Home Sweet Home
5 Paddles Brewing Company

 

Bomber from the LCBO; best before May 31 2017 and served well chilled. Looks like I missed the freshness window by a week and a half, so if you're reading this review, please keep that in mind.

Pours a crystal-clear medium golden colour, with one finger of loose white foam quickly dissipating off, leaving behind a soapy collar and some scant lace. Visually, it looks like most of the "honey brown" ales that I've tried over the years. Quite sweet on the nose - in fact, it's almost dessert-like at times, with the vanilla spice and honey sweetness pulling no punches at all, largely overwhelming the underlying base of bready wheat and doughy pale malts. Vaguely floral, almost as if a clover honey was used. I can see the appeal of this aroma, but my sniffer still finds it to be borderline cloying.

Thankfully, it all works out somehow, because this is a pretty tasty brew. Honey is the most prominent flavour by a fair margin, with its natural sweetness permeating much of the profile, yet not in an especially overbearing manner. Doughy, bready malts and brown sugar also come to mind, with the vanilla complementing the honey very nicely. A brief flash of floral hops towards the finish is immediately upended by persistent honey malt sweetness, which lingers into a sweet aftertaste. Light body, perhaps leaning towards light-medium, with mild carbonation that gently agitates the surfaces of the palate. Smooth and somewhat creamy, this is pretty easy to knock back, but a little too sweet & strong to be a 'one after another' sort of beer.

Final Grade: 3.76, a B+. 5 Paddles' Home Sweet Home is one of the best new honey beers I've had in a long time - I am not a huge fan of vanilla beers, but it happens to pair very nicely with the yummy honey and malt sweetness. I'll file this one in the ol' mental rolodex, with a note reminding me to re-review at some point in the future - and to actually drink it before the expiry date passes me by. Still, I don't think the age had much of an impact on my opinion, because there were no signs of oxidation/staleness and I found it rather enjoyable overall. Worth picking up if you have a soft spot for honey browns and the like.

 

 

I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. Honey comes through nicely with subtle sweetness alongside the caramel malts and musty hops with the vanilla coming through nicely on the finish. Vanilla pairs very well with the honey and admittedly this is one of the best honey brews I've had. Well done.

Looks pretty good, substantial head sits atop a slightly rusty ginger ale coloured brew. Head settles to a significant cap. Not much by way of a nose. Some malt and other sweet things, nothing remarkable. Malty brew with the grain noticeably complemented by the taste of honey and vanilla. Some finishing bitterness from hops gets muffled pretty quickly by sweetness. Tasty, not cloyingly sweet, but not something you'd want to drink again and again in one session. Almost a novelty or dessert type beer to me.

 

 

 

 

Purchased at brewery for around $6.00 for a 650ml bottle. Served at 6deg C in a draught glass

A- Opens well and pours a 2" high white head that lasts for a few minutes before film out. Nice light gold colour and filtered clear.

S- Lots of honey and sweetness.

T- Honey and malt. Just a sweet blend as the name says. I like it. Has a complexity that just shines though. I enjoy blend of honey at the brewing stage.

M- Sweet and creamy. Just wonderful

O- Very enjoyable. Another win from 5 paddles. I enjoy the multi level complexity this brew has

Food Pairing

This wonderful little brew went well with.... Honey dipped baking. Just enjoy the blend.

Enjoy

 

Home Sweet Home is an endearing name and, as it happens, the beer has a wonderfully appealing appearance too: polished honey-golden highlights gloss over a soft, daffodil yellow base, while tiny bubbles flutter gently about. It's topped with a mousse-like head. All that's missing is a cherry on top.

This has an aroma you'd think was made in an Easy-Bake oven. Its vanilla cupcake and bubblegum perfume is the stuff pubescent girls douse themselves in and, frankly, brings back memories of junior-high dances. I'm a Boyz II Men track and an acne breakout away from a very palpable flashback.

Character can be hard to come by in American Pale Wheat Ales. This one has it, though it's almost of a dessert variety. The vanilla cupcake flavour and honeyed sweetness are starkly different from the typical punchy grapefruit notes and dry, spritzy carbonation. It's got more body too - it's hardy for the style.

Portuguese custard tart, honey-nut cereal, poached pear and french vanilla ice cream are great flavours but not what one looks for on a hot day (though there is a bit of a banana split element in there that does conjure summer). Again, this is not that kind of wheat beer.

Amongst 5 Paddles' adventurous lineup (over 100 distinct beers in two years) they say this has been their greatest hit - vanilla and bubblegum do appeal to many people. Those who count themselves among them can expect Home Sweet Home to provide the comfort and happiness its name suggests.

650 ml bomber served cold into a shaker pint glass. Thanks to Sara and Dash for this beer from Whitby.

Appearance - mostly clear coppery coloured beer with golden hues and a small half finger of white head that doesn't last long. The leaves behind no lacing but a small wisp of a head on top of the beer.

Smell - small nose, especially when cold. Notes of vanilla and honey vaguely come through as the beer warms.

Taste - some herbs and spices of front, coarse graininess with slight nutty flavours follow that up. Honey is definitely recognizable in this beer. Some vanilla thrown in for good measure, but isn't a dominant feature. Cracker goodness too like a delicious lager.

Mouthfeel - smooth, with a light body and carbonation is a little below average. Doesn't quite pop off the tongue like others in the style, but that actually adds to the drinkability as Home Sweet Home is more laid back than some of the highly spiced beers out there.

Overall - easy drinking, tasty, herbs and spices are there namely honey and some vanilla which gives the beer a graham cracker quality. Nothing I'm wowed by but really easy to drink and tasty.