Grays Honey Ale

Brewed by Grays Brewing Company
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Janesville, Wisconsin USA

"...the Honey Ale is truely one of the most interesting and unique craft beers available today." So reads the commercial description. What I had was a pale yellow beer with a frothy head that rapidly degenerated into a scummy coating. Nice lacing. But it smelled of canned corn with weak honey poured on. Tasted slightly better, a sweetened malt flavor with a light herbal hopping. Crisp finish. Done.

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Pours a clear bright golden with a thin covering of wispy white head. Slightly earthy, grassy, and mild pale malty aroma has a hint of floral honey. Body starts with an airy carbonation, giving way to some cardboard and a fairly bland, bittersweet body with lots of buttery diacetyl character. Finishes thin and watery, with very little lingering flavor (thank goodness). I’ll admit this is definitely not one of my favorite styles, but this beer could be done a lot better than it is.

Bottle. Nothing in this ale really stood out. The look was great with alot of activity happening. Flavor is almost too bitter and reminds me of a pale lager taste. The honey wasn’t present too much.

Insubstantial in every catagory. Inoffensive is about as strong a positive spin I can put on this brew. Light honey sweetness with touches of apples and pears. Some light grassiness. No hop profile as far as i can detect.

12-ounce bottle. Pours gold with a medium-sized, short-lived white head. There’s almost nothing going on here--neutral aroma, and essentially a flavorless body. Well balanced carbonation; not fizzy or raw.

Very clear medium gold body with a thin white head. The aroma is cheap apple juice with some honey and pears. The taste is definitely a dry honey, if that makes sense. The honey is there, but far from sweet. There is a hay like finish with a light body and low carbonation. It’s ok.

Picked this one up from my trip out to Milawaukee. Poured a light and slightly cloudy yellow color with a small sized white head. Aromas of citrus, light flowers and sweet malts. Bready tasting with a light sweetness to it. If theres honey in this one, it is more apparent in the aroma. Thin and watery body.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with hopdog, thanks Steve!) A grainy, very bready and somewhat sweet golden ale with a light bitterness in the finish. Maybe the sweetness is vaguely like honey, but though I’ll admit I’m not Winnie The Poo, it sure doesn’t resemble any kind of honey I’m aware of. The nose is also very bready and sweet. Light bodied, but with enough malt that it’s not quite what I’d consider thin and watery. Highly carbonated mouthfeel. Clear, pale straw color is getting darn close to "macro light". Lots of carbonation bubbles rise through the beer. Very small white head barely covers the beer after the pour, and fades away to nothing within minutes. Not horrible tasting, but if this were the best beer available at a bar, I’d pay for a glass of water.