Loading ...
The packaging is worth getting excited about. What about the nectar inside?
Sweet Jesus. Why in the hell do I keep trying wheat beers? I’m not absolutely certain how many I’ve tried, but I do know that each one I’ve reviewed, I haven’t liked one damn bit. This, of course, makes me biased against wheats, which makes Bell’s Oberon 2009 a perfect review.
Le Wif and I had a cookout at Casa del Sol y la Luna, and a buddy of ours, Luke, brought a pony keg of Oberon with him. Like the perfect gentleman he is, he left it behind when he and his wife left the party. What a guy.
I’d heard hymns written about Oberon, more or less, and I was excited to give it a try, even knowing it was in a category of beers that I haven’t liked before. The keg in which Oberon comes in is quite beautiful; never let it be said that Bell’s doesn’t know how to package a beer. Their label design is always impeccable, and this keg makes me want to drink the beer. So, job done, to that end.
Once I was able to sort out the spigot (give me a break, I’m a little bit dumb) and got myself a beer poured, I was treated to a nice-looking beer. Nice golden color, slightly cloudy, and with a reasonable head that left its mark around the inside of the glass after it dissipated.
Oberon has a nice, citrus nose initially, and I found that after allowing the beer to breathe for a minute or so that the citrus scent disappeared and made way for a more standard, wheat beer-esque smell. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it’s just more “common” than I expected it to be.
The first drink of Oberon is wonderful. It has none of those qualities that I tend to dislike about wheat beer. Like its initial scent, the beer has a light, citrus, refreshing quality to it, with a slight alcohol burn that sits on the tongue after swallowing.
And then I took a second drink.
Fuck.
Like its scent after being allowed to breathe, Oberon seemed to revert back to those qualities that I tend not to like about wheat beer. It stays light, but the flavor has a more sour quality to it, and the alcohol flavors were all I could to to finish half the beer. I can tell that Oberon is good–my palate just isn’t cut out for wheat beers. Just don’t like ‘em. Trust me, I’ve tried. My wife, if it’s any consolation, loves Oberon. So, more outta the pony keg for her.
On the TCM “Crap to Superb” scale, I’d give Oberon a qualified “I think it’s garbage, but you’d probably like it a lot.” That probably averages out to a “Quite good,” I suppose.
Related posts:
I’m not a big fan of Oberon either although I managed to choke down a couple pitchers with my wife last week.
i’m pretty much a fan of anything bells puts out. i’m not a big wheat beer fan either, but i do dig the oberon in moderation. …and man, just of a few of those bad dudes will leave your head in a spin. i think i had only 3 or 4 of these last year in covington and ended up sticking my head in a fountain to cool off. really, what other beer will make you do that?? bells makes some seriously rad brews. anyway, cheers. solid review!
Off the top of my head, Hopslam is pretty awesome, as is their Expedition Stout. Hopslam’s pretty heavy on the ABV–something like 10%. Shit can get wild real quick with that.