Kokanee Glacier Beer - Columbia Brewery

notchucknorris

California

2.95/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A: Pale golden color with a 1/2 finger white head.

S: Grain and some corn with a bit of honey towards the finish.

T: Sweet and pretty smooth. Grains with some faint maltiness in the back. The sweetness is a little cloying. I'd pick this over a Bud Light, but not over too much else.

Serving type: on-tap

07-11-2011 23:05:45 | More by notchucknorris

WoodBrew

Illinois

2.9/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Had a chance to try Kokanee whilst in Calgary for a conference at the local Earls Bar and Restaurant. Kokanee's appearance is quite nice, it is golden clear with no head. There really was no smell, grainy if anything. The taste carried a solid grain with well balanced hops....went great with my ribs. The mouthfeel was very smoot and easy drinking.

Serving type: on-tap

06-21-2011 23:06:12 | More by WoodBrew

Olek4374

Alberta (Canada)

2.45/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 2.25

Kokanee is a popular macro here in Edmonton, and everyone has had it at one point or another. It pours a pale yellow with not much smell to report. It's got dat corney taste that adjunct lagers have, but it is not as pronounced as some of the cheaper beers. Aftertaste is tolerable.

I'd grab this sooner than a bud or canadian. It's best cold and is very refreshing.

Serving type: can

05-07-2013 21:19:24 | More by Olek4374

allforbetterbeer

Colorado

3.2/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Well I have not reviewed a real adjunct lager in a while. Poured from a bottle.

A thin layer of white head caps a fizzy "well-hydrated person's urine" yellow body. The head disappears in record time.

Smells a little like a skunk splashed with PBR. Actually there is a sweet corn aroma that dominates and it really isn't so bad.

Light malty flavors of corn, rice, and barley paired with a generic "hop" flavor (not like actual hop flowers, but rather a bitter shadow of them). Every bit as complex as the usual American examples of this style.

The mouthfeel is fizzy and light. Light body.

Conclusion: Reminds me of Heineken more than MGD or Bud. Not terrible but nothing different than the usual. I really enjoy beers like this from time to time actually. No major flaws, nothing to differentiate it from the next adjunct lager.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2012 06:03:47 | More by allforbetterbeer

womencantsail

California

2.18/5  rDev -20.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

The pour is the appropriate pale yellow color with a short lived, but voluminous white head. An extremely powerful skunk aroma to this. A fair amount of grass along with some lemon, yeast, and sulfur. The flavor is mostly just sweet cereal notes with a bit of rice. Quite a bit of grass, lemon, and tons of skunkiness to go along with it all.

Serving type: bottle

07-16-2012 21:16:29 | More by womencantsail

DCon

Missouri

2.58/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Enjoyed a 11.5 FL. OZ. - 340 ML bottle of this @ a friend’s house in Yakima, WA. Poured from the Blue/White Glazier labeled bottle into a 16oz Pint Glass. Has F05G21 on the front of the label (hardly visible) but doesn’t seem like a sign of a best by date...

Aroma- Almost no aroma present... Only thing I found was a sweet, watered down malt character. Below average for the style but should be some other things here!

Appearance- Pours a .5 finger head that dies quick. Has a pale straw colored body with great clarity. Leaves a bit of lacing behind.

Flavor- Very dry and has a sweet malty taste all the way through. No bitterness or hop, very average.

Mouthfeel- Light Bodied, High Carbonation, Corn, and this is all...

Overall Impression- A decent adjunct, but nothing special. Its always fun comparing different lagers from other countries and this one fell a bit below average. Give it a try yourself!

Serving type: bottle

07-13-2012 01:22:50 | More by DCon

Duff27

Illinois

3.48/5  rDev +27%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

(reviewed to style)

A- Very pale. Short white fizzy head. A few streams of effervescence. Decent head retention per the style, minimal lacing.

S- Smells grainy/grassy/biscuity.

T- More biscuits and grassiness. Hops and malt sweetness balance nicely I beleive. Not too off-putting actually.

M- Medium to medium-thin mouthfeel with just enough carbonation.

