Summer Honey Ale - Big Sky Brewing Company

rowew

Colorado

3.68/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Presentation: 12 oz long neck bottle with a beer grazing on the front. Made with real honey and spices. Indecipherable freshness code.

Appearance: Clear gold color with a great head.

Smell: Aroma is raw honey - sweet and slightly spicey.

Taste: Slight wheat flavor with the honey coming through strongly. Not cloyingly sweet like some honey beers.

Overall impression: One of the better honey beers I have tried. Nice drinkable summer brew.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2005 02:42:10 | More by rowew

RootedFool

California

4/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a standard pint glass. Honey gold body. Nice, feathery off-white head. Thin lacing. Smell: gritty graininess, thin malt sweetness, slight hop earthiness -- nice. Taste: quick pinch of hop bitterness upfront, followed by a honey-like sweetness, hint of vanilla; dry finish with a nice toasty graininess. Mouthfeel: slick and clean, middling carbonation. Good summer brew.

Serving type: bottle

08-18-2005 03:59:31 | More by RootedFool

DogFood11

California

3.98/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Picked this puppy out at BevMo because it was from montana and I dont think I've had a beer from there yet...good a reason as any is suppose. Plus with the weather we are having a good summer honey ale sounds great.

I wasn't dissapointed....It is what its trying to be....a bit spicey yet sweet almost to the point of annoying but like george castanza's dad it pulls up short....nice, refreshing carbonation levels. I did this six pack in tonight and would like another, in my book thats some super drinkability. Far from a big beer, this is lawnmower material and it does what you think it will, refresh without boring you.

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2005 03:20:49 | More by DogFood11

KoG

Nevada

3.98/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Hazy yellow, almost the color of honey. Produced a good head that didn't last long and left a slight lace.

Smell is honey and a bit of wheat and sweet malts. A good smell even without the slight hint of hop.

Taste is creamy and a touch sweet fading into a nice hop bitterness that goes down smooth.

A nice summer seasonal that is quite drinkable. Seemed a bit more like a cream ale than an APA to me.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2005 03:58:44 | More by KoG

alexgash

Connecticut

4/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a vibrant, sparkling, golden yellow, with a coppery sheen. Tight-packed, persistent guaze-white head. Nice. Soft, tangy malt aromas underscore definite honey and some peppery spices--maybe coriander. Interesting and good. Peppery spices dot biscuity malt flavors up front. Light, honeyish sweetness gives way to an herbal, peppery bitterness. Soft mouthfeel on a medium body. I could swear there's some wheat in here. Nice summer ale that thankfully is not just another American pale wheat ale.

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2005 19:16:16 | More by alexgash

battlekow

Wisconsin

3.85/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Got this beer on a 90-degree day on a trip to the grocery store, figuring it would be refreshing. Upon arriving home, I discovered that I had been locked out of the house. Fearing for the beer's life, I managed to get a window open and crawl in. It was worth it, this beer is pretty good.

It's pale gold with a big, creamy head. Good lacing. Looks like the kind of beer I want to drink after mowing the lawn. Doesn't smell too much, a little bit of spiciness, but tastes great. The scent is representative of the flavor, a very easy-drinking beer with a bit of spice. Excellent and refreshing on this particular day.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2005 18:46:43 | More by battlekow

GClarkage

California

4.3/5  rDev +27.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

11/08/04- Sampled at the Big Sky Brewery on tap.

*taken from notes in August 2004.

Appearance- Pours with a small, quickly disappearing head and not much lacing. A decent dark golden color.

Smell- Lots of sweet honey and spices throughout.

Taste- One of the first beers that claim they have honey that you can actually taste! Not really any hop or malt taste here, which I find a little weird. Very sweet and spicy taste with maybe even a bit of citrus in there holding everything together.

Mouthfeel- Pretty decent carbonation which makes it very easy to go down. A little less carb and a little warmer at tasting would make this a higher rating.

Drinkability- All in all a great beer with different and great flavors. This may take over my top Montana beer.

Serving type: on-tap

11-08-2004 18:18:06 | More by GClarkage

WesWes

New York

4.33/5  rDev +28.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The beer pours a pale gold color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a pale and bisquit malt scent with some honey notes and a musty breadlike finish. The taste is excellent. It has a very smooth pale and bisquit malt flavor that is slightly sweet and very drinkable. It goes down easy and finishes spicey and breadlike. The mouthfeel is good. It is a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a damn fine summer seasonal. It has real good flavor and aroma; a good drinker.

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2004 22:26:22 | More by WesWes

woemad

Washington

3.6/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The bartender at The Viking in Spokane gave me a bottle of this on the house. The label features a bear doing something to a tree that's just plain wrong.


