It's odd how I get inspiration for my beer reviews sometimes; this week it was the big water main break near UofL. Our on the spot intern Aileen Cole (follow her on Twitter @AileenCole) who is also a UofL student was tweeting and posting some pretty crazy pics of the scene on the Louisville.com twitter feed (@louisvillecom). The whole area around the break looked like a flowing river and I couldn't believe just how much water there was; so as I was looking through the fridge last night for the beer of the week I came across a bottle of Bell's Oarsman that I had picked up a few days before, it seemed a fitting pick considering.
The beer pours cloudy with a minimal head that dissipates fairly quickly. The aroma is faint and is pretty consistent with most wheat beers you're going to drink. The taste is tart, more lemon than orange, and refreshing. Bell's own website (bellsbeer.com) describes Oarsman as a beer that grew out of a desire to explore session beers, and at 4% ABV I found it to be quite drinkable and a nice accompaniment to the cooling thunderstorm of last evening. This isn't a beer that's going to light your world on fire, but it's an enjoyable brew and one you can sit and drink with your friends when the temps rise to 150 degrees or whatever they've been here the last few days. Ratebeer.com gives the Oarsman a score of 57 and Beeradvocate.com grades it a B.
If you'd like to give it a try AND help support a new local brewery trying to get off the ground stop by Boombozz Taphouse on the corner of Eastern Parkway and Bardstown Road next Thursday, July 21st from 5pm to close. They will be donating a dollar from every local beer sold to help benefit LouBrew and get it off the ground. Hopefully they will still have the Oarsman on tap since they did last week (Louisville on Tap July 8th & 9th edition), and even though it won't benefit LouBrew you can still give it a try if you're so inclined and its available. I'm sure while you're there you'll find plenty of local brews to indulge in, so don't worry too much.
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