Sleeman Honey Brown Lager - Sleeman Breweries Ltd.

kwjd

Ontario (Canada)

2.58/5  rDev -13.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Was at an event and this was the best beer (Canadian and Coors Light were other choices) so decided to go for it since I haven't had a Sleeman Honey Brown in year or so. Pours an amber brown colour with thin off-white head without much lacing. Smells really sweet, like caramel and honey, without much else. Flavour is pretty muted, just sweetness comes through. No trace of any hops or bitterness. Carbonation is a bit aggressive, but wasn't bad. I had a couple, so drinkability can't be that bad, but I'll never get this unless I'm in a similar situation again.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2010 18:52:48 | More by kwjd

scott451

Ontario (Canada)

3.13/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

On tap. Served in a pint glass. Clear amber brown. One finger creamy tan head. Good head retention. Good lacing.

Mild grapefruit and citrus malt notes in the smell. Mild smoky notes in the taste. A mild hop finish.

Creamy. Moderate carbonation. Drinkability is OK. No major flaws in this nice fresh glass of draught, just not a lot to come back for.

Serving type: on-tap

10-01-2010 07:29:03 | More by scott451

rarbring

Sweden

2.78/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

The color of the beer is light amber, a rather white head that leaves little lacing.

It actually smells of honey and some malty tones.

The taste is also sweet honey on a slice of bread, a slight acidity and some rather faint bitterness.

Medium carbonation, rather simple body.

Not really a high mark, a bit too light for being a Euro Dark Lager.

Serving type: on-tap

09-23-2010 22:15:43 | More by rarbring

andrenaline

Ontario (Canada)

3.33/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a crystal clear, dark copper colour, thin layer of head with little retention and no real lacing.

S - Scent is mild and sweet, but overpowered by bready caramel malts.

T - Much like the scent, the flavour is mild, but the sweet caramel malts do come through. Touch of honey, and the finish is a much like a graham cracker.

M - Good carbonation, light bodied, and goes down quite smooth.

D - This one is easily drinkable, non-offensive, but not overly memorable. I would never turn one down, but there's plenty of other offerings within this style which offer more robust flavours.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2010 20:58:24 | More by andrenaline

BBP

Ontario (Canada)

3.23/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A- Amber brown with slight head that ran away almost before I could sip it. Fairly carbonated.

S- Honey butterscotch and malts.

T- Sweet malts. Caramel and honey notes. slight hops.

M- Fairly smooth and crisp. Average Carbonation.

D- A smoother Sleeman creation. Could down a few in no time.

The name pretty much sums it up. Honey Brown. Expect a sweeter beer with it's share of malt.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2010 00:21:58 | More by BBP

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

3.08/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

500ml can poured into pint glass july8 2010

A clear light copper with plenty of bubbles feeding a thumbs width of head that quickly falls to a 1/4in film leaving a partial ring of lace

S more sweet malts then honey and some slight candied fruit

T much more honey but almost a fake kind of flavor that seems synthetic and unnatural

M thick for a macro and slight sticky on the lips

D nothing offensive but nothing worth bragging about, decent beer for a macro

every no and then I sip a honey brown at a bar that has nothing better up for grabs, sadly this would be most bars here in Calgary

Serving type: can

07-09-2010 07:02:54 | More by wordemupg

WakeandBake

Michigan

2.78/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A brownish amber color pour with a small foamy offwhite head , short lasting , medium carbonation . Aroma of corn ,peanuts and and a hint of metallic hops . Flavor is lightly bitter with corn lager , nuts and very sweet honey , a bit too sweet for me . medium body, thin mouthfeel, with a short corny finish . Drinkable but not my cup of tea .

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2010 15:41:35 | More by WakeandBake

mwa423

Ohio

2.45/5  rDev -17.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

A - Poured a clear dark brown color with a slight haze. A beige finger and a half of head quickly disappeared but left a good lacing around the glass.

S - Smell is a mixture of macro lager, saaz hops, and honey. Not exactly a pleasant combination.

