One Five Five
August Schell Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

not a bad brew, but its crazy to me these guys can do that ultra impressive berliner series, and then come back with a beer like this, so safe and pedestrian, i cant imagine it gaining much traction with the craft beer community, although its rated far higher here than i would have guessed. a little haze to the watery brick red pour, but an explosive head on it, tons of tiny tan bubbles just keep coming. it smells and tastes very layered on the grain, which is its best feature. burnt toast and coffee notes are there, which seem like too dark of flavors and smells to come from a red beer, but here they are. not sure how they did that. the usual amber type flavor is there too, a little honey sweetness and caramelized sugar. a little citrus hops to the finish, but the whole thing seems a little underdone to me, watered down, suppressed or something. its hyper carbonated, which usually i like, but it makes this all move to fast, and its sort of vacuous in the finish as a result. its hard to really appreciate it being a lager too. overall a fine beer, maybe a little something different, but i dont think its anywhere near the quality level of that berliner series, and so i was a bit let down by this one...

Appearance.
Body : pours a nice carrot-copper color with 60% opacity.
Head : forms 3 fingers, with a shade of off-white and popcorn. Stability is good, leaving lace in flecks.

Smell.
Initial : wet, hoppy aromas out front, met with equal strength of roasted malts and a touch of fresh barley.
With Agitation : More of the same, with some addition of squashed tomato.

Taste.
Out front : Mineral spirits, soft stabs of pine, and citrus bursts all collide at the tip.
From behind : The roast malt character invades and really completes the picture. Flavors of coffee and orange fade politely on the finish.

Feel.
Super carbonated, exquisitely creamy. Nice parch on the finish.

Overall, this is a knockout amber. I'd say it's better than its sister Grain Belt Nordeast. Not quite as smooth, but craftier and heftier. A very relaxing, solid amber lager. Love it.

 

 

 

 

Poured out a burgundy color with a sudsy, white head. It smelled of piney hops and sweet caramel malt. It tasted of pine, citrus and sweet caramel. It was crisp and smooth.

 

Pours from the bottle a clear, light brick red with a creamy off-white head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass.
The aroma is biscuit and fruity yeast with a hint of caramel.
Taste is a nice combination of bread, toffee and crisp citrus with a nice spicy and bittering finish. As it warms, there's even a hint of chocolate on my palate.
Mouthfeel is medium and smooth.

 

Bottled 121015 (Obviously they put the date then month, as I bought it almost a week ago)::

Pours orange hued amber with a foamy head that leaves thin lacing.

The smell is of lightly toasted grain with a spicy hop touch.

The taste is of sweet caramelized grain balanced by herbal fruity (lemony) spicy hops in the clean finish.

It is very smooth.

A pleasant, well-balanced, easy drinking amber lager!