots of bubbles, overly carbonated. Hard to tell the differance between this and their seasonal star spangled ale.
Jul 22, 2002
Lighting Bolt Gold from Hops Grillhouse & Brewery
Beer rating: 70 out of 100 with 14 ratings