Bells Oberon Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Wheat Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

The sun shines bright in Kalamazoo, MI. The Kalamazoo Brewing Company, is legendary among beer gurus for their big, bold, robust, and flavorful Bell’s beers. Why would their summer seasonal, Oberon be any different. Oberon Ale is a very, crisp, tart, and refreshing wheat beer. It is available until September, so if in your area, get some before it is all gone. Wheat beers are great in the summer, but they can be enjoyed in the cooler weather as well. Fall is a great time for wheat beers, summer has ended, but you might get a day where the sun will shine a little brighter than normal, and raise those temperatures. It beckons Oberon. Oberon answers the call and then some, this is Bell’s biggest selling beer. Oberon pours to an beautiful deep golden, murky, color. All of Bell’s beers are unpasturized, and unfiltered. This beer is quite hazy, with a lively carbonation, and a nice, thick, white head. The nose on this beer is very "wheaty". Grainy wheat aromas marry with grassy hop aroma. Oberon is hopped with Saaz hops. The palate is very firm, crisp, and grainy. Imported Belgian malted wheat is used, and this gives this beer a very tart, slightly sour edge. Oberon finishes with more of that tart wheat character, and grassy hop bitterness. This is a great American wheat beer, a perfect summer refresher, and a nice beer to have on a hot fall day. Be careful with this beer, it is very drinkable, and its 6% abv does not show. I would pair this beer with roasted chicken, or grilled fish.

This beer and Southern Tier’s Pumking should never be consumed within half an hour of each other. Take it from someone who knows.

Very good beer! Hazy yellow with spicy hop flavor. Slightly sweet with refreshing finish.

Not a huge fan of wheats, but there’s something to this one for sure! (could it be flavor?) Anyhow, pours a cloudy yellow-gold with a full fluffy head with some significant staying power. I smell grapefruit and wheat with a hint of flowers. This foams up nicely for a session style, but there’s a touch too much CO2 for my tastes. there also seems to be something gritty to this beer. The flavor is powering, not just by wheat standards. Plenty of spicey hops, tasting more like a fresh pilsner at first. Then the grainy wheat becomes apparent. I’m getting lots of fruity citrus and flowers here for sure as well as some peppery spice. This is a pretty nifty summertime beer for sure. Refreshing with a nice lingering grapefruit like bitterness.

12oz bottle, batch 8546. Pours clear golden, with a slight orange hue, capped with a small white head. Aroma of wheat, melon, honey, euro hops and spice. Flavor is wheat, cereal grain, melon, clove, and citrus. Spice and wheat hang around for a long finish. Medium bodied and very drinkable.

Hazy gold in color with little head or carbonation. Grass and straw, along with some rough wheaty banana. A minor hop presence with a decent-length finish. Not a quenching wheat, a little dry in fact. Some peppercorn spicing. Lots of grain flavors. I have a feeling this is much better straight from the tap.

First batch of 2006. Really malt dominated. Grassy hops and malt dominate the aroma. Come to think about this beer really reminds me of Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold.

almost no aroma at all. extremely flavorful for an american wheat. very good. a little bitterness. reddish, clear. boy my notes for that one sucked, eh. RERATE. what the fuck was i talking about with my first rating? it’s not clear, it’s a wheat and it’s totally opaque orange. it’s a beautiful beer, though the head was uglyish. 2 fingers or so worth. my friend got a quarter barrel of this. so good. orange (blasphemy) actually complemented it quite well.