Farm Table: Hopfenlager
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

600 ml bottle from the LCBO. Cost was $5.95 CDN. Bottled on May 16, 2018, so this is a little elderly. Served cold into a pint glass.

Appearance - Dark golden color with a little haze, plenty of bubbles and a nice looking 2 finger white head. Lots of frothiness and pretty decent lacing left behind.

Smell - Plenty of graininess here, bready with a subtle sharpness there. Not a lot lot else going on, some citrus maybe.

Taste - Clean and grain flavored, the bread comes through again, but the fruit is washed out and replaced with a sharp bitter finish. Not a whole lot else, but a bit too bitter for enjoyment.

Mouthfeel - Crisp, refreshing, plenty of bubbles and medium dry finish.

Overall - Steep price for a well hopped lager, but besides that it's pretty good albeit a little bit too assertively bitter for my tastebuds.

Unusual bitter aftertaste

600 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated May 16 2018 and served slightly chilled. It's rare for me to a try a beer brewed with not one, but two hop strains (Mistral; Barbe Rouge) that I have no familiarity with whatsoever.

Pours a foggy, deep golden hue, supporting more than an inch of foamy, soapy white head that gradually deteriorates over the next five-plus minutes. A thick, lumpy cap and collar of froth hold together for even longer, with a great looking coat of fine lace also having been deposited. The nose intrigues me - it's a bit fruity, but quite subtle, with suggestions of strawberry, lychee, cantaloupe and tangerine that I find rather enticing. Other than that, I'm not getting a whole lot else, save for some understated graininess and indistinct citrus qualities.

Tastes pretty good, starting off with a grainy pale malt backbone that lends a touch of sweetness to the flavour. From then on, the hops mostly steal the show - I'm getting varied fruits such as lychee, melon and strawberry mid-sip, but the profile then transitions to more of a floral, herbal hop-type character with notes of grapefruit pith. Pointedly bitter finish, followed by a brief flash of peppery spice in the aftertaste, which helps dry out the palate quite effectively. Light-medium in body, with middling carbonation levels that lightly prickle the tongue, frothing up a bit in the mouth. Feels crisp, but not so refreshing - the hop bitterness is just a little too assertive for me to be interested in seconds. No more difficult to toss back than your average 6% IPA.

Final Grade: 3.84, a B+. Beau's Hopfenlager made for a good (but not great) quaff, which is about what I've come to expect from this brewer. I appreciated this brew for what it is - a quality hopped lager - but at six bucks a bottle, it's likely to be a one and done for me, because at the end of the day there's tons of IPAs (and a handful of IPLs) that cost less and would satiate my hop fix just as well. Worth a look while it's fresh, but not something to go out of your way for.

 

Cloudy gold, topped by a thick, fluffy white head with strong retention.
Quite fruity, sweet citrus - orange, even some peach.
Caramel and pale malt, countered by citrus hops, principally lemon, grapefruit, some spruce. Ends with a strong hit of bitterness, long and dry, although it also turns a bit astringent. Mouthfeel is pretty typical of Beau's - medium body and carbonation, clean.

Flavourful and easy drinking, refreshing and invigorating on the palate - but you might be good with one because it is quite bitter, and the taste of that lingering bitterness turns pithy. It's interesting, I actually have a tough time deciding if I like it or not.

Draft: Poured a dirty beige color ale with a nice large off-white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of dry floral undertones with light cereal notes. Taste is also dominated by a very dry hops profile with no residual sugar and light cereal notes. Body is full with good carbonation. Enjoyable for the style but maybe a touch too dry at the end of the day.