Charles Wells / Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager
Eagle Brewery

Copenhagen 5/6 2018. 33 cl bottle from Meny, Østerfælled Torv, Kbh Ø. Drawing of very Tattooed fellow with a beard on the label.

Pours clear golden yellow with a medium-sized, bubbly, white head. Settles as a thin, transparent layer of foam barely covering the surface of the beer. Clinging to the side of the glass. Substantial lacing.

Aroma has prominent malty sweetness with sharper hoppy notes providing some balance. Grass and resin. Some herbal quality.

Medium strong carbonation. Thin, watery texture.

Flavor is lightly sweet followed by fairly strong bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter. Finish is dry.

A Lager with some bitterness and bite.

 

It seems that this came for The CANQuest (tm) courtesy of my local, in-person trader @tone77 at some point. My thanks for the hook-up! I am slowly, but surely, winnowing through my backlog. These might be crappy times, but at least I have a stash of beer.

From the CAN: "Tasting Note: This golden lager beer has a tangy, clean, extra smooth flavour. The dry hopping delivers a wonderful hop flavour, without being overly bitter, and adds to the rounded and irresistibly fresh aftertaste. Just the way Charlie liked it."; "Hops: Styrian Goldings, Galaxy, Ella[;] Malt: Pilsner Malt[;] IBU: 27"; "The Adventures of Charlie Wells [-] Charlie Wells had a most colourful past. Wilt a history as full and abundant as the beard on his chin, his life was often adventurous, occasionally mischievous but always ingenious. So grab a beer and discover what floated Charlie's boat, tickled his fancy and inspired him to embark on a beer-brewing voyage in his hometown of Bedford."; "The Soul of Beer [-] What gives a beer its soul? Is it the hops, the yeast, the malt or the quality of the water? According to Charlie Wells, barley gives beer its true soul. He experimented with different barley malts for years until he found the perfect flavour for his beer. Cheers for the barley, Charlie!"; "Since 1876 [-] Charlie Wells was an adventurer, a pioneer, a maverick. After two decades of exotic escapades at sea he came back to Bedford with a bang, splashing [BP] 16,700 on a brewery and thirty-two pubs at an auction. Not a bad day's work … "; "The Water [-] Charlie Wells never underestimated the importance of water in beer. He was so convinced by its impact, in 1902 he sank his own well in Bedford, where to this day this natural mineral water is drawn from an underground reservoir for all his beers."; "The Brewing Process [-] Brewed with 100% malt in the mash, we add Target hops to the boil for bitterness followed by a late addition of Styrian Goldings for aroma. Yeast is added to ferment the beer, but what makes this beer really special is the dry hopping, a two week cold conditioning stage with Australian Galaxy and Ella hops, which brings the depth of flavour."

Here was CANother wee 330-ml CAN to Crack open. I was happy to do so, followed by a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass.

Interestingly, I had a slight failure during the Crack! in that the tab failed to full engage to tongue inside the CAN. I have had bartenders serve me CANs this way & it defeats the purpose! The tongue needs to be pushed as far away from the vent as possible to allow for a solid Glug. Otherwise, you CAN get dribbling & other unwanted results. Perplexing!

My efforts resulted in the formation of two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, eggshell-white head with decent retention. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7). Nose had a lemony biscuitiness that put me in mind of an earlier German Pils! Mmm. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium. The taste was citrusy, more towards grapefruit than lemon & I was stunned. This was WAY better than I was expecting! Warming, there was a spiciness of black pepper and anise. Mmm. My apologies to Charlie, but the true soul of beer is/are the hops. That was certainly the case here. Finish was pleasantly dry & very refreshing, It sets me up for my next one - CANother Pilsner! YMMV.

Golden clear with white head and lace sticks
Smell is herbal with pils malt sweetness light peppery hop
Mild feel light bitter medium carbonation and semi dry finish
Taste is lightly fruity with subtle lemon zest and grassy hop qualities with cracker like malt in the semi bitter dry finish
Overall good but could be more aromatic perhaps the noble hops are subtle even in a dry hopped English lager

 

It pours golden and with a very nice and bubbly froth with good retention. The aroma is very mild and does not give away any signs of dry hopping or any hops presence at all. The taste is biscuit on the forefront and some caramel and honey. Very restrained bitterness. Decent carbonation and a medium mouthfeel.

 

 

 

Pours a clear medium golden yellow with moderate head resolving to thin lacing.
Smell is a mild sweet bready malt with a bit of citrus.
Taste is an excellent blend of sweet malt and citrus hops.
Earthy and smooth.

500 ml can served cold into a pint glass. Another LCBO purchase for under $3 CDN.

Appearance - Pours a rich golden color, plenty of bubbles, mostly transparent with the slightest bit of haze. A decently impressive and long lasting white head forms too. Lots of problems getting this out of the can, apparently it had been shaken some and made a bit of a mess.

Smell - Clean with some grainy notes and mineral-esque quality and some leafy aromas, the dry hopping coming into play clearly. The hops shine through with hints of lemon as well. A rather fragrant and inviting aroma.

Taste - Some of the sweetness is there that i find with many Euro Pale Lagers, but in front of that is the leafy hoppiness with lemon bits. Probably more American Pale Lager in terms of style with the dry hopping and increased leafiness, but given it's a European beer, the demarcation is correct.

Mouthfeel - Very fizzy, body is reasonably light, but beer is gassy on the whole. Otherwise very easy to drink with light feel and drying finish.

Overall - A rather enjoyable tipple that is easy to drink and the added dry hopping gives a much more leafy and robust flavor, avoiding the inevitable sweetness and graininess (and metallicness in some cases) that dominate in that style as done traditionally. Will likely enjoy this again.

A... CANNED beer, from the British Isles? For sale in America. Goodness gracious.

Pours a dark yellow with a large white head that's very retentive. Smells dense, sweet, and herbal. Nothing traditionally English here.

Tastes quite good. Opens with lemongrass and hay, moves into a cereal grain middle, mild hops in the finish. Very well-composed even if the flavor profile caught me completely off guard.

 

 

 

Poured from an 11.2 oz. can. Has a golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is hops, a bit of lemons. Taste is lemons, malts, hops are present throughout, bitter for the style. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a decent and easy drinking beer.

 

 

Review from BA Mag Issue #118 ( Nov 2016 )

Herbal, Floral, Clean, Aromatic
Not your usual industrial Euro Pale Lager, Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager is a crafty vision this ale brewer created that perhaps grabbed inspiration abroad. It certainly remembered its roots though, using English hops for bittering and drawing on Australian Galaxy and Ella hops for the rest of its character. A sessionable lager for sure, the level of hop flavor comes as a surprise. There is balance here with some graininess and earthiness from the mineral-loaded water used to brew this beer. This one’s a whole lot of fun to knock back. [Jason]

Look 4.00 | Smell 4.00 | Taste 4.00 | Feel 4.00 | Overall 4.00