Wake N' Bake
Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co

 

 

12 oz. can poured into snifter
(no date printed on can)

L: clear yellow-gold with about 1/3-inch tall head of white foam; keeps a nice collar of white foam; no major sticking or lacing; beer isn't crystal clear, call it 95% with just the slightest of mistiness to it

S: corn, stale corn, sweet creamed corn ... there's also an underlying peach pie from the malt; overall it's pleasant and lightly sweet; if there's any coffee notes, they are way, way, way in the background, like a latte note more than coffee/espresso

T: at first it tastes like it smells, like a standard blone ale; over time, a very light, subtle coffee flavor starts showing up, again it's more like a milky latte than black coffee or espresso, and it's always in the background to the more pronounced grain flavors; no earthiness or bitterness and nothing overly yeasty; it comes off at times like a slightly weird mix of blonde ale grain/corn flavor mixed with that bit of coffee, but it's not off-putting

F: fantastic, light and fluffy but mouthfilling with a near-perfect amount of carbonation to keep it crisp and drinkable

O: as American blonde ales go, this one is quite solid and, if nothing else, very easy to drink and inoffensive; as coffee beers go, this one doesn't really make sense in theory and at times doesn't taste like it makes sense ... would you pour coffee into your creamed corn? I wouldn't, but fortunately the beer never tastes that weird, and credit to Buffalo Bayou for keeping this hybrid on the very, very restrained side of things; the coffee is an accent, not the leading note, and I'm pleasantly surprised and enjoying this beer just fine

 

I was prepared to dislike this beer, as it came in a variety pack of otherwise-disappointing Buffalo Bayou selections. But this delivers, though not in the way I expected. I'm thinking that, as a standalone blond ale, this would be a thin disappointment, but the coffee seems to fill out the character without jumping out at you -- I'm not sure I would have known of its presence save for the label. Anyway, the result is a very drinkable (if light) blond ale with enough character to make it interesting.

 

Delicious, refreshing yet hardy beer. Tastes like a mix between a stout and and blond ale. It’s light and easy to drink in a hot day with a nice hint of coffee.