Clementine Lemon Thyme
Bearded Lamb Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A snarler from Liberty Street Brewing and poured into a shaker pint.

This beer all-around is just the very definition of an entry-level/starter's beer. First off, I'd definitely consider this a wheat beer instead of an herbed/spiced one. The wheat in this is extremely prominent. The beer itself has a nice citrus aroma to it with hints of spice, but it's not something that will make you drool. For the taste, well. Confusing. At first, I was getting this unusual bitterness... like the beer was stale, or something. As I got down my glass, that weird flavor started going away, and the beer got more enjoyable. Compared to the Summer Shandy I had a few hours earlier... this isn't much better, unfortunately. That weird initial stale sort of flavor threw me off quite a lot at first, but it did get a little bit better.

This beer's alright... a safe bet if you don't know what to get when you're there, or need to make a quick decision. For the big beer aficianado though, this beer more than likely won't have you jumping up and down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoyed on tap at the Liberty Street brewery. Pours a slightly hazy shade of amber, very similar to the yellow on a stoplight. The head fizzles away pretty quickly, reducing to a small white ring around the edge of the beer. Not much lacing left behind, except for a few spotty patches here and there.

The aroma contains lots of soft wheat; pretty laid-back, as expected, but still showing a nice display of different components. Light oranges, though I don't think clementines and oranges are quite discernible when used in a beer. Lemon zest and other, mild splashed of citrus give this beer a refreshing and zesty aroma. Not picking up much thyme, although there's a slight spice in the very, very back that I can't put my finger on - maybe that's it.

And whoa, surprisingly enough, the flavor is LOADED with thyme. That's the first (and last) thing you taste - heavy doses of thyme, but not so heavy as to drown out the rest of the flavors or fatigue the palate. It's different, but it works. The wheat body is still noticeable and the mild orange and lemon zest flavors still provide a reasonable kick to the taste buds. Definitely more of a spiced beer than a fruit beer at this point; I wouldn't say that's a bad thing, but I do think a bit more of the clementine flavor would be nice. Thin bodied, lots of carbonation, crispy, clean, refreshing mouth feel.

Again, another easy-drinker from Liberty Street, and again, another beer that I feel would benefit from warm weather due to its refreshing nature. Solid taste all around and a nice uniqueness from the inclusion of thyme. Somehow the thyme went mostly undetectable in the aroma, but showed up huge on the palate. Solid wheat beer when all is said and done.