Two Rivers Light
Court Avenue Brewing Company

A - Mostly clear pale/light gold. Pours with a thin head.
S - Grainy/pils malt with a very slight hint of floral hops.
T - The hops shine more than the smell lets on, but the main flavor is still a grainy pils malt flavor. Flavor doesn't last long, as the beer is fairly dry.
M - Dry and a little thin. There is not enough carbonation to help this one out.
O - Not bad, and certainly better than your average "light" beer. I appreciate the light hop flavor that keeps it interesting. It reminds me more of a classic American pilsner than a light lager.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had as part of the sampler rack at the brewpub.

Appearance: Clear light golden color.

Smell: Strong corn or rice aroma. Maybe a little grassy.

Taste: A little corn a little malt, mostly watery slight hops profile in the back.

Mouthfeel: Highly carbonated mouthfeel.

It's better than your average light beer, that's about all I can say. Thought I think it could be better with less adjuncts, I tasted and smelled a lot of corn on this one.

It's a light, so I don't expect much. It smells like water, but does have some nice hop flavor and is better than the typical light lager. Thus for the style it is above average. Would I ever order this again? No, but it is a decent light (I will say I prefer Rock Bottom's light beer to this).

Two Rivers Light leads off the second day in the '(One Time Only) Greater Des Moines Light Lager Face-Off'. This offering and Raccoon River's Tallgrass Light comprise the city portion of the competition, following the suburb portion that took place yesterday.

Light lagers, with regard to appearance, need to do only three things to be acceptable in my eyes. They should be some shade of pale amber (check), should have a decent looking head (check) and should be lucent (error). Two Rivers was approximately the same color as the Granite City beer and had an identically small, bright white head. A mild haziness made it the least appealing of all four beers.

The aroma's only fault was its lack of amplitude. However, I was okay with what managed to make it to my nose (clean grain, minimal hops). This attribute fell exactly midway between the competition leading Heartland Light and the even more weak Northern Light Lager.

Unfortunately, the flavor was lighter than light. I got the sense that Two Rivers Light's malt content was bargain basement low. That's okay if you're committed to counting every last calorie, but not okay if you want a little flavor in whatever beer you decide to treat yourself to. It might have been a simple lack of malt sugars, but this was also the most bitter of the beers consumed so far.

The mouthfeel was light (no surprise there), coming dangerously close to watery on the swallow. The only thing keeping the score in the vicinity of average was an agreeable amount of carbonation.

Simply put, Two Rivers Light is too light for its own good. A little more malt would probably do wonders and would almost certainly pull it even with Northern Light. It looks like the Raccoon River beer has a little work to do if the city lagers hope to give the suburb lagers a run for their money.

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Gold Medal: Heartland Light (Rock Bottom)
Silver Medal: Northern Light Lager (Granite City)
Bronze Medal: Two Rivers Light (Court Avenue)
no medal: Tallgrass Light (Raccoon River)

Tried this beer as part of a sampler on tap at the brewery after getting into Des Moines for a business trip. The appearance was that of just about any other light lager but with perhaps less head than most. Quite clear like most as well. Not much taste, but that's what the style calls for. I was surprised that there were no off flavors as this beer was very very light. Overall, very drinkable and definitely a good "crossover" beer for those that have never enjoyed craft beer before. A good beer for a brewpub to have on its list of regulars.