T - The taste is complex, but not in a good way. First you get hit by macro lager and saaz hops, then you get the honey sweetness and the aftertaste is simply just the skunky flavor of a bad euro lager.

M/D - Mouthfeel is week and punctuated by the different flavors, all of which you want to choke down as fast as possible. This will be a hard one to get through, thus the low drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2010 02:01:19 | More by mwa423

mooseisloose

Florida

3.4/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Gotta love all the tallboys in the Great White North. Picked up a 16 oz at the local LCBO. Poured into a handy glass yields a well, honey brown, imagine that, color. Nice head at first but fades quickly. Taste is sweet as expected. It starts with honey sweetness upfront then moves into a brown sugar-like sweetness matched with very slight bitterness. The finish stays sweet but fades to a tarty aftertaste. Mouthfeel is great, good carbonation then even a flavor fizzy finish. This is a very highly drinkable brew. Not sure about the style it is listed as, I don't think it is, but I like it. Goes great with many foods, Korean barbecue to name one.Better a little warmer than cold.

Serving type: can

04-02-2010 03:16:13 | More by mooseisloose

ericj551

British Columbia (Canada)

3.13/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Sleeman Honey Brown pours a light amber orange with a thing head. There is some sweetness in the aroma as well as some skunkiness. There is a hint of caramel toffee in the flavor and some sweetness, but it finishes dry and muddled. The body is on the heavier side. I would say this could be a slight step above your average macro, if it wasn't a bit skunked.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2010 03:27:00 | More by ericj551

Richter35

Ontario (Canada)

3.3/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a thick tan white head. Colour is honey-brown [really] and looks decent.

Smell is like any other lager. Nothing special.

Taste is slightly above average. Minimal bitterness, with more malty goodness than your typical light/pale lager. Some biscuit tastes, more reminiscent of a brown ale. Pretty good for a high-volume Canadian offering.

Mouthfeel is good. This beer is light to medium bodied with just enough carbonation.

Drinkability is OK. Nice beer on a hot day, but not something I'd serve if I wanted to impress. Just average.

Serving type: can

01-18-2010 21:32:03 | More by Richter35

tjd112

New Jersey

3.48/5  rDev +17.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Why Sleeman would put this in a clear bottle is beyond me!!!

Appearance - Pours a hard amber with lots of head, but little lacing

Smell/Taste - Like honey and caramel, with some bready malts

Mouthfeel - A little uneven and watery

Drinkability - Only if the bar didn't have many other options

Overall - an average beer

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2009 21:40:37 | More by tjd112

ludachris

Ontario (Canada)

2/5  rDev -32.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

Sadly, this is the last beer in my fridge. I figured I'd finish it off before I haul in the next load.

Pours a deep golden/light amber with a 1 finger white head. Decent retention, but minimal lacing. Lively amount of carbonation is clearly visible.

Strong scent of overly sweet honey and caramel in the nose with a touch of grain, buttery malt and a metallic presence.

Artificial honey and caramel right upfront that only becomes more pronounced as the beer warms; almost to the point of cloying. A hint of grain, grassy hops and metallic character cap off the finish. The few flavours that are going on here are less than decent.

Mouthfeel is light, very wet and completely unbalanced. This sucker is going down the drain.

It's sad to think that I use to like this stuff. The last time I had it was Thanksgiving and I had to pour it in the grass when no one was looking. Too sweet, awful mouthfeel and extremely overpriced. If you can, stay away, but if not, don't judge Canadian beers based off of this.

Serving type: can

12-02-2009 02:20:18 | More by ludachris

mrmanning

Ontario (Canada)

2.85/5  rDev -4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a slightly cloudy, orangey/red body with a thin and watery looking head. Aroma is sweet, and slightly hoppy, with a hint of honey. Taste is a little bit of honey, but could be more. More hops and water than honey to be honest. Smooth and refreshing.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2009 15:31:10 | More by mrmanning

Kooz

New York

2.8/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Light brownish-orange color, thick head (even from a mild pour) dissipates quickly. No discernible smell.

Tastes okay. Not terrific, but okay. Nice aftertaste of caramel. A little too bitter up front.

