Beer Review: Bells Oberon Ale

Now unlike most beers I review, I've had Oberon before. Many many times in fact. So I'll start off by saying it's a great beer, and probably Bells most famous offering (the Two Hearted Ale is probably their 2nd). It's pretty much what American beer should be, and everyone I've introduced it to agrees that it's pretty damn good. But the reason I'm finally reviewing it is that I actually had a bottle left over from a recent camping trip. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy.

Appearance: Creamy orange in color, with a strong opacity to it. Head is thick and creamy white, with tight knit bubbles about 1 fingers width high. Head retention is excellent and so far it has only dissipated slightly, with heavy lacing around the edges of the glass. Towards the bottom of the glass the coolor changes to a more yellowish due to the unfiltered yeast and malt. A great sign.

Nose: The nose is slightly creamy and with a heavy wheat presence. Hops are mild but noticeable, and seek to balance out the malt presence. Though malt is stronger in the nose, it's not over powering in anyway like would be the case with a stout. Alcohol isn't present in the nose, and at 5.8% it really shouldn't be.

Taste: Slight bitterness of the hops up front followed by a mellowing of the malt character in back. I typically used to the reverse with hops in back and malt upfront, but this is a welcome change of pace, and something I haven't noticed until this tasting. No unusual flavors here, just good use of wheat and hops. Again, no alcohol in the taste.

Mouth Feel: Moderate body, very silky and creamy. Though unfiltered, the body is smooth and goes down easy. No burn from alcohol, and just enough body to make you sip the beer more slowly than a light beer. Still, it's light enough that you can enjoy it in large quantities.

Drinkability: High. Very, very high. I drank these in a rather large quantity over my little trip and even though it was one of the heavier beer I've drink during my time away, it went down smooth and easy and combined well with anything I happened to be eating at the time.

Overall this is probably one of the best beers I've ever had. This is a beer that gets everything right. It doesn't have any showy flavors or intense alcohol or IBU profile. It's just damned good. It's not expensive (a 12 pack is $15), it's not rare (at least in MI), it goes great with most any food (though it's paired best with a burger and bratwurst), and if I wanted to drink a lot of it, I can. And before I forget, it's also available in mini-kegs.