Brew House Orange Honey Cream Ale
Genesee Brewing Co.

 

12oz can stamped 0257 1305:57 poured into a bow tie glass at fridge temp 6% ABV 11 IBU. The beer pours mostly bright orange tinted yellow with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is mild with honey and orange both present. The taste is semisweet orange Creamsicle before a flash of pale malt then lingering artificial orange flavor. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good(ish). I'm not a fan of any artificial flavor in beer, so that's a detractor in my rating. Not really offensive, just not my thing.

We are CANticipating CANother scorcher of a day & I am drinking Lager-style & fruited CANned beers in an effort to beat the heat. I have been (mostly) homebound these past four/five weeks following a prostatectomy & it has given me the CANportunity to sift through the backlog here at Chez Woody. I have uncovered all sorts of beers to CANstitute brewery horizontals, but today is just going to be odds & sods.

From the CAN: "Pilot Batch"; "[undersigned] Dean Jones Brewmaster"; "Malts: 2 Row & 6 Row Blend"; "Hops: Herkules Hops"; "IBU: 11".

I Crack!ed open the vent & beCAN a slow, steady C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. It did not disappoint, either, quickly forming two-plus finger of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with excellent retention. Color was a very pretty Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity, prompting a visit from The Gelt Gang of Croesus, Mammon & Midas. Nose made it quickly apparent that it was "Orange Honey" & NOT "Orange & Honey"! It smelled like the orange blossom honey that CAN be procured at the local Farmers' Market. Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium, but very soft in the mouth & on the tongue. The taste was not simply orange blossom honey, but also with a light vanilla sweetness, making it taste like a Dreamsicle/Creamsicle! I used to really like them as a kid, but I have a mild lactose intolerance now, making ice cream a tough sell for me. 8=( This was SO evocative of summer.

It made me want to go over to the corner store & buy a pack of baseball cards & then go to the park & read a comic book! The corner stores no longer carry packs of baseball cards & the newsstands have all either closed or done away with comic books, forcing me to go to the specialty shop where the comics are so expensive that I hate to read them outside of the CANfort of my home. 8=( I am SO glad to have grown up in the 1970s when it was still easy to be a kid, especially in the Summertime. 8=(

Recovering from my reverie, I CANtemplated just how pleasant this beer was. I was a teenage beer drinker & my all-time fave (still is) was Genny Cream. We would go to a nearby crick & submerge our CANs to get cold. It was a tasty brew & this one-off just goes to show that they know their business. Not every beer has to be a hop-forward masterpiece nor does it need to be some RIS that will knock you for a loop after just one. This evoked pleasant memories, was soft & easy-drinking, finished …

Oops! Finish was semi-sweet, very refreshing & just the thing on a hot, humid Summer's day. Man, if they made this routinely, I would be ecstatic to take a mix of this & Genny Cream dahn the Little CANestoga Crick & let 'em cool off inna water. Heck, I might not even need take the fishing pole as a prop!

Picked this up when I was in New York over the summer at - where else - a Wegman's. Never had this before and I have to admit that Genesee Cream Ale is one of my guilty pleasures when it comes to malted barley beverages. While this wasn't as good as their flagship, this was a nice lawnmower beer to kick back with on a warm day and although that weather is long gone now, this was still enjoyable several months later as I watch my Devils choke away another contest...

The look to this was what I expected - golden, clean, and topped off with enough head that quickly settled down. The bottom half of my pint glass had the lacing that was leftover as I sipped my way through this. Lots of sugary soda sweetness, honey, ginger, and orange cream in the muted nose with all of those coming through in the taste. A bit sticky and quite sweet, this felt a bit like the Cream Ale but with some artificial flavor and soda thrown in for good measure. Hard to find the citrus in the taste aside from the initial blast of sweet orange as the lively carbonation combined with sweet and caramel malts gave this the right amount of body and lightness; with those saving this beer from feeling like a gimmick!

Not a lot of booze here as this felt more like a soda than a beer. A stickiness lingered on my palate long after this went down and had there been another here, it would have been easy to have as a mild ginger flavor was all that detracted from the flavor profile of this beer. Not a bad brew but nothing award-winning either - but Genesee is so good at brewing something that fits that bill, with this falling under that description!

Pale yellow gold with thick head. Strong, sweet, synthetic off-orange and not-quite-honey with a bit or vanilla-ish cream. They latter is stronger in the taste, with the "orange" and "honey" taking a back seat. It seems they took the term "cream" ale seriously. Moderately sweet, light carbonation. Watery.

 

This has to be one of the worst beers ever brewed anywhere. Total drain pour. Tastes like a melted creamsicle. Just sweet and nasty. I probably drink more Genny products than all other beers combined, but I'm very disappointed with this one from my hometown brewery.

 

 

 

im not sure if this should be listed under the brew house or here under their main operation, i guess it doesnt matter much as its all the same spot, but the others like it i see under the brew house page. in any event, my boys all loved this one and reckon its the bees knees for summer, but for me it was a bit sweet and contrived and desserty, but there are enjoyable elements to it as well, it sure is boldly flavored, and has some high and low points. i like the orange here, to me not just an orange blossom element in the honey but actual fruit. its natural enough and intense, flavorful almost like candy though, and bold in aroma and in taste. the honey is nice against the subtle bitter elements of the citrus, but it makes the whole thing a bit too sugary for any kind of real pounding like you can do on the base cream ale. i like that there isnt lactose or vanilla or anything in here, but at the same time it almost tastes like there is, its not subtle. honey is nice because the malt is so light so it kind of fills in, while the orange is fresh and vibrant throughout. the base cream ale, which deserves some love, is almost unrecognizable here, but i think its cool they took the risk and played around with such a staple of a beer. folks in the brewery seemed to love it, and while its a little cheap and forced to me, it really does taste pretty good. fun for the summer, a neat twist on their legendary cream ale...

 

 

 

 

Pours a clear gold color. 1/4 inch head of a white color. Slight retention and poor lacing. Smells of vanilla, slight orange, slight sweet malt, and hint of cinnamon. Fits the style of a Cream Ale. Mouth feel is smooth and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of vanilla, slight sweet malt, orange, hint of cinnamon, and a hint of citrus hops. Overall, weak appearance, poor blend, but good body.

Light bubbles on the poor clear light-bodied very light head minimum leasing on the glass definitely hints of the honey and orange but not overpowering very smooth on the way down great summer beer

 

 

From a twelve ounce bottle, this brew is a completely clear golden colored liquid. The head is slim and white and the aroma has a serious orange aroma. The flavor does have some cream soda like qualities, with a bit of vanilla pale malt. Light and refreshing...fruity and drinkable.