Nebraska Bitter
McMenamins Inc.

 

High Street making a beer from Nebraska street. I guess this doesn't have enough going for it to make it into the ESB category, so it ended up being classified as a blonde ale.

Pours out a darker than average blond given the use of crystal malt. 1/3" white head with average retention. Aroma was largely related to the 2 row and crystal malt (overused here).

Taste is largely lacking in hops and bitterness, clocking in at just 20 ibu, this is some light beer affair but for the crystal malt. The Cascade hop can only do so much, but when you don't use enough of it, you're left with a weird malty affect on a beer that is only 4.5%. To fix this beer, you probably need to cut the crystal malt in half, and double the Cascade hop, get that ibu level up to 40ibu methinks. I get that they wanted to make a session strength beer, but you can do that without overloading on crystal malt and underhopping.

Pours one finger of head on a clear straw body.
The aroma is grain.
The taste is subtle spice, grain and mild bitterness.
The texture is softer.
It's tasty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had this on-tap in a pint glass at the McMenamins in Mill Creek, WA.

Appearance: light golden hue with a touch of haze and a strong effervescence. Head is a good finger of pillowy white foam with good retention. Nice!

Smell: light aroma of sweet malt and citrusy hops. Good but a bit too low in intensity.

Taste: rich malty flavor with a good toasty quality. Nice citrusy hops round out the flavor, and bitterness is good and balanced.

Mouthfeel: light body but with a strong, well integrated carbonation. A good creaminess.

Overall: tasty, refreshing and drinkable. Would definitely have again.

 

 

 

My first experience of McMenamins house beers and I wanted somethng different than a regular ale, so chose the Nebraska bitter and was pleased.

Light yellow as a field of wheat, it poured slightly hazed, no particles I observed, with a light head which quickly disipated, perhaps due to the extreme heat wave we'd been experiencing recently.

Very little nose to speak of, which can be a plus in my book. But the taste was exceptional. Lightly bitter, but not the strong citrus hops characterizing so many beers, this was a slightly herbal almost lavendar overtones. Believe Centennial hops. Crisp, with a tang, but very clean with little if any malty aftertaste. Dry, very drinkable. Similar to a wheat ale or pilsner, but none of the citrus of a Belgian white. Not as overpowring as some other IPAs; would be very good with any meal as no odd fragrances or pungent tastes or malt aftertones. Just a nice dry herbal crispness, with smooth slightly non-filtered creamy feel on the palate to distinguish it from a lager.

Great beer with food, or on its own.

I had this on tap at McMenamin's on High St. in Eugene, OR. It's listed as an American Blonde Ale elsewhere on the BA website, but is that correct? It served up deep golden in color and had a thin head with no lacing and was unfiltered. It was kind of strong in alcohol taste, though I don't know the ABV. It was somewhat bitter, but nothing crazy. It had a bit of citrus flavor and some hops taste and aftertaste as well.

Very confused beer. It says bitter in the name, but sure of the Nebraska part. And the confusion goes beyond the name. The beer looks ok in the glass with a light white head that falls quickly to a bit of lace, but the golden orand is hefe colored, even a little hazy. Odd for a bitter. No malt at all, and the mouthfeel make Miller Light seem heavy. The taste isn't so bad, fruity grapefruit--like a Belgian yeast was used. I was so confused that I asked the waitress if she had given me the wheat beer by mistake. She said no, but this is what she recommended when the wheat keg blew. Odd all around on this one.

Pours a stormy unfiltered hazy, cloudy peach hued brewtopped with a settling frothy beige cap. Slight lattice lace left behind in the glass. The bottom had some scrod chunckers, in there too.

Light scents of apricot esters and clean leafy pilsner-esque.

First swigs: Bright light pale ale flavors. Diluted orange juice & clean citrous aspects that sizzle. Clean finish with a lingering aftertaste. Finally, creamy vanilla notes of malts round out the sugary sweet flavor.

Rather full body due to the semi-filtered feel.

Quite an easy drinker that went back fast enough to make a review quick.

Last swigs: Not really a bitter, rather a homebrewish pale meets hefeweizen wheat beer.