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Beer Reviews

Full Circle

Other reviews for this beer:
Eddie Glick		read it ›
Rings		read it ›

New Holland Brewing Co.
Holland, MI
USA
http://www.newhollandbrew.com

Style: Kölsch

Jill’s Rating:
   (Outstanding within its style.)


Comments:
An odd thing happened as I went to review this beer: my package calls this “Lucid,” while on the New Holland website it’s called “Full Circle.” Now, I don’t know if Lucid is an old name or what, but it’s the same label and kölsch style as the Full Circle.

On the pour, this baby looks amazing. It’s got a huge head, lots of lacing, tons of carbonation, and is a pure, clear golden color. It’s got a sweet smell, which wasn’t surprising, given the kölsch style, but I had to hope the sweetness didn’t overpower the rest of the taste. After all, a kolsch is supposed to have subtle sweetness to it.

After a few swallows, I thought for sure I was going to give this five mugs. It’s light-bodied, and the sweetness is really subtle on the tongue. The flavor stays pretty much down the center of the tongue, and I loved the fact that the meat of the flavor opened up in the front of my mouth, while the sweetness slid down my throat. Delicious!

This is a style you have to serve pretty cold, and I think that added to my enjoyment. Even as it warmed up in the glass, the flavor while I drank it stayed consistently wonderful.

However, that subtle sweet flavor eventually stayed in my mouth and became cloying. Having so much sweetness hanging around took away from the crispness of the beer, and that’s what knocked it down a notch in my book. And I like sweet beer, so that’s really saying something.

This is one of those beers I wish I could give 4½ mugs to. I mean, it’s almost there in terms of a fantastic brew. However, just a little too much sweetness marred its perfection for me, hence the four mug review.

Reviewed by Jill Jaracz on May 16, 2008.

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