Fancy Lawnmower

Touted as “Texas’ Oldest Craft Brewery,” St. Arnolds continues to produce a respectable lineup of characterful beers in Houston including Fancy Lawnmower. Crisp and refreshing, Fancy Lawnmower won the 2010 Great American Beer Festival’s gold medal for German-style Kölsch. Light, perfumy Hallertauer hops, cereal-like malt, and whiffs of Anjou pear dominate the nose yet none overpowers the other. Tim detected the merest trace of sulfur, which dissipated rapidly, followed by fluffy, marshmallow-like sweetness and a floral hoppiness. Tim noted the aromas continued to evolve with a hint of ripe peach peeking through the malt and hops. The hops came across as “delicately citrusy” to Rick, who commented on the “flinty” aroma and thought it married perfectly with the light honey and granola-like malt. Fancy Lawnmower fills the glass with a brilliantly clear, pale yellow, almost straw-colored blush and is topped by a low, yet dense and creamy pure white head. Crisp and quenching, the flavor tends to favor the Pils malt. Pete lauded the crisp “Pils-type” malt and its grainy edge, balanced by a very light “perfect” bitterness. He did feel, though, that the hop flavor got lost in the malt. Tom found a mere touch of citrusy acidity beneath the “fresh, clean” malt flavors and found this beer “exceptionally well-balanced in the finish.” Tom, unlike Pete, considered the bitterness a touch low and thought the malt was a bit sweet on the front end. The judges were duly impressed with this award winning brew, and they unanimously deemed this beer a “must have.”