77 Draft
Whistle Stop Restaurant & Woodman Brewery

Reviewed from session notes.

A. Cloudy golden color with a brief single finger head and minimal lacing.

S. Fruity apple and pear-like esters, orange peel, and a very strong and unwelcome sort of penicillin chalky antibiotic aroma. WTF is up with that?

T. But it sure doesn't -taste- like penicillin, thankfully! Rather I get the flavor of those fruity esters up front riding a tiny wave of corn sweetness that dips drier towards the end into a slight doughiness that fades out cleanly. I've never experienced such a wide disparity in quality between the nose and the flavor in a beer before, how strange...

M. Medium body and carbonation, blunt semi-dry finish.

Bought a bottle of this from the brewery/restaurant. On the label, it indicates that it is a Cream Ale...also, according to the write-up in the Wisconsin State Journal, this beer has "about" 77 calories...resulting in an attempt to be their signature beer, combining the low-calorie of Wisconsin's best selling beer (Miller Lite) with the flavor of Wisconsin's second best selling beer (New Glarus' Spotted Cow). I poured into a Sam Adams' Perfect Pint.

A=As expected, the unfiltered brew was a pale, murky yellow...the head reached 1/2"or so and lasted about two minutes.

S=Sweet and somewhat fruity, due to the hops. Not a put off, but not inviting, either.

T=The corn and hop presence dominate, resulting in a sweet beer. Due to it being unfiltered, this beer reminded me of a honey weiss. Body is better than most lights, but, as you wouid expect, not as present as a regular lager or cream ale.

M=Again, in between a light and an ale...it is here that you can tell you are drinking a light beer, as it comes across as watered down.

O=I'm not huge fan of either cream ales or light beers, so it should be no surprise that this was good for a light beer, but the strong hop presence was a bit too much for me to say I'd buy this again. If you are looking for a lighter beer with a weiss aspect, you may enjoy this.

Bright gold, zero haze, fizzy white foam at first, which soon dwindles to nothing. Some sediment visible in the bottle.

Clean and bready, simple doughy malt smell, something vaguely champagne-like from the yeast used.

Apple notes, saltine cracker, zero hop bitterness. Light and dry crackery malts. Clean and refreshing though, seemingly no adjuncts. Very simple but pleasant, tastes great considering the style. Clearly designed to convert local macro drinkers in transition to better beer, i'd wager a guess.