Grain Belt Premium

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

Thanks to Wawood for the awesome trade that we recently accomplished.

Man, I may have picked the wrong beer to follow that Christoffel Blond, althought it’s not that bad! A gleaming golden crystal body with a wispy white head. Notes of adjuncts are upfront, but that’s not always bad…. You like sausage don’t you? I find hints of sweet buttered corn added on to the light grainy flavor. Something reminds me of Twinkies, sweet vanilla grains. I’d drink this over many of the beers I find on tap around town.

This my Dad’s beer, always a few cases in the house, the fridge well stocked, no other beer would do. They even ordered it special for him at the local watering hole, though I still can’t figure out how no-one else in the Anoka VFW Hall shared his taste. I remember sitting at the bar with him, as a kid, while he drank it. Those were the days, eh? I never liked it, and it’s ominpresence in the household was part of the reason I never drank beer until I was about 22. When all that surrounded me was Miller, Leinenkugel’s, and Grain Belt, and they all smelled bad, I just stayed away. Years later, I discovered imported ales and craft brew micros...now that I was drinking beer, I decided to try Dad’s beer, and figure out why he liked it. I still didn’t like, and couldn’t figure out why he found it so satisfying. But, that’s the kind of man he was, he stuck with what he knew, and never went too far from his comfort zone. Time to revisit it again, especially since I hear it’s a better beer, under Schell’s hand... Transparent, pale yellow appearance, huge, fluffy white cap atop, active. bubbling carbonation. Smells sweeter than i remember, less sickly. Very grainy, rather spare and thin, but not at all unpleasant. The typical average American lager aroma. Taste: wet. and empty, ..but not bad. Really, I think it’s been over a decade since I last poured one of these down my throat, and it was an unhappy experience. That was under the Minnesota Brewing Company, who weren’t looking to make a quality product at the time. Schell seems to have re-created GB, "the friendly beer", as a smooth, untroubling, and, let us not forget, cheap lager that actually doesn’t taste bad. Finishes rather sweetly, slides leisurely off the palate. Very light in body, a bit too watery for my tastes, and extremely lean on flavor. But, it does what it needs to, for the style and satisfies it’s target market. Got to hand it to the guys at August Schell for keeping Minnesota brewing history going, and putting out a decent brew at the same time. This one’s for you, Dad. If it’s true that "in Heaven there is no beer", no offense, but I hope you’re in a better place than that....

A good beer for the taste. Easy on the bank roll. Has a light gold color with a white head. I think the alcohol content is 4.4% not 3.2% unless you bought it at a gas station.

A great Minnesotan beer...will always remain a legend with beer fans, Has a great taste and apperence

Used to be all i would drink until i found Old Style. Had a few bad batches of the stuff though that really turned me off to it. I dunno if there was bad seals on the bottles or just lack of carbonation, but tasted like pure syrup on those occasions, and actually had to throw it out! the horror!!!

A great beer from Minnesota. A tradition of Nord East Minneapolis (thats how its pronounced). A light and crisp taste...best enjoyed from the tap!

Crystal clear, golden, white head. Head quickly fades to a thin sheet. A little darker than the American Macrolagers. A bit of an apple aroma, with some hops in there. About as average a "beer" flavor as it gets. Not too bad for a pale lager. I’d drink this everyday if i could get it. Thanks lady friend.

While this beer wasn’t bad, it didn’t have any distinguishable qualities. It was light in colour, thin in body, and had little aroma. About the only thing it has going for it is the fact you can pound them donw pretty quickly. It might be a good thirst quencher in the summer, though.