Grain Belt Premium

Brewed by August Schell Brewing Company
Style: Pale Lager
New Ulm, Minnesota USA

Bottle. Subdued, fruity aroma, not like that from a typical American macro brew. Cloudy, hazy, very pale gold in appearance with small black suspended specks, which was a bit disturbing because I expected the liquid to be clear. The flavor is fruity and slightly grassy, but with a noticeable hop bitterness in the foretaste. Similar in taste to a Dortmunder. Light body. Leaves a slightly unpleasant bitter taste in the mouth, but still drinkable. Overall, I don’t have much to say about this beer. It’s not awful for what it is, but it’s definitely not good. Still, I’d take it over a Budweiser or an MGD any day, and, let’s face it, at a lot of Minnesota dive bars those are the real alternatives. I should note that the bottle I tested has been in the back of my fridge probably for a year at least, so it’s not necessarily the best example. I’ll try to update my rating the next time I try it, probably on tap, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I raise it a couple tenths of a point on the re-rate. <P>Re-rate 11/26/2006: I tried another bottle of this at a party last night. I am now convinced that, probably due to age, the example that I originally rated was a bad one and not fairly representative of the beer. The sample I had last night did not have the appearance problems that the original sample I rated did, so I raised the appearance from a 1 to a 2. Also, it lacked the unpleasant aftertaste, so I raised the palate from a 2 to a 3. Because of the absence of the nastiness in the latter sample, I raised my overall impression from a 5 to an 8. Thus, my total score increases from a 1.8 to a 2.3.

If Gatorade made a beer flavor it would taste like this. I can’t disassociate this beer from uber-fond memories I have of the Twin Cities, so i think it’s great. For the price it’s great, but I wish the can were more readily avaliable. I mean, it has such a terrible color you’d think it’d be a no-brainer...

My father and law said you’ll pay for drinking this beer for days. I thought it couldn’t be that bad. I woke up at 2 am and had to hold on to the toilet for a half hour. Besides that you can’t go wrong.

Very pale color, and not much of a head or aroma. Balanced malt and hop flavors. Just a tad bit watery. Funny, it’s brewed by August Schell, yet it happens to be better than the brewery’s own "Original" lager.

Surprisingly not bad. No "off" flavors and nice and clean. I mean, when i rate a pale lager, I’m usually more impressed by what’s nor wrong with it, as opposed to what it actually is, and this isn’t bad. Thanks to JK for the trade.

Scent is sweet corn and citrus. Pee yellow. Flavor is kind of minty, with more of the citrus and a slight hop bitterness. The mintiness makes the finish more interesting than other swill beers.

Bottle to pounder (shaker). Pours out a gold colour with a nice foamy white head. Scent is grainy and yeasty. Taste is malty followed quickly by grainy. Dry. Palate is corn syrup.

12 oz bottle. Clear golden color with thin white head and only minimal lace. Light and fruity aroma, like pears and weak citrusy hops. Tastes of delicate biscuity malt with a touch of corn syrup and honey. Slightly sweet throughout. Uninspiring.