Wild Night Honey Cream Ale - Swamp Head Brewery & Tasting Room

unclejimbay

Florida

4.18/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Served on tap @ Kickbacks
Appearance is impressively clear golden straw in color. One of the most clear Ales I have seen to date.
Mild aromas if any, pale malts?
Tastes of pale malt subtle sweetness with a hint dry tupelo finish. Maybe a subtle dash of butterscotch sweetness. Very clean flavor profile, all very subtley balanced flavors.
Mouthfeel is very light bodied and crisp carbonation.
Drinkability is solid offering for a light bodied ale and/or lager alternative. Refreshing and an impressive rep of the style.

Additional info;
I attended a Swamphead Beer dinner at Kickbacks here in Jacksonville Florida 12/13/2010. The lineup overall impressed me, brews were appropriatte to style and well done across the board. I most notably enjoyed the Hoe Hoe Hoe Wit, Tupelo Cream Ale, Stumpknocker APA, and 10-10-10 Whiskey Barrel Aged as standouts for the evening. Overall a very talented brewery across the entire lineup. I had chance to meet Luke the owner who was a great guy, and Craig the brewer who was passionate and open to share his processes. Both were knowlegdable and I am very excited about this new Florida Brewery.

Here is are most of the Swamphead brews that were offered at the dinner;
Hoe Hoe Hoe Winter Seasonal - a Belgian style specialty ale with cranberries, ginger and orange blossom honey
Wild Night Tupelo Honey Cream Ale
Cottonmouth Belgian Style Wheatbier
Stumpknocker American Pale Ale
Big Nose IPA
Saison du Swamp - Florida Style Saison with rye
10-10-10 Imperial IPA
10-10-10 Imperial IPA aged in Palm Ridge Whiskey barrels
Midnight Oil Oatmeal Stout with locally roasted organic fair trade coffee
Alderwood Smoked Porter
Chipotle Smoked Porter
Stumpknocker infused with Chipotle peppers
Catherine's Inspiration - Russian Imperial Stout
Catherine's Passion - Russian Imperial Stout infused with organic cocoa nibs and Midnight Oil coffee

Serving type: on-tap

12-17-2010 16:26:21 | More by unclejimbay

Fieldzy27

Florida

3.83/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Reviewed from notes.

A-Pours ultra light gold with ultra white head.Minimal bubbles. Short head and minimal lace.

S-Smells mildly hoppy with sweetness and some citrus.

T-Mild amount of bitterness very clean. Simple yet refined. Sweet honey flavor shows up most strong on the finish. Hints of butterscotch in there as well.

M-smooth and creamy with some fizzy carbonation that is a bit high but helps to liven up the beer.

D-A light easy drinking quality brew. All of the Swamphead beers I feel fit in to this catagory accept the 10-10-10 that guys more of a world beater. But Wild Night keeps its place as a great middle of the road drinking option.

Serving type: on-tap

12-02-2010 22:40:41 | More by Fieldzy27

mullenite

Florida

4.45/5  rDev +25%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

This is the clearest, lightest color beer I've seen with this much flavor. Pours a crystal clear, light straw color with a tall white head with a long retention. Bubbles constantly stream up from the bottom of the glass.

Smell contains the graininess of the flaked maize in the beer. A little bit of fruit and spice come through the nose as well, though not as strong.

Taste is a lot of tupelo honey with some slight citrus and graininess lingering in the background. If you've never had tupelo honey before I could understand not getting any honey flavor out of the beer but as an avid tupelo addict I get that as the dominant flavor.

Beer is thin but not watery with a fairly high level of carbonation.

Overall this beer is extremely easy to drink and extremely refreshing. The sweetness and thin body make this a perfect summer beer.

Serving type: on-tap

08-13-2010 08:37:54 | More by mullenite

RomaniIteDomum

Florida

3.48/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On tap at Cigar City. This beer presents a nice eggshell head. Honey yellow with a nice carbonation.

Not much in the nose. A little sweetness and some cedar.

The taste is light ale with a little bit of cedar. Weird. I'm wondering if the line was cleamed. Oh, well. It's still pretty good. If you search for it you can pick up a little honey in the finish.

The feel is nice and creamy, while still very light. An interesting juxtaposition.

Pretty drinkable. Light and refreshing on a hot day, of which there are many in Florida.

Serving type: on-tap

06-04-2010 21:56:35 | More by RomaniIteDomum

ktrillionaire

Florida

3.65/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Let me preface this by saying that significant appreciation of the style known as 'Cream Ale' has thus far eluded me.

This beer is pretty good, despite the unfortunate double misnomer; Wild Night Cream Ale is neither wild, nor particularly creamy.

A - Exceptionally pale and translucent, with a small white head, and itching for a comparison to either Sprite or macro lager.

S - Not much to it, pretty clean and light, with a small alcohol tinge and a continental-Pilsener-Bohemian quality.

T - Just like the nose, everything here is pretty subdued. And again, there is much akin to a lager-style. The pale malt is lightly sweet and slightly astringent and the hop presence is bittering and balancing more than a specific flavoring element. Quite crisp and refreshing, but no great gustatory gravitas.

M - Lighter-bodied and refreshing with a dry finish.

D - A good beach beer, perhaps.

Serving type: on-tap

04-19-2010 02:34:28 | More by ktrillionaire

Gtreid

Florida

4/5  rDev +12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This was featured as a guest tap at Cigar City. Poured into a 4 oz. tasting glass.

A: Crystal clear, light yellow color. Probably the clearest beer I have ever seen. Large white head, with nice retention and lacing.

A: Sweet honey, corn, light malts, and small notes of piney hops.

T: Very light for an almost 6% brew. Nice notes of honey and pine sap, with a subtle citrus hop bite. Finishes slightly dry and sweet. Absolutely no hint of alcohol.

M: Light body, good amount of carbonation. Very clean and crisp.

D and overall impression: Drinkability is super high due to the light character of the brew. Overall, I really enjoyed my sample. This would be a great session brew sitting by the pool or at a baseball game. Can't wait to try more swamphead! Skal.

Serving type: on-tap

04-17-2010 14:20:56 | More by Gtreid

cjgator3

Florida

4.03/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a rich golden yellow color with a large frothy white head with great retention and lacing all around the glass. The aroma is malt, citrus, honey and a touch of hops. The taste is malt with a faint honey-like sweetness, citrus and a nice touch of hops in the finish balancing out the sweetness very nicely. Glad I finally got to try a beer from this brewery, looking forward to trying more of their lineup.

Serving type: on-tap

04-11-2010 18:31:56 | More by cjgator3