D/O- A lot of what sets these AALs apart from each other I feel is the amount of sweetness the malts give off. Kokanee is not over the top with sweetness but settles in at a pretty happy medium. Very drinkable but would pass for more flavorful beer in almost every instance.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2012 04:12:11 | More by Duff27

Tone

Missouri

2.7/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a clear, straw color. 1/4 inch head of a white color. Slight retention and slight lacing. Smells of pale malt, grain, rice, and a hint of hops. Fits the style of an American Adjunct Lager. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of rice, grain, hint of pale malt, and a hint of hop. Overall, well blended, but not complex and the appearance and aroma are lacking.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2011 18:11:20 | More by Tone

thisismyname

British Columbia (Canada)

2.42/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

This is one of my go-to beers if I'm going to a party... Not really expecting much, but here goes nothing.

Poured from 2 cans into a giant frosted mug.

Pours a crystal clear bright golden piss colour. A huge white head is present at first and promptly vanishes, leaving the odd speckle of lace here and there. Looks like most other macro lagers you can get.

Doesn't smell like much. Mostly of corn and musty alcohol.
Tastes very VERY light, almost like beer-flavoured water. Not many flavours are distinguishable when the beer is ice cold (which is probably the idea) but once it warms up a bit, corn, a touch of sweet malt, and lots of metal make their way onto the palate. Still tastes better than most macro lagers though.

The first couple sips almost burn your tongue, there is so much carbonation. It has the consistency of club soda.

Overall it's not worth thinking twice about buying. That being said, I personally prefer this to Bud, Molson Canadian, Coors, and what not.

Serving type: bottle

12-06-2011 02:17:26 | More by thisismyname

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

2.4/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Given to me as a gift, a good gesture for sure but the beer itself was a bit on the blah side. Poured out as a pale yellow color with bubbles rising to the top and some foam on top. The head fades and doesn't leave any lacing at all. The smell of the beer was a little skunked... Not the best aroma here at all. The taste of this was a little bitter but had flavors of corn, and some other grains. The mouthfeel is like a club soda. Overall I'm happy that it was a gift and I didn't pay for it.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2011 22:38:24 | More by Knapp85

Scrylol

Alberta (Canada)

2/5  rDev -27%
look: 3 | smell: 1 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a nice yellow-golden color, 1.5 finger head, decent retention, and lot's of lacing. Lot's of bubbles.

Bit of grain on the smell, some sort of metallic smell, and lot's of skunkiness, more than other beers of the same style (like Coors for example).

Lot's of grain, touch of skunk, and quite a bit of metallic water in the taste. No real hint of hops, and there's an ever so slight sweetness to it.

Decent carbonation, goes down real easy and smooth.

Probably something you can drink at a party or as a lawn mower beer, otherwise not much to say for this beer.

Serving type: can

08-30-2011 19:35:23 | More by Scrylol

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

2.6/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Kinda weird to find this stuff at the local Mexifood mart, but that's where it turned up. Faint straw yellow pour with a ton of head/carbonation with large bubbles that quickly recede. Aroma was largely mild, some cooked corn stuff happening.

Metallic water beer, no hops, but the bitterness and skunkiness is larger than expected, minimal cereal and corn chex mouthfeel going on here. Functionally sweet. Nothing offensive. Nothing impressive. Easy enough to drink, but why is this almost $7 a 6pack exactly?

Kind of like a lighter version of Labatt's for my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2011 00:11:13 | More by Beerandraiderfan

BigBry

Alberta (Canada)

3.1/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Had to grab another 6 pack of cans with the new "Crankworx" labelling.

Pours clear gold, short head that disipates quickly, leaves some thin sticky lace. Smell of wet grass and grains. Taste sweet and mild maltiness. Good carbonation gives it a clean, crisp, and thirst quenching appeal (is that what "glacier fresh" means?). Sour, grainy finish to it. Nothing really special, but a good canadian style pilsner type macro. Label still lists the Columbia Brewery in Creston, BC.

Serving type: can

06-13-2011 19:06:35 | More by BigBry

Converge

Alberta (Canada)

2.5/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

355ml can poured into a pint glass.

A - Pours with just over a finger of fizzy, bone-white head with surprisingly decent retention. Very clean, light golden yellow. Looks like apple juice.

S - Adjunct grains with a touch of sweetness. Pretty boring.

T - Simple lager taste as expected. Light cereal sweetness with adjunct grains. Not a lot to say...

M - Well carbonated, but the body feels very thin and watery; atleast it's refreshing though.

