Liberal Cup Bug Lager

Brewed by Liberal Cup Public House and Brewery
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Hallowell, Maine USA

on tap-pours a white ring for a head and yellow color. Aroma is sweet light malt, some perfumy. Taste is sweet light malt, some perfumy hops.

(Draft @ brewpub) Pours slightly hazy golden/yellow. Pretty much no head (probably by virtue of being served in a chilled glass). Remants of head are off-white and around edge. Aroma is slight, but has some fruitiness, light pine, perhaps even caramel. Mouthfeel is light, slightly watery, fairly prickly and dryish. Tastes lightly fruity, with some light caramel, yeast and bread. Light bitter finish. A bit of a light piney snap at the end. Pretty ho-hum but not terrible (the prickliness was getting to me though). Supposedly their biggest seller, probably because it’s the closest thing they have to an American macro-type.

Clear yellow with almost no head. Very light aroma, light lager flavor. Mild taste of bananas in the finish.

Lightly hazed straw body with almost no head. Aroma is medium sweet, floral, herbal, some medicinal, lemon. Taste is medium sweet, herbal/straw, some floral, lemon, light honey. Light body, decent crispness.

On tap a the pub... Aroma:light citrus,light malt... Appearance:Yellow,small head... Flavor:good malt flavor,light citrus...

Not quite as impressed with this one as some of the others I tried there. Yellow body with no head and little carbonation to speak of. Tastes of citrus with little bitterness. It was better than I thought it’d be. Similar in some ways to Pilsner Urquell, but more flavorful I think.

Well they call it Bug, but it may as well be Bud. It’s got that sweet stink that bud/bud light has...really poor aroma. The flavor is pretty much a straight shot at budwanker. Little more hoppyness to the beer than macro swill has, but it’s still very similar. Has a really wheaty taste to it. Not really that enjoyable, but the locals seemed to like it.

Draught half-pint at the brewpub on 4/14/06
Hmm, I would have guessed pale lager as this is hardly a Bohemian pilsener. Unfiltered appearance shows a lightly cloudy lemon pie yellow, with a small, poorly retained white head that creates no lacing.
The nose is predominantly sweet, pils-like malts, rather doughy as well, with a clean yeast, a touch of light sourdough or minerals and minimally apparent, mildly citric (lemon zest and some herbs) hops that remind me of magnum or sterling (though very weakly so). Most of the aroma is dominated by the sweet doughiness.
Flavor is not as sweet as the aroma suggests, with lightly pesky carbonation pulling apart the sticky honey-dough maltiness and inserting vaguely crisp yeast and hops (light herbs and lemons) in between. The texture is unusual, however, in that it is very unfiltered and high in residual sugars. Fortunately, because of the carbonation, it works well enough and provides a soothing, light, malted lager with clean enough flavors and light hops. Rating is more based against a pale lager style and would be significantly lower based against a Bohemian pils.