Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Ale

Brewed by Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Style: Kölsch
Houston, Texas USA

The odor was just the slightest bit skunky, but that may be my imagination. The taste was unremarkable. This is refreshing and light on the palate, but not a terribly interesting beer.

This beer pours a lightly hazy, with some floaties, orangish gold color. It is topped by a frothy, large bubbled pale head that disappears pretty quickly. The aroma is a mix of sweet grain and grassy notes with hints of peach and lemon. The taste has a lightly sweet grain character to it and finishes with a hint of bitterness that just manages to tickle the back of my throat. This beer is really quite light on the palate, quite thirst quenching and simple; with a name like Lawnmower that is probably the point. This is actually a pretty good example of the style; it is lightly fruity (lemon & pear) with a bit of herbal hop notes (some flower nectar type thing going on) and a light bitterness as well as some sweet grain notes. Simple and refreshing.

Bottle--Pours a light yellow with a gold undertone and no head. A little thin. I have to agree with an earlier reviewer--this tasted more like a lager than a Kolsch.

This is a style I can appreciate. Recieved in a trade with Kevin. The body is yellow and hazy. The aroma is light lemons with some wheat bread. There is also a very light hint of black pepper. The taste is funky lemon drops. There is also some aspartame aftertaste. The finish is slightly spicy with some allspice. This is better when cold.

Slightly hazy yellow/golden body with a very minimal white head. Faint hops aroma with lemons in there too, but a distinct veggie smell. Crisp taste of lemons and almost a fresh cut grass flavor, but a bit of the bitter veggies at the end. Not bad for what it is supposed to be.

Super clear light pale straw yellow with a small pale white cap of quick standing foam. Resides to a whispy skim and thin collar. Slight lacing sticks in big inky-like globbuls. Aroma...well, there’s not much to it really, clean and very subdued more or less with a bit of paled, sweet grain induced malt and a touch of lightly dry grasses. Flavors bring a firm little grip of breadyness within its finer, yet dulled down grainyness and character. Pale malt sweetness overall with touches of grasses. Works as a Kolsch without much effort but just lacks some bolder tones and length. No finishing qualities other then just fading off with pale malt breadyness. Feel is smooth and creamy; buttery to an extent, clean, mildly crisp and sweet with a lower kept medium body closing in on getting light in some areas of its duration. Flows down with a moderate ease and effort. It doesn’t offer much across the board for full Kolsch character, but it is clean and smooth enough for semi-quick enjoyment on any given day, hot or not. And at 4.9 % is gonna be better then most marco attempts to cooling your jets after a long mornings’ mow.

Thanks to Kevin for teh bottle. Pale yellow color with small fizzy head that dissapates quickly. Somewhat buttery, pungent sulfer dominated aroma. Watery nose, followed by husky grass and grain flavors. Finish is smooth and somewhat crisp. Would be refreshing if the flavors were better. Mouthfeel is light.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with robanion, thanks Ray!) Self-proclaimed as a Kölsch, I’m beginning to think that breweries are using the term to make their macro-like swill sound special. This beer is not special. It is not fancy. It is not good. It’s not technically macro swill either, but now we’re getting into semantics. This pale yellow beer has no character. It’s lightly grainy and sweet, with hardly even a hint of hops. And the nose is awful! Funk and light grain, but mostly just funk. Thin body, watery finish, mildly carbonated. Pale yellow color, slightly hazy, with a few carbonation bubbles rising slowly through the beer. Small white head quickly fades away to nothing. Dreadful stuff.