D - It's a fairly boring lager, as expected. I don't hate it, but it's nothing special at all.

Serving type: can

04-18-2011 00:05:46 | More by Converge

beertunes

Washington

3.03/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured into 10oz glass. Pours the expected clean, clear light golden yellow of the style with over an inch of fluffy white head that had surprisingly good retention and no lacing.

The aroma had a slight nice grain scent, but was mostly the expected sweet smell of the style. On the tongue, again, a bit of grain, mostly sweet, a very slight touch of skunk and a for bit of bland. In other words, typical for the style.

The body was, as expected thin, but typical. Drinkabilty was what you expect from the style, smooth and easy, but why bother?

Overall, this isn't the worst example of the style I've tried. I you're in the mood for a Fizzy Yellow Beer, or if you're someplace without craft beer options, you could do worse than this.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2011 21:51:38 | More by beertunes

BeardedBoffin

Minnesota

2.1/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

The beer pours a yellowy mix with a wispy head. The aroma portends some unpleasantness to come. The adjunct dominates along with some overall skunkiness. More of the same on the palate. It is hard to stay positive with this one--I had trouble finishing it.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2010 03:58:37 | More by BeardedBoffin

LittleDon

Texas

2.4/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Served in a pilsner at a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver, BC. Straw colored with a bleached white head with some retention. No lace. A bit of honey sweetness in the aroma but nothing more. Lightly hopped front and nothing in the middle and back, waterlike. Very, very clean. Too clean. Thin mouthfeel. Better than most adjunct lagers, but not terribly interesting as beers go.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2010 04:39:40 | More by LittleDon

industrialswill

Washington

4/5  rDev +46%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I can't believe I haven't rated this old friend yet.
Appearance...no beer looks finer after a long, hot day in the field, or floating the local rivers.
Smells like a typical light lager, taste is very mild. There is nothing extreme or complex about this beer, but it satisfies my cravings for a light, clean, crisp, simple lager.
As a bonus, these can still be found for less than $10 for a 12 pack.

Serving type: bottle

07-08-2010 00:04:01 | More by industrialswill

ChrisCage

Alberta (Canada)

3.08/5  rDev +12.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 5

A- Poured this fairly hard and I was impressed with the thick foamy white head, but unfortunately it doesn't stick around long, settling to a thin layer over the brew. The color is a very clear, light grassy tone and there is ample carbonation...the bubbles are very big as well. Moderate sticky lacing clings to the side of the glass.

S- I've smelled worse and also smelled better beers. The overall aroma is mild, however, the sweet malts are at the forefront and are quite noticeable. There is also a clean, crisp grainy aroma detectable. Really nothing to report as far as a hopped finish goes.

T- Tastes about the same as it smells....very clean and crisp, but sweeter than the aroma lets on. The malts are at the forefront, followed by some dry grassy undertones. There is some very slight hopped bitterness on the finish but nothing much else to say.

M- This beer is slightly thicker than watery but I wouldn't label it as medium bodied. Very zippy carbonation scrubs the palate well and is also very dry. Not a bad mouthfeel for this style.

D- Well this isn't a hard beer to drink....it does the job well for a semi-macro beer....at least it's a well known regional beer. It's better than most macros out there and is a great summer time beer or for watching a hockey game on TV. This is a popular beer with the younger crowd and is a suitable party beer.

Serving type: can

04-22-2010 01:42:45 | More by ChrisCage

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

2.98/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

CANadian beer in a CAN! CAN it get any better?

From the CAN: "Every drop of Kokanee is brewed right here in Creston, B.C. Cool, crisp glacier-fresh taste exclusively from B.C.'s mountain brewery."

Two fingers' worth of fluffy, bone-white head with good retention. Color was a slightly hazy golden-yellow. Nose was very cereal-like along with the underlying lager sweetness. Deja vu all over again! Mouthfeel was medium with a slight metallic sharpness along with the standard adjunct lager sweetness. Oof. I CANnot say that this was my first time down this road, but it is tiresome, plus CAN't the CANadians do better than this? Why would they want to copy our weakest style when they did not have Prohibition? Finish was slightly sweet, nothing unusual. Overall, a big ho hum.