This is a fairly innocuous beer. I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but would not hesitate to have it with dinner.

Serving type: can

10-18-2009 17:09:57 | More by Kooz

JayQue

Virginia

3.35/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Not bad. Had one with lunch at the Secret Garden in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Looked pretty good, a nice caramel / amber color with a decent size white head. Average retention and a little lacing.

Smell wasn't much. Tasted ok, sweet caramel malt with a little bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel was a hair thin but nice and crisp and no skunkiness or aftertaste.

Drinkability was pretty good to wash down food or as a session beer. Nothing great but not bad either.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2009 02:22:41 | More by JayQue

nighthawk

Nova Scotia (Canada)

2.8/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

473mL can poured into pint glass. No freshness date to be found.

Pours a clear caramel colour that's a bit on the orange/red side. Head is quite generous and foamy to start, and a small ring retains well.

Smell is virtually non-existant. Mildly sweet in a refined sugar sort of way.

Taste is a bland sweet malt that's sort of caramel-like, with a similarly bland leafy hop before the sweet finish. Plays chicken with cloying, but just manages to restrain itself.

Mouthfeel is medium-light bodied, plenty of stickiness (but not syrupy) and balancing carbonation fizz. Probably the best part of the beer.

It's drinkable enough, I guess. I've shared pitchers of the stuff with friends before, and it's not terrible as an accompaniment to pub food. Don't pay too much attention and it goes down the hatch easily.

Serving type: can

10-02-2009 18:41:23 | More by nighthawk

decimator

Ontario (Canada)

3.15/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

473ml poured into a pint glass.

A - Poured a golden brown colour with a 1.25" foamy white head. Lots of lacing on the glass.

S - Aroma has lots of sweetness (like caramel & sugar) and malts. Not really picking up honey per say. Hint of hops in the background.

T - Tastes similar to the aroma. Sweetness up front and a hint of hops in the finish. It's a bit one dimensional though. It improves somewhat as the beer warms up.

M - Good carbonation and stickiness that I'd expect from a sweeter brew.

D - It's drinkable. I don't mind it. I can only drink a couple though before I get bored of it.

It's not a bad beer for a Canadian macro. A bit one dimensional but a pleasant change from the typical blond Lagers.

Serving type: can

09-30-2009 01:18:21 | More by decimator

funkengruven

Ontario (Canada)

3.43/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Picked up a 24 of this, having not drank this beer in quite some time (give or take 9-10 years) I felt it was time to give it another go, and here it is.

This beer has a nice look to it, it pours a deep amber, lots of thick white head, and a bunch of sticky lace that rides the glass well. Smell is sweet, malty, a hint of some metal in there. Flavor is also quite sweet and malty, a touch of bitterness, it's not that bad actually. Mouthfeel contains some medium carbonation and a sweet aftertaste that carries for a little while. Drinkability is not all that bad however it is quite a sweet brew, best drank with bold food.

For being what it is, a mainstream Canadian mass produced beer, it fits the bill nicely, and it's not all that bad. I'd say worth a try if you've never had it.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2009 19:52:06 | More by funkengruven

RyanBelle

Ontario (Canada)

2.45/5  rDev -17.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Half-Liter can poured into a Czech-Style Pilsener Glass.

This beer is not my cup of tea. Here is why:

A - The only redeeming factor on this is the way it looks. Nice brown color makes you think you are in for something special, perhaps even inspiring and the head sticks around for a few minutes even...read on

S - Bland and sweet. Nothing to rant about at all.

T - Bland until the end when the sweetness takes over to a degree where you know a hangover is in store after drinking more than one of these. The sweetness is very artificial and I sense no honey...I'm thinking more like Sweet-N-Low artificial sweetener to mask the taste of this super plain macro-lager with no personality whatsoever. I would never try this beer again unless it was free, and only one, to avoid a hangover. It has no toasted notes, no bready notes, no citrus notes...but it could be nice on a hot day in small quantities (so could any other macro-lager?).

