Beers in Review: Buckbean Brewing Company

The first time I heard about Buckbean Brewing Company it was on the beer47.com website. I had never heard of them before but I thought it was pretty cool that they canned their beers. Buckbean brews out of Reno, Nevada. Since I don’t gamble at all, it would be a while before I make it to Buckbean. I was resigned to the fact that I’d have to wait quite a while for this beer. Then Boonville came around. While drunk and drinking Big Daddy from the Speakeasy campsite, I just happened to run into Buckbean Brewing Company President and Co-Founder, Doug Booth. Truth be told, I don’t remember much of what we spoke of that night. I doubt many people remember what they talked about that first night. What I do remember though is giving him my BetterBeerBlog business card and he promised to send me some beers in return. Imagine my surprise weeks later when a package with my name on it shows up with Buckbean beers in it. So here we are.

Black Noddy, Buckbean Brewing Company, 5.2% ABV

Black Noddy, like the rest of the Buckbean beers, is served out of a 1 pint can. Black Noddy pours out a very dark brown with ruby highlights and a beige/tan head. There is a slight initial sourness that gives way to a deep roasted malt aroma with dark chocolate undertones. Hop aromas are very low to none. Black Noddy has a deep roasted flavor with a slight caramel sweetness with a medium-low/medium hop bitterness that doesn’t stick. There’s a very low chocolate undertone and I can detect a very low sourness in the flavor that carried over from the aroma. This beer is medium-low to medium bodied with a medium carbonation that is creamy in texture. There’s also a slight roasty dryness in the mouthfeel.

Black Noddy is an example of the Schwarzbier style of beer. Simply put, a Schwarzbier is a dark lager. Some people may confuse this style with a porter or a stout but Schwarzbiers should have some Munich malt character and no esters at all. There’s a lot more to it but click on on this link to learn more. I like this beer. It’s a decent example of the style and it’s an easy drinking, yet full flavored beer.

Original Orange Blossom Ale, Buckbean Brewing Company, 5.8% ABV

Orange Blossom pours out a clear, burnt amber color with bright amber/orange highlights and an off-white head. This beer has a strong estery character that has a big orange/citrus profile that is very floral in nature. Sammy says it reminds her a lot of incense. This is a great smelling beer, almost too good really. Should I drink it? Should I use it as an aromatic? I don’t know. Orange Blossom has a sweet malt character that has a slight Munich quality to it but huge, huge, floral orange flavor with a slight honey note in the finish. The hop flavor is low, as it the hop bitterness. This beer is medium-bodied with medium-high carbonation.

This beer doesn’t fall into any of the traditional BJCP categories. It could be a fruit beer or it could be a specialty beer. In all honesty, it really doesn’t matter. This is an interesting and flavorful brew that defies categorization really. I don’t think it’s for everybody though. If you’re not into fruit, orange flavors in particular, then you might not be into this beer. I’m enjoying it and I think it’s definitely worth a try.

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