Beer Of The Week (Vol VII)

[ Lucky Volume Seven in the recently expanded beer tasting series. Once again, today's post is made possible by the fine folks at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits. That establishment has generously agreed to provide beer for weekly reviews and every brew featured here is available at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits. These reviews will be an expansion of the beer rating that I've been doing for years and will be more in-depth look at particular beers using the same rating criteria. And in addition to the just the beer itself, I'll be examining the whole aesthetic package; the bottle, the label, the name. ]

Ever since I was old enough to drink (and actually some years before), I've been quite familiar with the Leinenkugels family of beers. It used to be just plain old Leinie's. Then Leinie's Light (which is better than most calorie conscious brews), Leinie's Red, Leinie's Honey Weiss, Leinie's Creamy Dark, etc. As the years have gone on, the Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin brewery has been adding more and more selections to their offering. And I've been favorably impressed with most of their recent additions, especially the Sunset Wheat, 1888 Bock, Summer Shandy, and Fireside Nut Brown beers.

So my hopes were high when I tasted their latest product, Leinenkugel's Classic Amber Lager. Leinie's Red is a decent beer and I expected that Classic Amber would be a premium upgrade from that. Reality didn't pan out quite that way.

The bottle is brown with the Leinie name etched below the neck. The label features images of hops and malt and a beautiful background scene with amber rays of sunshine reflecting off placid water as a canoe plows by. It definitely evokes stirrings of the Northwoods, a theme long embraced by Leinie's.

The beer itself however doesn't hold up as well.

Beer Style: Lager

Alcohol by Volume: 4.9%

COLOR (0-2): clear, light reddish-orange 1

AROMA (0-2): Faint, hard to pick up much 1

HEAD (0-2): Small bubbles, nice color 2

TASTE (0-5): Malty, smooth, and drinkable. 3

AFTERTASTE (0-2): Weak follow through 1

OVERALL (0-6): A very average beer. Not among the best that Leinenkugel has to offer. 3

TOTAL SCORE (0-19): 11

The complete Fraters Libertas Beer Ratings were updated last week. A total of 367 beers so far. More to come next week.