Sleeman Clear 2.0 Pineapple
Sleeman Breweries Ltd.

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; coded Apr 9 2023 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a crystal clear pale golden colour, briefly supporting half an inch of tight, foamy white head that melts away within ninety seconds or so. A tight collar of creamy suds holds together for much longer, producing a small amount of lace as the level drops. It smells like fake pineapple flavouring, with maybe a twinge of cereal graininess.

It's very watery, but that's for the best, because the pineapple flavouring is almost immediately tiresome. There is almost nothing else discernible - maybe a wisp of cereal grains here and there, with mineral water in the finish and aftertaste. Watered-down pineapple flavouring loiters into the aftertaste longer than I care for. Thin, watery body with lots of carbonation, giving it a prickly, seltzer-like mouthfeel that I don't mind, mostly because it helps scrub away the pineapple after each sip. A little bloaty for a light beer, but otherwise drinkable.

Final Grade: 2.8, a crummy C grade. I didn't really care for Sleeman Clear 2.0 Pineapple. Of course, I've never liked Clear, going all the way back to v1.0 - it's Beyond Light beer: a beer that has had its very essence filtrated out, leaving a sterile, fizzy husk. Its only real advantage, beyond those it shares with any cold beverage, is its lack of calories. I understand that light beer can be bland, but even Coors/Bud Light manage to taste like something more than carbonated water. Rant over. Pineapple is the worst Clear variant I've come across so far, and I'd honestly rather be drinking any half-decent non-alcoholic beer.

Aug 5 2023