House Ale
"I'm an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house." --Zsa Zsa Gabor Autumn leaves orange with honey trim. If the lid was white rather than beige, the beer would look like candy corn in a glass. Unfortunately, the small slice of foam doesn't have an abundance of character and isn't leaving much lace. A thin, soapy collar is the extent of things. The nose is reminiscent of a weakly aromatic marzen. Munich malt and Tettnang hops will do that. It's barely toasted, somewhat grainy... and that's about it. In the end, it's too weak and too uninteresting to be considered good. That a pretty accurate description of the flavor profile as well. The house wine is usually the simplest, least expensive offering on the wine list. Did Weyerbacher have to follow that same blueprint when designing House Ale? Low ABV ambers need a twist, a hook, something to get them noticed. So far, there's nothing like that here. As in the nose, there's a toasted, nutty, earthy, fruity character to the beer that gives it some sort of identity, if not actual personality. It tries to start off malty sweet and tries to close the deal with a bitter finish, but doesn't manage to do either. Sorry, this is a yawner. Despite the brewery's hope that they created a beer that 'didn't lack for body and flavor', it lacks both; especially the former. It's too thin and the bubbles are too sharp-edged to be pleasurable. If Weyerbacher's House (Ale) has a drawing room with a drawing board, the brewers need to go back to it and start again. If they're bound and determined to brew a session beer, it should be possible to add some pizzazz while keeping the ABV down. I have faith that they can pull it off.