When I was 5 I was at a family picnic with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in hand and on face and happened upon a beehive. The old man was stoic about the whole situation “Looks like he’s not allergic to bee stings, good to know”. My Mother and Grandmother debated the effectiveness of using either baking soda paste or garlic on the numerous stings while I suffered. It turned out neither remedy was readily available, so they settled on butter. * The fact that this Oast Barn Hive brew has brought back such traumatic childhood memories will in no way affect the rating of this beer, we are professionals here. Although I do remember those stings hurt like hell.
Keep It Subtle Sudsmaster!
We haven’t had an Oast toast in a while but we always thought their Barn Raiser was raised right and their West C-Oast Farmer’s Tan was a fruitful endeavour. Checking the COMDB arc-hives and it seems we’ve sampled numerous honey infused brews to date. Honey browns and honey blondes, smoked honey and honey ales. Amber honeys ( which we are sweet on) and tea and honey We even had a Blood and Honey with guns blazing from Texas. All with mixed results. The not-so-secret secret to success when it comes to honey in beer is the age old KISS principle. No, not face paint, maximum volume and pyrotechnics, just the opposite in fact.** Keep it subtle sudsmaster. Time to see if a Barn Hives super suds rating was meant to bee.
A honey brown shade of beer, clear and inviting. Next to no head, OK no head. Ale aroma not really a honey blossom breeze happening here. The first taste is an interesting malt with very mild hops and equally mild sweet. No hives, nothing rash, just a dash of a dollop of honey, as in a drop. A honey lager with enough hops to come off as a honey ale or a lagered honey ale? Whatever they did here it tastes pretty good, and the KISS principle rules the day. A subtle sweet super suds treat from the Barn raisers at Oast.
If you’re ever attacked by a hive full of bees and don’t have an epi-pen handy, or baking soda paste or garlic or butter, a couple of these Oast House Barn Hive beers may be your only hope for survival.
0 Comments