M - Higher carbonation, but no taste. It's a very simple beer with no real character to it at all in the mouth. It goes in and goes out...doesn't make me anything special of it in between unfortunately.

D - I'll drink one and be dissapointed but will not have a second one in my system until it is free, and again, only in small quantities to avoid the hangover from the supposed "sugar" content.

Notes: Skip this one, in the name of better beers with flavor that deserve your time and energy.

Serving type: can

09-01-2009 02:00:07 | More by RyanBelle

CAMRAhardliner

Ontario (Canada)

2.93/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Purs a shiny bronze color with a head that manages to leave some lace trails on the glass, but doesnt last very long. The smell is sweetish and un-noteworthy. The taste is slightly nutty with some caramel notes that provide at least a hair of nuance to the morrasse of non-descript sweetness. Hops are quite low profile, even in the finish. the mouthfeel is medium bodied and briskly carbonated.

A mediocre macro lager, not much to speak of. Its too sweet to be enjoyable, but it isnt undrinkable.

Serving type: can

06-16-2009 06:13:12 | More by CAMRAhardliner

DoctorStrangiato

Alberta (Canada)

3/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Poured a 341-ml bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance - a tawny-copper colour with a deep honey hue sporting a frothy little head.

Smell - fresh sugary malt over a slight hint of hops.

Taste - quite a watery beginning for the colour it has, then gives way to a sweet malt flavour tempered only by the slightest hint of bitters below.

Mouthfeel - this is too carbonated, but it does make your teeth feel a slight coating of wax. Not really great.

Drinkability - not a great session beer due to the sweetness, waxiness, etc. Has some okay flavour but there are several better choices.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2009 00:25:33 | More by DoctorStrangiato

TheHammer

Ontario (Canada)

3.9/5  rDev +31.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Clear bottle, which is always a welcome change, even if it can potentially harm the beer. Dark Amber Color that is very clear, I can see my fingerprints on the other side of the glass. White frothy head, but dissipates quickly. Leaves no lacing behind, but seems to leave small dots of honey on the inside of the glass.

Smell - Sweet caramel smell with a bit of underlying honey and malt. Sadly not quite as pronounced as I'd like it to be, which is really a shame.

Taste - Sweet as expected, and unsurprisingly similar to the smell, although honey taste is a bit more pronounced. Finishes off with a slight, subtle spice taste at the end. If it had a little more kick, while avoiding more of an aftertaste, it'd be perfect.

Mouthfeel - Needs a little bit more carbonation and leaves something of a sweet toffee like aftertaste, although there is something a little bit off that I can't describe. Thankfully it is quite subdued and refreshing.

Drinkability - Medium bodied, not particularly heavy, but not so light I'd be inclined to guzzle it. This beer is great with a meal, or as a after dinner treat, or to have one or two with the boys, but as an all night option, I'd be hesitant.

Final Thoughts - Seriously, I just wish I could concentrate this beer slightly more. If the scent was a bit stronger, and the flavor more pronounced it would certainly get a better rating. That being said, I'd gladly pick up more of this stuff or order it at a restaurant with my meal.

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2009 02:04:16 | More by TheHammer

BierFan

Michigan

3.13/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

No freshness date on the bottle. Poured from an 11.5 ounce brown bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: Hazy dark orange with a small off-white head that doesn't stick around for long.

Smell: Sweet and malty. I would say it smells a fair bit like a Scottish ale.

Taste: More sweet and maltiness. I can't really pick out the honey flavor. Little bitterness on the finish.

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2009 04:33:57 | More by BierFan

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

For what seems like forever and a day, this beer has been the go-to when faced with nothing but the big boys on tap at the finer establishments around town who show PPV Oiler games...

This beer pours a crystal clear medium copper hue, with lots of foamy white head. The smell is mild sweet grain, and a bit of heather honey. The taste has a slight floral hoppiness, with a decent malt offset, and a straightforward plain honey sweetness. It's a little high on the carbonation, and the sweetness carries through the finish. This beer is pleasantly innocuous, and it's quite easy to put back a few of these.

Serving type: can

01-16-2009 05:47:11 | More by biboergosum