Brick Lager Yellow Label
Waterloo Brewing

A: Crystal clear, slightly yellow; fizzy white head, no retention, but it seems to try and cling to the glass (lace).

S: Very faint aroma, slightly bready, with a very slight hint of fresh, grassy hops.

T: Very light on the hop flavour (slightly clean/soapy). Slightly sweet up front, crisp bitterness in the finish. Nicely balanced. A little buttery, but not offensive.

M: Light body, carbonation slightly higher than moderate.

D: Very drinkable (when it's cold).

Thanks Len!

This used to only be available around here as a case of 12, but recently is on the shelves in 6's. The major difference here being that instead of being bottled in brown stubbies it now comes in a clear long neck bottle. Perhaps because this may be from the joint Big Rock production line for out West sales. I sampled it before from the stubbies brewed out East and wasn't impressed. Yet my review comes down to this version.

The clear bottle is a bad choice right from the start, it highlights and shows off how painfully pale yellow this beer is, like washed out limp straw. Just as bad when poured into a glass, with almost no head retention, just a bit of fizz and the remnants of a ring that cradles the outskirts of the glass. The nose is sour and cidery, a little bit of veggies as well. Sour grains and cooked veggies for the flavour, with lingering cider notes as well. This is supposedly a fresh pack, yet there is no production date or best before on the box or the labels to confirm this for me. The mouthfeel is overly carbonated, it almost gets stuck in my throat rather than letting the beer go down smoothly. Overcompensation for its watery nature. I couldn't recommend this beer to anybody in good faith, and can't see myself buying any more. It's even more disappointing than the Waterloo Dark.

Why brew this. They are talking to the press and financial community about producing higher margin premium beers, talk their share price up. On the other side is the cheapest beer around, like the PC brews, and this. Pale yellow with some bubbles. Initial sip quenches in early summer, then metallic drying kicks in. Too carbonated.

This stuff flows like tap water in KW (Kitchener-Waterloo). University pubs have made this brew a staple in bottle and keg. I thought I was immune to it but after a long lay-off, I can do a reassessment with a clean palate. I cracked a Brick "yellow label" today at a friend's and yup....it's the same. Pours a pale amber, no head to speak of, pleasant malt smell, little else. Smooth start, pleasant light malt on the tongue and a smooth finish with a slight hop aftertaste...this for all intent and purpose, is draught lager. I'm sure it's not marketed as such because that horse has been whipped to death, but this is draught. Sorry, that’s how it comes off. It's also why so much of this stuff gets quaffed in pubs and patio parties.

Ohhh...this is very nice, extremely smooth going down and well balanced...must get some more of these...
Medium golden colour with a flowing crown of glory that disapates to a heavy glass cling that incorporates the entire glass, and a thick island lace...body is medium full...my compliments to Brick..
I will continue to monitor your product...

A straightforward North American lager - mild, sweet malt with a balanced finish. A little light in the hops department, but I understand this is intended as a less hopped version of the brewery's premium lager, so I'll let it slide. Easy drinking and smooth. Added style points for recent re-packaging in a stubby bottle.

The latest addition to the Brick stable, Yellow is notable primarily for the delivery vehicle: the classic Canadian "stubby" bottle.

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I was a kid (twenty-five years ago), all Canadian beers came in the six-inch-high stubby. Bar none; they all came in exactly the same bottle. The revolution was the Canadian industry's adoption of the US-style long-neck bottle.

The long-necks flew off the shelves, and in typical Canadian style, there was soon no stubby. Twenty-some-odd years passed, and in April 2002, Brick re-introduced the stubby by bringing back an old Canadian favourite: Red Cap. They followed, just recently, with a "stubbified" Brick Lager Yellow Label.

Oh, the beer? Well, I was getting to that. Brick says it's a "new easy-drinking beer that is a mildly-hopped version of our popular Brick Premium Lager". And that pretty well describes it.

Yellow is light in colour, light in nose, but surprisingly creamy at first taste -- one wonders if Brick has borrowed from its parent Sleeman's Cream Ale for this note. Another thing it is, though, is *very* drinkable; this is a beer for chewing and swallowing, a beer that one never seems to tire of (or one, at least, that this one never tired of last night ;-)

All things considered, a very fine beer that comes in a cute bottle with an adorable, low-and-wide, corrugated cardboard case.

And an ugly label.

http://www.brickbeer.com/