Schell's Deer Brand
August Schell Brewing Company

 

Slightly hazed bright pale gold, with a slight pull white head, no lacing. Seems tough to rate an AAL to style, since in terms of flavor profiles, there isn’t all that much variation — all in all, I think this is very well made, it’s wet and refreshing, with a nice balance of starchy corn notes and sweet grainy malt, and a light kiss of floral hops…some mineral notes, too. I can’t pick much up from the yeast. Fairly smooth and almost creamy (for the style, maybe it’s the corn). Nice moderate but lively bitterness at the edges. There is a little almost metallic aftertaste, but it doesn’t bother me.

This is from the 3rd tall boy of a 4-pack, purchased from 44th and France for $6. No complaints.

12oz can. Stamped on can bottom is '060323'.
Clear, Pale gold colored body. Brief one finger white head. Keeps a very thin ring fed by rising bubbles. No lacing.
Aroma of malt, corn, and floral hops.
Taste is slightly fruity, with corn, honey, and floral hops. Bit of sulfur. Brief aftertaste.
Medium mouth feel. Feels very wet. Crisp and clean finish. Good carbonation.
Easy drinking without being too sweet. Slight bite. Quite full of flavor for the style.

Appearance: Pours a completely clear, light golden color with a strong white head that is pillowy and lingers. SRM of 7. (4.00)

Aroma: Relatively strong aromas of pale malts, corn adjuncts, mildly sweet with hints of yeast. (3.50)

Flavor: Moderate flavors of pale malts and corn sweetness upfront. Some mild breadiness in the middle, but then gets enveloped by more corn flavors and finishes with faint yeast and a mild corn/adjunct sweetness. (3.50)

Feel: Medium-bodied, lower than expected carbonation. Mildly sweet. (3.25)

Overall: A decent adjunct lager. Corn adjuncts are appreciable. No bitterness, but not really sweet either. Low carbonation and pretty standard for an AAL, but I think I've had better. The "Pre-Prohibition" tag doesn't add much here. Very nice can art though. (3.51)

Drank from a 16 ounce can. Scores are based on the style.

Look - Oh boy, this can. Stellar, beautiful, perfect, a work of art. The colors, the fonts, the logo. This is beer.

Smell - Gorgeous concoction of malt, corn, and some indistinct herbaceous matter. Intoxicatingly fragrant, incredibly inviting, absolutely fantastic greeting for this one. Really gets the mouth watering.

Taste - Boggles the mind. My brain is scrambled. This beer is too good. Perfectly balanced, perfectly amplified, perfectly presented. A mystical allure unlike any other. Quite possibly the best AAL I've ever tasted, and I've never seen it mentioned anywhere before now.

Feel - Somewhat chewy, if that makes sense. A bouncy mouthfeel. On the verge of too much carbonation. Its thickness keeps you from drinking it too quickly, and I could see it being a bit exhausting as a session beer, but as a single or double dose, it's wonderful.

Overall - This beer crushes it. Nearly flawless, more people need to know about this one. An incredibly appropriate companion for watching The Last Waltz, something about this beer fits right in with Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan.

From a can:
This beer is very clear looking, and light golden in color. It looks like there's a tornado of carbonation rising in the glass that produces a 1 finger white head. The head has small bubbles and looks frothy. There's almost no lacing on the glass.
Very slight grain/biscuit nose. Not much else to report.
This is a malty beer. Up front is is the grain biscuit flavor. This turns a bit sweet, but not too sweet on the back with a honey flavor.
The carbonation really shows up in the body - this is a very bubbly feeling beer. The bubbles tickle my tongue, and my throat. The body is light, though the back seems thicker than the front.
If you're expecting a top notch (insert style here) beer, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for a well made AAL, well, I'd say you're in luck. This is good for what it is.

This is my idealized version of the "70s Dad" beer. That means something like this was probably the best beer available to my Dad. I'm not gonna do "tasting notes" and all that bullshit, because this is simply not that kind of beer. It's just a damn solid lager. On a scale of 1 to 100, I give it a solid 85!

 

Tastes like Miller genuine draft. Corn heavy. Sickly sweet and a wicked hangover. Confirm.

 

 

 

Feels full bodied. A little corn and bitterness stands out. Overall flavor is not very good and I don't know how else to put it. Sometimes a beer grows on me with repeated drinking, but I'm nearly finished with a case and it's not happening this time.

This is a very good lager. I’ve tasted a lot of beer and have gravitated back to lagers as my preferred beer to drink. This is one of my preferred lagers. In the realm of Traditional American Lagers this is certainly a cut above. It’s crisp, easy drinking and has a really nice grassy, bitterness that I love. So often AAL’s are too sweet and thin...this has a more noble character. A perfect working beer, fishing beer, snow shoveling beer. IMO the definitive beer of the north!

 

 

Look: Very dark gold. Two fingers of foamy white head with decent retention.

Smell: Sweet adjunct malt with a light spicy, peppery note.

Taste: Mild, bready adjunct malt with light bitterness. No real hop flavor.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and full body with good carbonation.

Overall: A slightly stronger taste than most macrobrews, but still quite sweet and corny.

 

Pale yellow. Each sip leaves some lace and a thin collar of foam. Sweet nose of corn and malt. Crisp and balanced. Clean, cracker-like malt with a dryness perhaps from corn. Pleasing touch of bitterness in the finish. This is an exceptionally drinkable pre-prohibition style lager. More of a hop bite than I expected from this beer (I expected very little or no hop bitterness.)

Pours crystal clear watery light yellow. Small white cap, Aroma is light corn and bread. Flavor follows the nose with more hop bite in the finish than was expected from the nose. Feel is light and crisp. Overall a decent beer for a hot day.