Northwoods Lager - Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company

jasonpeckins32

Michigan

2.75/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Pours a few shades darker than gold, nearly a copper hue to it. Completeley transparent. Looks thin-bodied with mild carbonation.

The nose is very mild. Smells like an average, every day run of the mill brew.

The taste is very malty and full up front, followed by a very clean finish. Mouthfeel is soft and almost oily. Could definitly use more carbonation.

Drinkability is decent. Not my favorite beer, nothing exciting, but nothing to complain about either. Ive had a lot worse.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2008 03:50:06 | More by jasonpeckins32

matjack85

Illinois

2.75/5  rDev -13.5%

02-11-2013 21:17:59 | More by matjack85

spikechiquet

Indiana

3/5  rDev -5.7%

12-22-2012 05:40:24 | More by spikechiquet

bzach

Indiana

2.75/5  rDev -13.5%

10-16-2012 05:05:20 | More by bzach

mojohawk21

Missouri

4.5/5  rDev +41.5%

10-07-2012 16:00:35 | More by mojohawk21

bigbeers84

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev +17.9%

10-01-2012 05:05:15 | More by bigbeers84

enelson

Illinois

4/5  rDev +25.8%

09-19-2012 14:26:30 | More by enelson

deanis30

Minnesota

2.75/5  rDev -13.5%

03-19-2012 01:03:53 | More by deanis30

aliving1

Minnesota

3.5/5  rDev +10.1%

01-03-2012 04:42:36 | More by aliving1

RievyRW

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +25.8%

12-03-2011 23:17:31 | More by RievyRW

barnzy78

Illinois

3/5  rDev -5.7%

11-27-2011 06:03:10 | More by barnzy78

KC9LDB

Illinois

5/5  rDev +57.2%

11-21-2011 22:57:51 | More by KC9LDB

BeerLover99

New Jersey

3.58/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: golden yellow with hue of orange, big fluffy head, ok lacing.

S: grainy, citrus, hint of pine.

T/M: hint of sweet grain, citrus, light bread, light/medium body, lots of carbonation.

D: This is an amazing offering from Leinenkugel. This should be their standard lager. One of the best American Pale Lagers out there.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2010 18:11:54 | More by BeerLover99

kmeves

Wisconsin

3.1/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear golden with a fluffy white head. Mildly sweet aroma has some lager yeast profile to it. Nice, crisp malty body has a good hoppy balance. Finishes smooth and bittersweet. Typical of leinie's beers. Too plain for the serious beer drinker and too flavorful for the masses.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2009 19:33:17 | More by kmeves

keoki182

Wisconsin

2.75/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Leinenkugel's Northwoods is a more flavorful lager than most of the well-known lagers on supermarket shelves. It looks and smells like a normal American lager (read: macro) but has a richer lager flavor. That is, it's grassy and grainy smelling. It's drinkable, but I usually pass when I see it. *Leinie's did recently reintroduce a batch as a limited edition but I was unable to review it.

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2008 22:34:55 | More by keoki182

witster18

Tennessee

2.93/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

one of the better leiny offerings... I'm still stuck wondering why everyone likes Sunset wheat...? Northwoods lager is standard lager fare...pours a gold with a slight tint of copper.. lots of bubbles, minimal head that leaves quite quickly. The nose is a bit of floral rosiness with that earthy corn lager graininess.... taste is like the nose. A bit sweeter than the average American Lager and a bit more distinctive for sure. A bit of malt and Hops can be detected(thankGod)... I wouldn't go out of my way to get this but I wouldn't turn it down like I would the Sunset wheat.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2008 17:54:46 | More by witster18

pweis909

Wisconsin

3.5/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This poured a light amber-dark gold color with a medium head. The aroma is lightly malty and the taste has a light sweetness to it. There is little hoppiness to this beer. In the mouth, it is smooth, and it goes down easy. Reasonably drinkable. A decent, if not distinctive, example of American lager.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2008 02:26:14 | More by pweis909

Greggy

Minnesota

3.03/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- 1 finger head, orange color, no sediment.

S- Floral apricot, with touch of light orange, light hopiness, and decent balance of malt and hops.

T- Pretty Austere here. w/ just a hint of maltiness.

M- Low carb, slightly smooth

D- This could be sessionable, but it isn't great. Clearly, in my opinion, a beer targeted for BMC drinkers.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2008 05:47:57 | More by Greggy

ommegoose

Illinois

3.2/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Six-pack purchased at Evanston First Liquors. No decipherable dating.

A much deeper gold than most lagers. Plenty of orange to it. I could see where Mmarzen comparisons are being drawn, but it's not quite that dark. Big carbonation bubbles make their way up from the bottom at a pretty rapid clip. Probably a bit more than you'd like to see. Makes up for it with above average head retention and lacing for a lager. Nice job here. I also find the label and packaging quite attractive. Leine's is a solid performer in this regard as well. It was the deciding factor between this and a similarly priced beer, so someone's doing a good job up there.

The nose is pretty much musty grains, which is a bummer since plenty of good stuff went into this beer. The label claims Cascade and Cluster hops, and Caramel, Munich, Carapil, and Pale malts. I'm not getting any hops, and the malt profile comes off as a below average Marzen. Almost smells like corn, which it shouldn't. Some mineral notes.