Serving type: can

03-21-2010 19:32:39 | More by woodychandler

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

2.9/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

500ml can poured into 500ml schneider weisse glass on aug17 2009

A clear straw yellow, with a big bubbly head that had some retention and even some lace. heavy bubbles float up from every point within the glass, not what i expected

S not as nice quite plain, mild hops and some sweet grains

T as it smells really, another big name beer nothing great going on here. from a king it has time to warm up, this is not a good thing, drink ice cold

MD a little to much carbonation for me and nothing nice to say about the last few sips

another plain lager try it if you must

Serving type: can

08-18-2009 04:02:17 | More by wordemupg

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

2.05/5  rDev -25.2%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

I loved the commercials for this stuff back in the 90's. "We're out here, and the beer is in there!" "Hi, I'm Kelly, and this is my friend, Mike". Mmmm...Kelly...but I digress...

This beer pours a crystal clear pale straw "colour", with lots of thin soapy white head, that disappears a lot quicker than this stuff seems to out of the ski lodge fridge. The aroma is of strained overcooked vegetables. The taste is astringent, sour, with more cooked veggies. Any malt or hops are hard to discern. The carbonation is all right, not that it matters in this case, only that it doesn't make things worse, I guess. There is a bitter aftertaste, unrelated to any hops that I've ever tasted, and the carbonation finally makes its appearance after the fact, just in time to make my stomach feel as bad as my taste buds do.

Oh - and the Kokanee Ranger? Good riddance.

Serving type: can

01-16-2009 22:55:06 | More by biboergosum

KeefD

Minnesota

1.93/5  rDev -29.6%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

The palest yellow I've seen from a macro with a two finger white head and pretty decent looking lacing. Appearance score would be lower if it weren't for the good foam. Slightly floral in the nose, a bit of honey, but really nothing there. Pretty same for the taste. Water mixed with light corn and barley. Very clean crisp, goes down easy. I could drink quite of few in these in one sitting, but why would I want to?

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2008 20:14:59 | More by KeefD

ZAP

Minnesota

1.27/5  rDev -53.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

One of the worst Canadien beers I have had. It has a watery, seltzer like mouthfeel that is really hard to get beyond....Aromoa is husky and grainy but the flavor is really lacking...very light tasting and what taste there is features a cheapish Red, White and Blue or generic beer of the 70's element.

I like a Moosehead from time to time and can enjoy a Molson Candadien or Labatt Blue in the right circumstances but this is one beer I cannot enjoy. Not recommended...brewerd by Labatt I think....reminds me of 1/3 labatt Blue and 2/3 water...I'd much rather drink many of the American Macro lights than this one and this isn't even supposed to be a light beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2008 22:46:52 | More by ZAP

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

2.28/5  rDev -16.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pale maize beneath an ivory colored cap that reached four fingers following a vigorous pour. The crown actually looks pretty good and is lasting much longer than expected. Since beer of this style is almost always light amber, head and lace usually end up determining the appearance score. It's hard to find much fault with the look.

The aroma isn't too bad, considering. Sure, it's grain-like, but there's nothing offensive about it. It smells fresh and lightly sweet, almost like a cream ale. For what it's worth, Columbia calls KGB a 'Pilsner Style Lager'. No one really expects a brewery to call their beer an American adjunct lager, do they? Especially if they're Canadian, eh.

Things begin to fall apart when beer hits buds. Kokanee becomes much more grainy and has a harsh, ragged sort of hoppiness. Don't these guys know that most people don't like bitterness and 'aftertaste'? They must be doing something right, though, because this little lager is hailed as 'British Columbia's most popular beer'. And we all know that popularity is the same thing as quality, right?

This is the sort of offering that should be kept as cold as possible (while maintaining the liquid state). I start most low-ABV beer out at 45-50 degrees when I review and a nasty quality is already starting to creep in. The final two-thirds of the can will be a chore to drink. I'd like to suggest more malt sweetness and less hop bitterness. Or better quality hops.

The body/mouthfeel is close to watery leading up to the finish, then frankly watery on the finish. While it seemed acceptably bubbled initially, the carbonation has now lost interest. Truthfully, so have I.

The fact that Kokanee Glacier Beer is the best selling beer in British Columbia makes about as much sense as Budweiser being the best selling beer in America. Bottom line: this is drinkable in a pinch, but I hope I'm never in that much of a pinch.

Serving type: can

07-16-2008 12:07:10 | More by BuckeyeNation