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Wild Night

Florida
United States
Wild Night by Swamp Head Brewery
Judges Ratings 
1 Review
90
Aroma:
22 / 24
Flavor:
37 / 40
Appearance:
6 / 6
Mouthfeel:
8 / 10
Overall Impression:
17 / 20
Description 

Along the rivers, in the fields, and through the forests of Florida, thousands of bees are hard at work, producing some of the sweetest honey in the world. We like to think they’re proud that all of their hard work has ended up in our award winning honey cream ale. Wild Night is light and delicate, yet bursting with flavor. We add local honey to a traditional cream ale, and a touch of hops to update this American classic. Enjoyable anytime you’re thirsting for a crisp, clean beer. Our honey cream ale is what light beer should bee!

Beverage Profile
ABV: 
5.9%
IBUs: 
21
Served at: 
50º
Hops: 
Sterling, Crystal
Malts: 
Pilsner, Carapils
Judges Review 
Jessica Sullivan's picture
Judges Rating:
90
Aroma:
22 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
37 / 40
Mouthfeel:
8 / 10
Overall Impression:
17 / 20

Wild Night Honey Cream Ale by Swamp Head Brewery is a cream ale with honey added. I am judging it primarily as a BJCP Category 1c (Cream Ale).

The aroma has a low pils malt character with a low corn sweetness. I detected a medium-low spicy hops aroma, along with a very low herbal nearly-skunky hop character. The fermentation was very clean, with no detectable yeast character or esters. The sweetness and spiciness were well-balanced, and neither hops nor malt dominated. This beer's aroma is very mild, and reminded me of an upscale version of a lawnmower beer. I did not detect any obviously honey-related aromas.

The appearance was beautiful: crystal clear, very pale yellow, with miniscule bubbles. The head was bright white with moderate retention. The flavor had a rich pils malt characteristic, which was well balanced with the low spicy hop flavor and the low hop bitterness. This is a subtle beer, but the flavors were very well balanced. Again, while I detected some low sweetness (as is typical in many cream ales), I did not detect any honey character. Finally, the mouthfeel -- this beer is light-to-medium bodied, and the aggressive and bright carbonation makes it somewhat more mouthfilling that I had expected. The finish was exceptionally clean, both in flavor and in mouthfeel, with a brisk and refreshing sensation on the tongue after the beer was done.

In sum, this beer tastes like a classy version of what your dad probably drank when you were a kid. There was a sense of nostaliga in drinking it. While I wish the honey aromatics had been more evident throughout, this is a very well done cream ale. 

 

Brewery Introduction

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