Genesee Cream Ale

Brewed by High Falls Brewing Company
Style: Cream Ale
Rochester, New York USA

Bottle. Poured pale yellow gold with fast disappearing white head. Malty aroma. Thin watery body with a little malty taste. Almost no finish. This is another of those beers that I remember as being better than it is.

Good example of what a traditional English ale yeast can provide in the way of fruits (currants, especially) in a light bodied, otherwise fairly neutral substrate. Some malt in aroma and taste, with hops supporting both. Sometimes a blast of DMS, at other times a more pleasant whiff. Highly drinkable, but with more character than most other fizzy mass-market beers. Seems to be at its best a little warmer than ice-cold. Don’t sell this beer short.

This is a fine example of an older style Cream Ale.The style as a whole does not seem to get credit these days for its "simple" yet fine qualities. Genesee Cream pours a nice golden color with a small pure white lacy head. It has a nice mellow aroma of sweet malt and honey. The flavors are a clean and subdued sweetness with a hint of cream soda in the background. This beer is nice and refreshing when drunk cold and leaves a wonderful malty aftertaste. This is not your typical "macro" ale.

12 oz. twist off bottle, no freshness date, sampled in a pint glass. Crystal clear bright light golden in color, small white fluffy head, decent retention, slowly settled into a thin sudsy lacing, no sticking. A nose of citrus and fusel alcohol with a backing of grain and lager-like sweet pale malts. Herbal scents mix with the alcohol also, but not enough to overcome the fusel smell. Active carbonation and a firm light body, the carbonation cuts down on the smooth creaminess, prickly in the palate. Crisp and dry tasting, the malts have a lager-like sweetness along with a rough graininess. Touches of lemony corn too. Citric and herbal hops that finish with a cleansing spiciness. The fizzy carbonation made this a bit rough to drink. I also miss the lemony vanilla flavor that a good cream ale possess. In many ways this also reminded me of a Little Kings cream ale.

From time to time I’ll scan the cooler at the local beer store to see if there is anything I haven’t sampled. Usually I end up with something like this and it’s partner in crime, Genesee Beer. Both are poor excuses for anything drinkable. Looks, smells, and tastes like the worst of macrobrewery offerings. Avoid at all costs.

From the can. Pours a golden yellow with a substantial creamy puffy white head that fades after a moment. Lots of carbonation. Aroma has a hint of hops but also, unfortunately, metal. Bubbly in the mouth and both watery and smooth going down. Not a terrible brew and an adequate one for the price ($2.95 a six).

(tap @ brews in the village)light yellow in color with a thin lager like taste and aroma.....

Draft at Brews in the Village; (one guy I know claimed it was the best beer here, I strongly disagree); Nose of vanilla and caramel; clear gold with a small white head; flavor was sweet caramel cream and only a minor hop presence in the background. Too sweet!