This blog is about beer and life.
Posts tagged leinenkugel’s
Leinenkugel’s Red Lager
Dec 17th
Beer-a-Day #351
Our family’s Better Red. Brewed since 1993 with five barley malts, two of which are specially roasted, and Cluster and Mt. Hood hops for a smooth, hearty, robust taste no other Red can match.
Clear amber with an off-white head. Light malty aroma. A bit sweet with a bit of roastiness. Pretty good.
Fireside Nut Brown
Nov 16th
Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown Ale is a seasonal release from Leinie and here is what they have to say about it…
While the star of this holiday season is the roasted malt character, the well-balanced flavor and brilliant amber tones give Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown a comforting approachability that you don’t experience in traditional English-style nut browns. English two-row malts give this lager a maple aroma and pronounced chocolate, caramel and hazelnut top notes that dance around the palate before finishing gracefully.
The name alone makes you want to pour yourself one this Thanksgiving. I found this ale simple, and malty. The best way I can describe it is biscuity, both in aroma and taste. I liked it, but expect a “small” beer here.
Since Brown is not my favorite style and happens to be one of my wife’s favorites, I also looked to her for an opinion. She thought it was very good and described it as, “I think I need another to describe it”.
Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest
Oct 6th
Beer-a-Day #279
Available August through October each year, our traditional Marzen-style bier is brewed with Munich, Caramel, and a blend of Pale malts. Hallertau, Tettnang, Perle, and Cluster hops provide the aroma for this well-balanced, smooth, festive lager.
Clear and gold with some orange highlights. Hops aroma is light. Medium body with a little toastiness. Good, and now I’m craving bratwurst.
Leinenkugel Oktoberfest Review
Sep 14th
We consider ourselves somewhat of experts when it comes to Octoberfest. We know how to serve up brats, party all day & night, and raise our liters of beer in celebration. We may even go as far as to consider ourselves experts on the Oktoberfest beer style, even though we are both a bit of hop heads.
The Oktoberfest style of beer is a medium bodied beer that is sweet yet balanced out with Noble hops. The sweet malt should be the dominant flavor. It comes in a variety of color ranges, from light orange to dark copper. You will find light toasty notes in the malt. Caramel/toffee flavors are also acceptable for the style. Additionally, bread or biscuit like flavors may be present. The aroma will be notable, but low to medium, and clean.
There is also an American Oktoberfest style where the only difference is a slightly stronger hop presence, but sweetness remains the predominant characteristic of the beer.
We’ve had several bake-offs and Brooklyn’s Oktoberfest remains the champion of champions when it comes to this style. It fits the American Oktoberfest description which is how I like it
Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest is their autumn seasonal offering and is new to me. The new label design looks great and I hope it tastes as good as it looks. It pours super clean and is amber, or light copper, in color. There is a light hops presence as the frothy head stands up and hangs on to the glass.
The beer is very light in body and barely sweet, but there is light hop character to it. The best word I can come up with to describe it is dry. I would say this beer adheres to the original German definition of the style quite accurately and is balanced if a tad light on sweetness. It is definitely a high quality product with no off flavors; 5.1% ABV & 20 IBUs.
I enjoyed this beer, but it is certainly not my favorite for Oktoberfest. It just doesn’t have enough malt sweetness and elevated bitterness for my tastes. If you like Paulaner Oktoberfest but find it too sweet, you may want to give this a try.
One last thing… while I was on their website, I found Peg’s Kitchen and there were some nice looking recipes.
Leinenkugel’s Classic Amber
Jun 8th
Beer-a-Day #159
Our signature all-malt lager is a celebration of genuine ingredients, time-honored brewing traditions and authentic craft beer flavor. With its brilliant amber color, premium blend of Pale, Caramel and Munich malts, and subtle, yet complex citric hoppiness, you simply can’t go wrong with a Classic.
Well Ron liked this, his wife less so. Ron and I have similar tastes, but I haven’t been all that impressed with most of the Leinie’s I’ve had. Still, I’ll keep an open mind.
Clear amber with plenty of off-white head. The aroma reminds me of lemongrass. The flavor has a bit of nuttiness to it, but rather light.
I’m going to have to agree with Ron’s wife on this one. I’d drink it again, but I wouldn’t seek it out.
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. Classic Amber
Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat
Jun 7th
Beer-a-Day #158
Brewed with select Wheat and Pale malt, Cluster hops and natural coriander, Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat has a soothing taste that will leave you speechless. Silver medal winner of the 2006 Great American Beer Festival and bronze winner of the 2006 World Beer Cup in the Herb & Spice category is like your very own sunset in a bottle.
