St. Arnold beers

I believe that St. Arnold's is a new product in the New Orleans market. We won a mix six pack for our 2nd place showing in the Avenue Pub's pub quiz the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, with 2 bottles of Texas Wheat, 2 bottles of Elissa IPA, and 2 bottles of Brown Ale.

The Texas Wheat pours a bright golden straw color, with an appropriate cloudiness from the wheat. It doesn't taste very wheat-y, though that's fairly typical of American wheat ales, in my experience. It's light in body and the yeast made me think of a German ale, so I was pleased with my palate to read afterward in the tasting notes that the beer was originally a Kristall Weizen and it's brewed with a Kolsch yeast. There's a hop bitterness, but there's not a significant hop flavor profile.

In contrast, the Alyssa IPA is pretty heavy on the hops. I dunno why it's called Alyssa. Wait, to the St. Arnold's tasting notes! (They are super detailed.)

This beer is named after ELISSA, a tall ship now moored in Galveston. Ships like ELISSA were used in transporting IPAs to India.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company donates a portion of the proceeds of this beer to the Galveston Historical District for preservation of this ship.

How educational! Thanks, St. Arnold's Brewing!

I get the citrus Cascade big time in the aroma. It's less noticeable in the taste - there is a nice hop bitterness there, but it doesn't overwhelm your palate. There's a strong malt profile that balances out the hops. Dry finish. Very drinkable.

Brown ale: Well, it's not *brown* for one thing. It's the same color as the IPA. It's um, malty. No real roastiness or sweetness, though. there's a bitterness but not a real hoppiness. High carbonation. I don't know what's up with this beer- maybe it's a bad batch or a bottling accident? Like maybe a different beer than it is labeled? It was given away, after all- there might be a reason.

I don't know that I'd buy any of these beers. The IPA was pretty good, but there are other IPAs that are just as good if not better, in that same balanced IPA style.

I really loved going back to the Saint Arnold website and reading their tasting notes and writeups. These people obviously love beer and are proud of the beers they make, and that makes me happy. I just wish I liked the beer as much as their website.