Lakeside British Ale
Coeur d'Alene Brewing Co.

On tap at the brewpub in Coeur d'Alene in August 2009. Couldn't put this review in with the rest of my backlog earlier, as this place was listed as closed for a period of time.

Pours a moderate bronze-copper color with a short head and a bit of lacing. The nose brings a bit of light caramel and toffee. The flavor is about the same. Nothing too terrible here, it's just quite, quite plain. Feel is a bit thin. Not a terrible beer, but no real reason to drink it other than the fact it was sitting in front of me.

Had at the brewery's Moscow alehouse.

Appears dark brown with a small brown head.

It smells slightly smoky slightly sweet and caramel like.

It tastes much like the smell smoky and sweet there is a bit of caramel as well. This is not a complex beer but it goes down smooth and has nice flavors. This is the kind of beer you could drinks few of without thinking about it.

The carbonation is good it's around medium. The beer also has creaminess to it.

The drinkability is quite good. As I said before I could drink a few of these without thinking about it.

Overall a nice beer. Probably my favorite from the brewery.

Appearance-It has nice copper maybe mahogany color with a good red hue when held to the light. A good bit of carbonation but that made for good head and lace.

Smell- It had a nice smoky but candy like aroma.

Taste- This beer had a complex variety of flavors that all complimented each other with out doing each other. All these flavors are present, smoky malt, toffee, chocolate, caramel dried fruit and even some spicy hop tones.

Mouthfeel-It is a medium bodied beer with a little bit carbonation to it.

Drinkability- It is a good meal beer or even a sipper.

I was served a three ounce sample at the Alehouse in Moscow, ID.

A: It poured a bright copper color with a moderate head supported by aggressive carbonation.

S: Diluted chocolate malts, smoky earthy hops and a dark bread yeasty aroma.

T: It had a nice toasted malt front that was semi-sweet. The back was dominated by a citrusy backside that provided a decent balance and a level of complexity not found in other beers from this brewery.

M: Thin watery body with a smooth front followed by a tangy biting bitter back and a clean aftertaste.

D: This is an easy beer to drink. It is not thick and it is reasonably complex and balanced.

Pours a deep reddish amber color with a small flourish of a creamy tan head that quickly disappears. Aroma of fairly sweet caramel and pale malts that produce notes of biscuit and light fruit. Palate is fairly sweet all the way through, with more than a hint of fruit and berry lingering just in the background. A bit watery for an English ale, I usually like more of a bready character in this style. Not one to bother with if you're a hophead, but it's a decent pub ale. I imagine this would be pretty damn decent from a cask.

Had this hand drawn pint at the Steam Plant Grill in Spokane. It was just a bit cold for a cask but quickly warmed up.
Medium brown revealed ruby when held up to a light. Tan creamy head with lace to the bottom of the glass. More malt than hop aroma. I liked the balance hop/malt, started out malty finishing more on the hop side. Crisp light body. I would have had another but wanted to try the Vanilla bourbon stout.

I picked up a six pack of Lakeside British Ale at the brewpub while on a three-day two-night trailer trip in North Idaho. I poured this beer in to a pint tumbler.

Pours a dark walnut brown color, and is clear with red hues when held up to the light. A one-finger tan head forms and is gone quickly leaving little lacing.

The smell is sweet with a bit of smoky caramel or molasses aroma.

The taste is a fairly neutral, not sweet not bitter. There is a flavor of roasted grain and mild chocolate. There is also a bit of an earthy flavor and texture, like paper or wood pulp.

The mouth feel is smooth, mellow and dry. The beer is moderately carbonated.

This is a very drinkable beer. I don’t know much about the style, but this is a nice tasting British brown ale, with a full flavor and a dry finish. I would have a Lakeside again.

This is a decent brown ale, purchased at Huckleberry's in Spokane. I had this about 1 1/2 yrs ago at the Steam Plant Grill, during a friend's roving batchelor party. My impressions weren't too clear, but I recalled liking it, so I purchased this bottle to re-try it. It poured a dark brown, almost black, with a moderate sized slightly off-white head. While its head disappeared after a couple of minutes, it retained a certain foamyness for the duration. The aroma was of nutty and caramelly malts. The hops are rather subdued in this one, like most brown ales. Very drinkable. Not a terribly complex brew, but it is nice to drink, so long as one is not looking for anything earthshattering.

Brownnish red color, small white foamy head. Aroma is nutty and sweet. A medium bodied, milder tasting brown ale. Malts are slightly roasted and somewhat sweet. Hops are slightly spciy. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

On the pour a beauteous deep amber color, the head purposeful in size, consistency frothy with oodles of fine lace that clings to the glass. The malt, dominates the nose with hints of caramel, sweet and inviting. Top is lean, the finish is pertinently hopped, and carbonation suitable, the aftertaste long lasting and dry.

Amber/copper color, light-moderate carbonation, head didn't last, some bite from the hops but not bad. The ABV is 5.3%.

Heavy caramel and butterscotch aromas with some roasted malts too. The flavor is way out of whack. There's a certain bitterness that's not a hop bitterness that ruins what could be a decent beer. It's been described here as detergent or acetaldehyde(?), I call it a party pooper. This could be a case where a brewer didn't know how to handle that finiky Ringwood yeast.

Dark reddish - brown hue, but very clear. Poorly retained head. Perhaps this batch didn't travel (or brew) well, but there is an almost overbearing green apple acetaldehyde in the aroma. Green apple and wet sweat sock Kent Goldings hop nose do not combine well. It masks any noteable malt notes... quite dissapointing and unappetizing. Acetaldehyde hits the palette at first, but thankfully mild biscuit malt flavors follow. Hop bitterness does manage to assert itself, but unfortunately that offputting and overbearing acetaldehyde masks what may have been a decent brew. I'm assuming I got a bad batch-- I don't remember this being this lousy. If you like granny smith apples in your brew this is the beer for you.

Presentation: 12 oz brown long neck bottle, no freshness date to be found. Thin layer of sediment on the bottom of the bottle.

Appearance: Deep brown colour with dulled crimson hues, decent clarity for an unfiltered bottled beer. Thin light tan lace stays around for a good while after a three fingered head forms from an active carbonation.

Smell: Semi-coarse chocolate malt aroma, wood and earth from the hops and a lingering yeasty nose leave a peculiar though pretty appetizing aroma.

Taste: Extremely smooth after a hard pouring, semi high carbonation level in the bottle though it did not even think about gushing. Even medium malty body to sustain this beer through the after taste. Malt palate is complex with a sweet to acidic to dry path. Sweet from the mild chocolate, acidic from the roasted malts and dry for the husk like astringency. Mild yeasty flavour throughout. Hops are at a perfect level of bitterness though the flavour doubles the twang from the roasted malt to bring things crashing in the finish. Some where hidden in the finish is a lingering bread crust maltiness which leaves the mouth waiting for another sip.

Notes: A brown ale in the raw, good stuff … it gets a hell of a lot better when it reaches cellar temp.