Sleeman Clear

I spent A few days in Toronto, Ontario, Canada last month. Specifically March 13-15. What did I do? Well, I drank beer. Lots of it actually.  Well I guess that's not all I did. I made A few great friends too. Yeah, that actually never happens. It did though, I swear... Anyways, over the next many posts I plan on reviewing all of the my libations.

Lets get started.

Sleeman Clear
Sleeman Brewing and Malting Company
Guelph, Ontario
"Light Lager"
4% ABV

Look: Right off the bat you can see the beer.  It comes in A clear bottle, it's impossible not to be able to. It's A very light, "corny" yellow color.  Poured almost no head at all. What did form was about an inch and A half of a rocky, bubbly head.  A sad looking beer.

Smell: Very grainy.  Before I even got close to it, I could smell fresh cut grains and heaps of corn.  Underlying all of that is A musty hint of some old apples and maybe some rusting metal.  I am not detecting anything too discernible except for maybe the corn and the metal.

Borrowed photo from Libres-Penseurs. I neglected to take A photo for some reason.

Taste: Yep, it's A light beer. The first taste I get is actually the non-existent taste. A crisp, watery, drink.  Some light hints of corn and sweet apple linger throughout the entirety. Maybe the faintest taste of some hops.  Surprisingly the beer wasn't skunked because of the clear bottle. I guess you need to actually have hops in the beer for it to skunk though. All in all, it doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't really taste like anything.  It sort of reminds me of Coors light with that hint of fruity banana or apple flavor.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation doesn't sting as much as I thought it may have for A beer like this.  Medium carbonation. Very smooth and easy to put down, especially on A hot day.

Overall:  It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's also not the best.  It's A light beer.  Primarily water.  I can't say that it didn't go down really good after walking around Toronto all day. I'll give it that.

Sleeman Clear gets A 2/5 from me.  I'd drink it again if the circumstance are right.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

I've had my share of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bottles before and it has grown easily to be one of my all time favorite beers.

I absolutely love the bottle save for a few things. We will start with those. The bottle doesn't really give any background information about the beer or any statistics, or anything. It does however state:

"Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a completely natural ale. There are no additives; only the finest malted barley, whole hops, brewers yeast, and crystal-clear water. The fine layer of yeast in each bottle is a result of the traditional bottle-conditioning process that produces carbonation naturally."

It's obvious from this and the website that Sierra Nevada puts great pride in the brews they produce. They should rightfully so.

I consumed the pale ale from a tulip glass out of a 24 Fl.oz bottle. I picked the bottle up at my local Giant Eagle for around $3.49 The beer comes in at 5.9% abv and 37 IBUs.

Look: Light amber, golden hue. The ale pours a medium 1 and a half finger length head. Very small bubbles begin bubbling to the top. Not too many though actually. I only observed around 10 or so bubbles a minute. This ale leaves behind a lot of beautiful, sticky lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Very citrus like hops. A bit floral with

some big pine notes as well. Some sweet malt shows its presence. Sort of like a light honey or caramel smell, maybe some light brown sugar in there too.

Taste: Very nicely hopped. I'm a huge hop head like I have said before and this beer really hits the spot. Fairly moderate pineyness offsets just a bit of a floral twang. Some caramel and honey sweetness slides across the tongue just before you swallow which leads to another piney note from the hops. Very balanced beer.

Mouthfeel: Mildly carbonated. The label says that it's bottle conditioned so that means that the carbonation is naturally produced by the yeast that is left in the bottles. Medium body to the ale that seems to fit in perfectly with the other attributes. The beer finishes off a bit on the dry side, but in my opinion, this is just how a pale ale should be.

Overall: This is a fantastic beer. Easily one of my favorites. However, this is by no means a hopsplosion, or a hop bomb. If you are looking for something much bitter or stronger, this isn't the ale for you. I however really enjoy this ale and how well balanced it is. I'll give Sierra Nevada Pale Ale a 4/5.

Cheers!