Yeah, this is about what I expected. An above average tasting lager, but really nothing to get excited about. There's caramel malt sweetness at the beginning, a toasty grainy middle part of the body, and subtle hops in back that mainly show up in the finish. The Cascades show up at the end. Not in a large way, but it's noticeable and pleasant, and balanced by sweetness.

Feels pretty good. The carbonation ends up not being as intrusive as the pour suggests.

Easy drinker. This would make a great summer/BBQ beer. The weather is not quite there yet, but I still had no problem downing four of these in a sitting yesterday. I wrote this review on bottle no. 5. I wish they could ship this out to some of the bars, because I'd way rather drink pitchers of this than settle for 312 or whatever becomes the trendy summer beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2008 06:51:07 | More by ommegoose

Tilley4

Tennessee

3.8/5  rDev +19.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Big thanks to Lordsloth for including this one in the Virgin BIF! This would make a terrific summer brew for grilling out or relaxing on the back porch with some friends. Nothing complicated or overdone, just a well crafted brew.

Clear golden color with a weak attempt at a head, decent carbonation... Looks a little darker than most lagers..

Maltier aroma than I would expect from this. It actually smells like an Oktoberfest. Very bready and malty.

Very smooth sweet malty taste with a mild carbonation bite and a nice little hop finish.

Very sessionable, not too heavy. Liked it..

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2008 01:44:51 | More by Tilley4

demcorhip

Ontario (Canada)

3.68/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Figured i would see what this was about, unfortunately it was the best option available in a liquor store with somewhat poor selection. A pale amber lager poured with a half finger almost white head. Decent retention, especially considering how scant the head was. Somewhat actively carbonated with fine bubbles. Some decent and intricate lace sticks to the inside of my glass.

Bready malts, a hint of more roasted malt is also present, reminding me of roasted peanuts. Scent of cream corn and some grassy hops also present. Note that after catching the floral citrus hop taste it does indeed reveal itself in the nose.

Wow, im pleasantly surprised here. A pleasing floral citrus flavour revealed itself along with the grassy hop finish. Bready malts are predominant, but the mild toasted and nutty flavour adds complexity to this brew. The vegetal qualities in the nose are still present to remind the drinker that this is indeed a lager.

Almost medium bodied, with a medium level of carbonation. Malt forward, and somewhat sweet, yet still a pretty clean and crisp brew. Fairly smooth, almost creamy, yet has a toasty edge.

This lager was made for quaffing, and has just enough flavour and body to hold a drinkers interest while doing so. Definitely a few steps above fizzy yellow water. This is a well made, approachable lager that is easily drinkable and sessionable. Hope it gets brewed during the summer months, as this would be a good brew to start and finish with at family gatherings, or just to enjoy something on a hot day. A pleasant surprise.

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2008 20:24:22 | More by demcorhip

Mdog

Minnesota

3.18/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Gold, nice carbonation, big head, good lacing. Very nice looking beer!

Smell: Not much, some sweet grain.

Taste: Follows the smell, a little grainy sweetness, little to no bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Light and crisp.

Drinkability: Quite easy to have several in a sitting.

I picked up a single of this, it's way better than Leinie's Original but not really a special beer to seek out. A pretty good lager for a change of pace from BMC products. (Yes I know Leinie's is under Miller's umbrella).

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2008 23:22:30 | More by Mdog

slyke

Minnesota

2.68/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Northwoods Lager pours a clear golden color with a finger of white head.

The smell is malty, but nothing remarkable jumps out from the beer. Taste is also unremarkable - nothing objectionable, but nothing special either. The same maltiness comes through in the taste.

Mouthfeel is light-bodied with moderate carbonation.

Drinkability for this beer is okay. I have no problem finish one, but I will not seek this beer out.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2008 20:58:34 | More by slyke

botham

Illinois

3.18/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle poured into a pilsner. pours a bright amber color with a couple fingers of tight white head.

aroma is malty, with a bit of a floral character. the malt is lightly sweet with a slight grainy note, creating a solid lager profile. a distant fruitiness is present upon a bit of warming.

taste is malty, with the same floral note from the yeast. an overall grainy profile finishes off the body of flavors, with distant notes of fruit and a bit of caramel malt show up a bit into the bottle.

mouthfeel is light bodied with a smooth texture and a light bite from CO2. finishes clean with only a bit of grain residing.

drinkability is decent. this is a smooth lager that is more flavorful than many more out there, but it still contains a grainy character that borders on the threshold of staleness. overall average for a Leinenkugel's brew.

Serving type: bottle

02-21-2008 02:57:03 | More by botham

Homerbag

Wisconsin

3.4/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Has a light amber body with small highly carbonated head, with low retention.

Smell is of bready malt, some fresh cut grass smell. Nothing complex. Taste is not that bad. It is rather on the maltier end of things, almost approaching Marzen qualities. Lots of toasted malts with some grassy hop tones that come in after the palate is a little more dry. Feel is on the carbonated side. Drier finish.

Good session beer. There is a lot of hype to this release and it doesn't really live up to it. It's not a bad beer, but not really a good one. A nice beer if you don't really want to think about what you are drinking. A good lawn mower beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2008 07:43:09 | More by Homerbag