Brew52 » Week 10

Special is as special does

Joe Lunchpail — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:18:16 +0000

I was in Duluth the other night and ordered up a Special Ale at Grandma’s. This was my first encounter with the Special, though I am a huge fan of the Oatmeal Stout. The coppery red color and hop aroma were the first things to stand out. The initial sip was great, finishing with a nice hoppy nudge (weaker than a kick) and a slightly citrus-y aftertaste. A smooth beer with decent flavor and a respectable level of carbonation to boot.

I find myself liking the Lake Superior beers more and more with every one I drink. Visiting their website, I wish that we could get more of the seasonals and special brews down here. The selction looks fantastic, especially the brown ale and IPA. Does anyone know of liquor stores down here that may carry the specials?

Sessionable English ale, from Duluth

al — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:32:19 +0000

Haven’t had one of these in a while. Let’s crack a crown and jump right in… Cloudy coppery color, slim off -white head…nice…Aromatic bitterness greets the nose…classic English-style hopping. Green apple tinge to it, with a bit of the pine thing from American hops, mixed with caramel malt.Tastin’ it…bitter hop smack on the palate, then the apple and a bit of butterscotch,…bitterness reigns, though isn’t overpowering, just right for an English style pale ale. I’m no expert, I can’t say if it’s Fuggles or East Kent Goldings, I just know it tastes British, and fits right in for the style.Though I favor American style pale ales and IPAs these days, I can drink this down without a problem. Just enough hops and flavor to keep my tastebuds occupied. Haiku #9 (for week 10)…”Lake Superior/ Northern-most of the Great Lakes/ not bad beer, either.”

It tastes best when there’s no beer in my mouth.

Erica — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:42:59 +0000

The part I’m enjoying most is the finish.

Hoppy, but without the lingering aftertaste I expected from it. I think if I drank more than one it’d make an appearance, though. I bet it would be good with pizza.

enjoyable beer

vonklebs — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:53:01 +0000

enjoyable beer. smells good, tastes good, you can drink a bunch of ‘em and still like ‘em.

Light, crisp, and clean; with a slight amount of malt flavor.

sweet & tasty

slepow — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:03:56 +0000

Kind of lemony. Kind of hoppy.
Tastes like summertime.
Erik was right. It does taste good with smoked, grilled chicken. Couldn’t agree more.

I could have one, or five

Ben R — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:45:21 +0000

With the heat wave today Erin and I decided to enjoy our beers on the porch (with the space heater). The Lake Superior Special Ale is a wonderfully drinkable beer. Its a pale ale, I think, but with just enough hops to give a little bitter flavor, but you can totally drink several of these a night.

I ended up buying a six pack of these and I drank the first four quickly so I had to hide the last two in the back of the fridge so we would have two to drink for our review

First beer on the porch

Erin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:44:54 +0000

As I sit here writing my review and drinking my beer, it is a balmy 48 degrees outside. This will be the first of many Brew 52 beers enjoyed on our front porch, which always makes beer taste better. This beer was fine – a little too hoppy still for me, but I can see why everyone else seemed to love it.

I went on a little tasting session last night

berrywise — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:57:47 +0000

To get caught back up I drank the latest three beers last night (Brau, Duluth, Schells) and of the three this was my favorite. I’d agree with a lot of other comments that it is a very easy to drink beer. It lacks in any over powering flavor and has just the right amount of bite.

A very easy to session beer.

Special? More like dependable.

brendan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:35:36 +0000

This is a nice friendly pale ale with floral hop aroma and taste and a good malt backbone. I really like a good sessionable beer. Sometimes I do not need to have a taste experience, or have my assumptions about beer challenged. I need a beer that has a good solid malt and hop flavor, and not too much ABV so I can have another.

The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever so you can rest medicine

Rett — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:13:14 +0000

This weekend I’ve been testing the theory that you can beat a cold by drinking alcohol. Despite a valiant effort, I’m still sick, and the worst of it is that I didn’t enjoy a single beer I drank. That is until the sweet nectar of Lake Superior Special Ale made contact with my tongue just minutes ago. Despite my taste buds being all out of whack, I’m enjoying this beer very much. Kinda reminds me of a Summit Pale Ale but a little sweeter. As Ange mentioned, and I’m sure Chuck will be pointing out, the only bummer is the labels. They’re lacking the personality that the beer has.