Well shucks, I don’t have any oranges. I’ll muddle through.
Hazy yellow. Lots of coriander and citrus in the aroma. I am reminded of flowers.
Leinenkugel Classic Amber Review
May 22nd
I finally got around to sampling the new Leinenkugel Classic Amber. Leinenkugel is not a beer I would normally pick up from the shelves at my local candy store. The name sounds so European that you would never guess that it is made in Wisconsin. (German in origin if you want to look it up)
The beer pours a nice amber color with a white head and some head retention. While Leinenkugel is a subsidiary of Miller/Coors, the linking of the two companies appears to be primarily for marketing reasons, not brewing technique. But, any beer marketing the fact that it is 100% malt tells me they normally add adjuncts… let’s see what it tastes like.
The beer does have some hop aroma and a light kick of hops on the tongue. Overall the beer is light and tasty. It does have a distinct flavor that I can’t quite put my hands on… something like an export; perhaps it is the water.
I have two bottles to review so I invited my lovely wife to have one and gave her a blind taste test directly against one of her favorite brands, Hook & Ladder. In order to make this an apples-to-apples comparison I had to put Hook & Ladder’s Golden Ale up against it, not their Ember Amber because the Ember is a much richer beer. (my personal favorite from Hook & Ladder)
They matched up quite well, very close in style. I thought the Leinenkugel was a bit crisper with a slightly more hop bite. My wife agreed but didn’t like the lingering aftertaste as much. She enjoyed the “more rounded” (as she put it) Golden Ale better. We both agreed in the end that both beers are best served as a lighter refreshing beer paired with tangy, smoky or spicy fare. German potato salad comes to mind.
Leinenkugel has been brewing in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin since 1867 by the Leinenkugel Brewing Company. Their new Classic Amber is made from two and six row barley and four varieties of hops. (Cluster, Cascade, Mt. Hood & Hallertau) They have several other styles in their portfolio: Original, Light, Honey Weiss, Sunset Wheat, Red, Creamy Dark, Berry Weiss, Oktoberfest, Apple Spice, Big Butt Doppelbock and Summer Shandy.
Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss
Feb 22nd
Beer-a-Day #53
Pours a clear, pale yellow, with a white head that quickly drops. Not much aroma; what I do get reminds me of cheese and toast. Flavor is very light.
Leinenkugel’s 1888 Bock
Feb 18th
Beer-a-Day #49
This is a new offering from Leinie, based on an old family recipe.
Medium brown, very clear, with a tan head. Not much lacing left on the glass. Fairly malty and, I’m sad to say, with a little sulfur in the aroma. More maltiness in the taste and more hops than I expected.
Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy
May 29th
We finally got some warmer weather here in Western Maryland. And, with all the rain we’ve been getting, the hill that is my backyard was starting to get overgrown. Sadly, the manual mower that I’ve been using for the last two years just isn’t up to the job, so I broke down and bought an electric mower.
So, after work this evening I took on the lawn, and the lawn won. Well, not really. But after I was done it seemed like the perfect time for a “lawnmower beer” and a comfy chair on my deck.
As a beverage, I chose Leinenkugel’s summer seasonal: Summer Shandy. The label proclaims it to be “beer with natural lemonade flavor”. I’m not sure what “natural lemonade flavor” is supposed to be; isn’t that lemon flavor? Besides sugar, what could anyone possibly be putting in their lemonade? The label also says it is “Weiss beer with lemonade”.
They say:
Get a taste of the freshest flavor under the sun – Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy. A shandy is a lemonade flavored beer, a European favorite during the warmer months. And the light, crisp flavor makes it a great summer refresher. Each batch is carefully brewed using the finest wheat, malted barley and just a hint of real Wisconsin honey. Then, our brewmasters mix in fresh lemonade and citrus flavors to create an adventurous taste that’s perfect for those lazy days of summer.
Well, anyway, it pours a very light color and very cloudy. Plenty of head, which quickly settles down and an aroma vaguely reminiscent of lemon dish soap.
Mouthfeel is light, and the underlying beer is very unobtrusive. I was expecting some tartness and even some sweetness from the lemon, and I didn’t get it. The flavor seems to be more like lemon zest than lemon juice.
My wife also tried it. Her impression: “It tastes like someone tried to make Crystal Light® using beer.”
I’m disappointed with this one.
