Grain Belt Southwest Cerveza

Grain Belt Southwest Cerveza.
Mexican Style Lager with Natural Lime Flavor.
4.5 % ABV.
August Schell Brewing, New Ulm, MN.

Clear, bright golden color, slim white head.

In the nose: Clean, crisp, lightly hopped. Some cereal notes, in classic Grain Belt style. Not picking up anything extra yet.

In the mouth: Light. Light. ...Let's see, what else....ooo, there's some lime flavor, as promised. And....not much else. I've already mentioned it's best properties. If that's good enough for you, go for it.


Southwest Cerveza is a crisp, copper lager, both dry and refreshing. This easy-drinking lager puts a twist on the friendly beer with its subtle lime flavor.

Grain Belt Blu Blueberry Lager

Grain Belt Blu Blueberry Lager.
4.7 % ABV. Made with real blueberry juice.
August Schell Brewing, New Ulm, MN.
"Go ahead. Be the blu sheep of the family."

It's time for a blueberry lager. Why? Because it exists and is in my possession. That's the long and short of it.

Well, it ain't blue. It's deep red with a pinkish head, leaving some lace.

In the nose: Fruity. Sweet. Berry-ish, of course. Nice enough.

In the mouth: Sweet and juicy from the start. Malty, smooth, easily drinkable. Barest hint of tart. Stays fresh and berry-vicious without getting too sweet. I'm starting to like it. Can't imagine having more than one, but it's surprisingly tolerable.

A blueberry lager that is tart, balanced, and refreshing. A delightfully sweet twist on the classic American lager. 

Grain Belt Lock & Dam Lager

Grain Belt Lock & Dam lager. 5% ABV. Crisp copper lager.

A few months ago, August Schell Brewery purchased the historic Grain Belt neon sign by the Hennepin Avenue on the east bank of the Mississippi river. Next thing you know, they'll turn the thing back on. To celebrate the event, they made this beer, in honor of Minnesota, it's rivers, and it's efforts to stop their natural flow.

Notes ahoy!

Clear, golden-amber coloring, slim, soon-gone head.

Grainy, malty aromatics, lightly floral. Smells a lot like Grain Belt Premium. Standard lager aroma.

In the mouth: clean, malty, lean-bodied. Steers shy of sweet, stays on the dry side. Clean, smooth, easy-drinking. This has been described as a cross between Premium and Nordeast, and I get that. Less sweet than Premium, not as dark or richly malty as Nordeast.

It's an alright beer, and, yeah, I guess you can drink it.

Grain Belt Premium

Ah, Grain Belt Beer. It comes from here. I wrote a little ditty when I was young (I'm fairly positive I created this, no one can confirm hearing it elsewhere), and it had a physical side to it, a series of points to the body as you would say each word, ending at the crotchular level. See, I was saying it comes from the pee-pee maker, get it? Give me a break, I was six years old.

Anyway, I've got no problem with Grain Belt now, other that it's a bit on the sweetish side. Not too much for me, though, but it's not really my cup of tea, either. It is helping keep the August Schell Brewing Company in business, and that's a very good thing, indeed. 

Here are my notes from a bottle, in 2005:

This my Dad's beer, ...always a few cases in the house, the fridge well stocked, no other beer would do. They even ordered it special for him at the local watering hole, though I still can't figure out how no-one else in the Anoka VFW Hall shared his taste. I remember sitting at the bar with him, as a kid, while he drank it. Those were the days, eh? 

I never liked it, and it's ominpresence in the household was part of the reason I never drank beer until I was about 22. When all that surrounded me was Miller, Leinenkugel's, and Grain Belt, and they all smelled bad, I just stayed away. Years later, I discovered imported ales and craft brew micros...now that I was drinking beer, I decided to try Dad's beer, and figure out why he liked it. 

I still didn't like it, and couldn't figure out why he found it so satisfying. But, that's the kind of man he was, he stuck with what he knew, and never went too far from his comfort zone. 
Time to revisit it again, especially since I hear it's a better beer, under Schell's hand... 

Transparent, pale yellow appearance, huge, fluffy white cap atop, active. bubbling carbonation. 

Smells sweeter than i remember, less sickly. Very grainy, rather spare and thin, but not at all unpleasant. The typical average American lager aroma. 
Taste: wet. and empty, ..but not bad. Really, I think it's been over a decade since I last poured one of these down my throat, and it was an unhappy experience. That was under the Minnesota Brewing Company, who weren't looking to make a quality product at the time. Schell seems to have re-created GB, "the friendly beer", as a smooth, untroubling, and, let us not forget, cheap lager that actually doesn't taste bad. 

Finishes rather sweetly, slides leisurely off the palate. Very light in body, a bit too watery for my tastes, and extremely lean on flavor. But, it does what it needs to, for the style and satisfies it's target market. 

Got to hand it to the guys at August Schell for keeping Minnesota brewing history going, and putting out a decent brew at the same time. 

This one's for you, Dad. If it's true that "in Heaven there is no beer", no offense, but I hope you're in a better place than that....

Grain Belt Nordeast

I've had samples of this off the tap, but full-sizes servings had eluded me, until a Schell's (brewer of the Grain Belt brand) rep came to the rescue yesterday.
At last a bottle of Grain Belt Nordeast to call my very own! Rarer than unicorn droppings, harder to find than a leprechaun's taint. At long last, it is mine.

Now, to drink! But, first, to open…

Clear, rich amber color, very thin, tight head, just a lean ring of whitish foam round the edges.

Aroma: sweet and malty, caramel tone, thoroughly pleasant. Nuff said.

Taste: more of the same. No complexity, none expected, exactly as advertised, a clean, slightly sweet, malty lager. There's flavor, and it rolls around the mouth, and exits politely. Drinks like crazy. Only offended parties should be those who insist on their beers being yellow, glum, and harshly fizzy. This ain't none of that. It lacks body, but I don't think anyone expected it to be big-boned. Nordeast is what it is and does what it does.

I'll give it high praise from a Minnesotan: "Not bad!"