Tonight’s Thirsty Thursday brings a relatively light beer – the Oberon, a light wheat ale from Bell’s Brewery.
Bell's Oberon - Look at all that tasty yeast
Cracked open, the first whiff hints at malt, oranges, and other citrusy goodness. The Oberon flies out of the bottle as a highly viscous and very pale yellow ale with a giant foamy head that would make dish soap jealous. A typical ale, the nose is mostly barley with a slight hint of sugary sweetness. The taste is enjoyable and slightly fruity, but the flavor is light and comes up very short of impressive, though it’s certainly drinkable. The real magic happens in the texture, and that is directly related to the amount of yeast crammed into the Oberon – the bottom of the bottle was coated with a good quarter inch of it, and you could see tiny little morsels of it suspended in a solution of yeasty goodness, neither moving, rising, nor sinking. The high amount of yeast in the bottle made for a very thin and highly carbonated beer – the fizzy feeling one gets from drinking cheap champagne made the Oberon very enjoyable for what it is. The yeast content was a very nice touch and for that alone, it is worth checking out.
Bell's Oberon Ale
Overall, the Oberon is not spectacular, but the high amount of yeast was a pleasant surprise to find in a type of beer that I don’t normally drink. If it wasn’t for the yeast, this would be any other beer I was happy to try something new by sticking with the Oberon, but I would pass it up for more familiar beers if I was shopping on a budget. I found several 120z bottles of the Oberon at Papago Brewery for $1.50, and I’ve seen it sold in six-packs in the Valley for about $7.
