Sleeman Cream Ale

Brewed by Sleeman Brewing & Malting Co. (Sapporo)
Style: Cream Ale
Guelph, Canada

I was quite pleased with this gift from Ron. Of course I had this after 3 sets of tennis on a hot sunny day, but hey, it worked ideally in that application. Smooth, with a pleasant sweet finish. Nice smell of hops and color. An enjoyable summer ale. PS, I’m not sure what cream ale is supposed to be stylistically.

One fresh bottle that was not skunky. Creamy and smooth mouthfeel with a crisp ending. Typical cream ale. I’ll have to do a taste comparison with our local Genny cream ale.

Pours gold with a Small white head. Aroma is mild with a little hop to cover the slight corn scent. Flavor is mild, maybe a little weak (they call it smooth). A little malt, a little corn and OK hops. Mouthfeel is light and a little watery (they call it easy drinking and refreshing) While drinkable, it is not a great beer. Please, Sleeman, don’t do this to Unibroue.

Ah, my first opportunity to sample a beer from the aquirerers of the legendary Unibroue. I was presented with 12 oz clear bottle. Hey where is the label? WTF? Distressed I determined never the less to partake of this most inexpensive brew. It pours a clear orange-gold color with a small white head. The odor is skunky and vaguely revolting. The flavor hardly improves upon this impression. It is smooth and creamy in texture but the flavor is a god awful skunky sour tang. I poured this down the drain without a bit of guilt. Disgusting! My heavens this is the destiny of Unibroue???

Once the skunky aroma disipates, cooked cabbage/corn (DMS) comes to the fore. Clear pale golden with thin white head that recedes to cover. Very sweet with only the slightest bitterness. Mouthfeel is light - I’m sure they were aiming for "refreshing." Too bad they hit on "watery" instead. Bottle (clear).

How is this a cream ale???? Continuing with the Sleeman tradition of making mediocre beer, their Cream Ale really steps up to the plate. The taste is quite tolerable, and not too strong. Definitely not a great beer.

Recently had a second chance to do a session with this beer. In between the first tasting and this one I have sampled a lot of German and craft beers so I’m coming at this from a new perspective. First impression: lose the stupid clear bottle. The only people impressed by a clear bottle that shows off commercially highly filtered beer is a post teen guzzler that may mistake it for Miller in their inebriated breeze though the beer retailer’s check out. Poured a crystal clear dark straw color with a virtually non-existent cap that refused to lace and only formed a small ring. Highly carbonated. Aromas of boiled hop and some things that don’t belong in beer (like corn or rice...or cabbage ). Started sharp because of the high carbonation, light malt taste, some astringic hops with a fizzy mouth feel then a dry watery finish. Not really much better than Labatt’s 50 just marketing and packaging differences. This is a good beer for frosh belching competitions.

Clear golden body, very low carbonation and instant-fading head: looks like apple juice. Weak skunky/malty nose. Balanced bittersweet taste followed by a decent final. Not bad, but definitely not a cream ale...