Oval Beach Blonde Ale
Saugatuck Brewing Company

Oval Beach Blonde AleOval Beach Blonde Ale
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From:
Saugatuck Brewing Company
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
American Blonde Ale
Ranked #317
ABV:
5%
Score:
79
Ranked #26,721
Avg:
3.43 | pDev: 14.58%
Reviews:
44
Ratings:
170
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 14, 2023
Added:
Feb 27, 2007
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  33
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Jason417:
Photo of Jason417
Reviewed by Jason417 from Indiana

2.45/5  rDev -28.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Quick fluffy head, extremely transparent, gold/yellow color. The beer has very little taste or smell, lightly carbonated. If you hate malt-y beers, this is the antidote. A session beer, should be served extremely cold after a hard day in the hot summer.

It's fine. Better than super-sized brews, but same clientele.

I did not finish it, by choice.
Jul 05, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.77 by shreead from Michigan

Jan 14, 2023
 
Rated: 3.22 by Red5StandingBy from Maryland

Jan 01, 2022
Photo of SeeksGoodBeer
Reviewed by SeeksGoodBeer

4.28/5  rDev +24.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Quite surprised by this beer; so much so it inspired me to make an account. Picked it up for 6.99 expecting nothing after trying another budget brew here in MI; Flavor is on point, solid input ingredients. Pale straw with light carbonation, definitely worth the buck and some change.
Dec 20, 2021
Photo of TheBigBoy
Rated by TheBigBoy from Pennsylvania

3.1/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
ok blonde, nice color.
May 12, 2021
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

3.54/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Blind-tasted except for the beer's name and brewery/country, zero reviews below read (yet!)…
L- The can has three bands of colour, orange, bold yellow and quite electric blue. When I bought this 'blonde ale' my thoughts were of something of a Belgian style; the can looks more hipster... we shall see!
Pours a rich amber gold, clear, and with a lively initial white foam head, pulling back to a steady 2-3mm white cap.
S- It's mild, though I might have just got a hint of citrus.
T- Bright, then quite hoppy-dry but mercifully no fruit cocktail of hipster-hops. Some richer malts follow.
F- It has a decent balance of bright plus meatier malts
O- I'm not sure what to make of this. It doesn't taste like a Belgian or Euro Blonde Ale, but it's doing more than a regular 'Euro-lager' would. It's pleasant to drink but there isn't really enough character or distinguishable ID to merit importing it all the way (via the retailer) to the UK.
Review/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the bottle lables to see what I missed! ==> Brewed with barley and wheat.
330ml can BB: Feb-22 £2.58 Bought from BeersOfEurope, King's Lynn/UK as part of a large pick-your own consignment to London.
Apr 14, 2021
Photo of JohnniEMc
Reviewed by JohnniEMc from Pennsylvania

3.38/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Oddly, not a seasonal offering, two 12 oz. cans splashed into a clear glass liter mug. A clear amber colored brew with a nice white head atop, which wiped out quickly. There's also some nice white glass lacing that is sticking around. It smells more like a lager than an ale, as it's starchy more than malty and practically devoid of hops. It does taste like an ale, with more hoppiness on the tongue than the nose forecasted. Still it doesn't carry many of the noticeable characteristics that separate lagers from most ales. The exception is the mouthfeel, as the body is very enjoyable.There's no bite to the hops and the color is lagerish, as is the ABV. This is a nice undistinguished brew that is certainly better than most commercial macro beers.
Jan 15, 2021
 
Rated: 3.7 by 22Blue from Kansas

Sep 17, 2020
 
Rated: 3.09 by cindiwindi1025 from Michigan

Jun 13, 2020
 
Rated: 3 by RiceOwls27 from Texas

Apr 07, 2020
Photo of Zopiac
Reviewed by Zopiac from Michigan

2.74/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 2.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 2.75
Pale yellow-gold with head only a step down from bleach-white. Pleasant but simple smell of mild hops and milder malt. Very clean, unobtrusive taste, of simple grain with some sweetness, very little bitterness and only on the very back end. Slightly floral, but quite flat in texture. Perfectly fine non-challenging brew.
Feb 05, 2020
Photo of Franziskaner
Reviewed by Franziskaner from Missouri

3.18/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Gold in color with plenty of light sediment throughout the body. There’s a fingernail of dishwater white around three quarters of the rim and half of the top. The aroma is of lightly biscuity malt. I taste lightly biscuity malt with the faintest suggestion of grassy hops. The mouth is light, crisp, and easygoing.
Nov 10, 2019
 
Rated: 3.5 by Ceddd99 from Michigan

Jul 14, 2019
 
Rated: 3.46 by nbrown2844 from Ohio

Jul 14, 2019
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

3.54/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
How interesting that this beer has existed on this site for over a decade & yet, it is my approved pic from the other day! I have been pretty happy with everything that has come in through distro from Saugatuck & so it made me happy to see this on my latest visit to The Beer & Beverage Shoppe.

From the Bottle: "Have more fun."

I have really been enjoying Pop!ping the caps off of bottles lately! It not only gives me something to do, but the caps are going to a local craftsperson, Kris Witman, who fashions them into all sorts of art. I have also come to embrace Gussie Busch's C-Line pour, which always brings forth massive head. In this instance, I got just over a finger of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with reasonable retention, slowly fading to wisps while leaving nice lacing behind. Color was a pretty Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had a biscuit malty quality along with a grassy, hay-like hoppiness. Nice. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, big for the style. The taste was okay, but I could have used a little more assertiveness, either from the malt, the hops, or both. That said, it was certainly easy-drinking & I polished off the bulk of it during my typing of this review. Finish was semi-sweet, leaning more towards malt than hops. It was not terribly assertive, but still ...
Dec 06, 2018
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

3.89/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Saugatuck Brewing Company "Oval Beach Blonde Ale"
12 fl. oz. can, coded "MAY1518 8522"
$2 @ Wegmans, King of Prussia, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: It's got a very nice fluffy head of off-white atop a hazy golden body. For some reason I thought it would be clearer, but OK. The aroma expresses mainly grainy malt but there are some hops mixed in there as well, they're just not strong enough to stand out on their own. That's OK, as a blonde ale I don't expect it to have a bright hoppy nose. On to the flavor... there's a lot of fruitiness to it that I didn't detect in the aroma, and the maltiness is not as pronounced as I thought it would be. The hops show a little more, floral and lightly lemony and grassy. It's not bitter, the label lists just 10.5 IBUs, but it's not overdone with malt and although there's a sweet edge to it it finishes mainly dry. It's nicely balanced. Looking back the head has held really well and it's still got a solid cap. The lacing is pretty decent as well. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently crisp-then-smooth. Overall, as an American blonde ale it delivers all around.
Review# 6,334
Nov 08, 2018
 
Rated: 2.58 by BlueTomorrow from Michigan

Nov 06, 2018
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Reviewed by dd53grif from Michigan

3.5/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours a nice golden yellow color with a foamy white head that disappears quickly. No discernable aroma. Taste is a bit sweet with a slight honey flavor. A hoppy bitterness at the end. A smooth, crisp tasting Blonde Ale. Good mouth feel.
Oct 14, 2018
Photo of JimboBrews54
Reviewed by JimboBrews54 from Michigan

4/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The thing I love most about Saugatuck Oval Beach Blonde is that it’s basic. A beautifully clean, crisp blonde beer perfect for drinking on a warm spring/summer day.
Oct 10, 2018
 
Rated: 3.25 by Hellpop65 from Kansas

Sep 03, 2018
Oval Beach Blonde Ale from Saugatuck Brewing Company
Beer rating: 79 out of 100 with 170 ratings