Beer of the Week! 12/04/23
Bell’s Oberon Eclipse
Normally $11.99 / Now on Sale for $10.96
American Wheat Ale with Coriander
We’re ashamed to say that we can’t hold back a snicker at Bell’s Brewery’s blatant brand management here.
The Oberon, of course, is their very popular summer seasonal and rightly so. It’s a great, light, refreshing wheat ale — perfect for summer. This beer is also a wheat ale, but it’s not like that. It’s richer and heavier with strong citrus notes and a touch of coriander. It’s like a Belgian Wit that hasn’t been fermented with Belgian Wit yeast.
So, it’s very little like the Oberon, but Bell’s has slapped the “Oberon” name to it to capitalize off the aforementioned popularity. Thus the Oberon Eclipse, ‘cause the Oberon’s label image features a sun, except this brew is for the winter, so we’re eclipsing the sun (though it’s not like solar eclipses are a particularly winter phenomenon, and it’s not like this is a dark wheat ale, which is what you’d kind of expect from the name. You know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a good dunkel weissbier. Would you people groove on a good dunkel weissbier — sorry, we’re digressing …)
There’s a roundness to the Oberon Eclipse that’s really great. This brew really has some malt heft to it — a granola-ish oat-adjacent flavor at its center that everything else is built around. Yet, the swish of citrus on the end tightens things up. It’s an exceptionally balanced and, thus, pleasantly drinkable wheat ale, that is as much about the “ale” as the “wheat.”
Our snarkyness aside, we get it. You can’t just make a good beer, you also have to sell it. Fortunately for all of us, Bell’s can still make a good beer.
Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause twice is nice.)
One Family Somewhere Out There
Normally $15.99 / Now on Sale. for $14.96
West Cost Style IPA
We’re happy to have another brew from those beermaking U.S. military veterans in Lovettsville, VA, One Family Brewing Company, and this one begs the question … how can One Family put out such consistently tasty IPAs!?!
Fighting to see through the haze? One Family has you covered with this modern West Coast Style IPA. Its strength comes from a hearty 2-Row malt backbone that allows the brew to be just a step away from being dry while supporting the metric block of hop flavor from the Citra, Amarillo, and Mosaic hops. The Mosaic offers tropical fruit grace notes that act as the rhythm section supporting the sharp Amarillo and Citra citrus notes sit up front, taking the head and and solos.
It’s like a Calypso jazz combo. (Is there such a thing as Calypso Jazz? if not, there should be!)
Remember!
You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!