Poured a slightly dark yellow color, with a moderate white head. A very slight amount of lace.

Smell was of a honeyish sweetness, coupled with a more submissive spicy bitterness.

The first thing to greet the tastebuds is a honey flavored sweetness that, while not quite something I'd call mild, nevertheless is not over the top. This is quickly followed by a very mild peppery hop bitterness. Not a bad tasting beer, but it didn't send my tastebuds into ecstacy either.

This is a medium bodied beer. Nothing to complain about here. Nothing earthshattering either.

This is a perfectly drinkable beer, though it's nothing fantastic. I'm just not a fan of honey beers. It was quite good at the price I got it at, but I'm not sure I'd seek it out and pay actual money for it.

Serving type: bottle

06-28-2004 01:06:28 | More by woemad

freed

Oregon

3.78/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

We pulled a couple of these to try out, and frankly, I'm glad we did. This could be an excellent gateway beer, and I imagine I'll try and have some around for family.

The beer is dull yellow, has a mild amount of head, and gives off just a little aroma. The scent is mostly malt, but there is also some of the sweetness to the smell from the honey.

The taste is very pleasant, mild, and smooth. The honey aids in its smoothness, but doesn't dominate the taste. There isn't any noticeable hop flavors or bitterness, and the mild maltienss is rather nice.

I recommend this for the people in your lives who don't understand why you like beer so much. It may help them.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2004 23:36:40 | More by freed

Reidrover

Oregon

3.65/5  rDev +8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bought in the 12 oz brown bottle..nice label with a bear taking some honey froma tree trunk.
Beer is a nice golden colour''like honey in fact..nice small sized frothy pure white head.
This is a real nice smelling beer..very malty and with honey and some spiciness.
Taste is not quite as good as the aroma..but it has all the above mentioned and a small hop bite at the end
Veru luxurious mouthfeel to the beer..smooth and creamy..nice.
Quite a drinkable honey beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2003 01:41:38 | More by Reidrover

jeffboo

Minnesota

3.43/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A lighht golden brew with white head. Aromas of honey and light grassy hops and bready yeast but nothing special. It has a light refreshing body holding bready malt and yeast flavors with a good malt backbone. It finishes with a toasted malt and lightly honey flavors, a nice summer beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2003 20:57:25 | More by jeffboo

BeerManDan

California

4/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

When I poured this beer into a glass, the color was a light golden yellow with a little foam.

The smell of honey and spices filled the nose with a pleasant aroma. The same can be said with the taste. Honey and spices were very pleasant in the mouth and palate.

The bitterness and sweetness is well balanced in this ale. A different taste that just made it interesting and worth trying.

Serving type: bottle

07-31-2003 14:37:39 | More by BeerManDan

beerguy101

California

3/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Light Gold color, medium head. Light bodied ale, flavored with honey and spices. Light and refreshing. Light bodied. Lots of flavor. Good malt/hop balance. Mouthfeel is clean. Finish is crisp. Aftertaste is spicy and slightly bitter. Nice summer beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2003 16:22:11 | More by beerguy101

Fabric8r

Montana

3.9/5  rDev +15.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Big Sky Brewing has done a great job with this light summer ale. Perfect for a hot day with both sweet tones and hop flavors. Color is just like honey. Not much head, even though it is over corbonated, which is why I gave it lower score on mouthfeel. The carbonation burn detracts from the flavor. So, I just swirl it a bit until the carbonation is released some. A bit pricey for a lighter beer, so I wait for it on sale.

Serving type: bottle

05-27-2003 11:29:16 | More by Fabric8r

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.43/5  rDev +31.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Light honey yellow in color with a small pencil width high head of even leveled, off-white, super tight, creamy foam. The head faded a little fast and has spotty lace. The aroma is very nice, very sugary with a touch of honey thats super fresh. Nice! Taste echoes the smell with a nice light sugary taste with sweet honey and a bit of hops showing up with a very slight lemon note that together keeps this nicely balanced and super smooth. Yum! Feel is a lighter to medium body, very clean, soft, and solidly smooth. This is some remarkable stuff, very unique, yummy, and very drinkable in my book. I think I have a new summer brew to add to my list, this summer honey of a brew by Big Sky is a must try.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2003 18:23:36 | More by tavernjef

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

4.13/5  rDev +22.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Fine white head that leaes quickly, honey golden color. Aroma: spicy sweet, arousing, tingly, bright. Taste:utterly delicious. So far, the best honey beer I've had, though I haven't had them all (Dupont Biere de Miele, Young's Waggledance, where ARE you??. ) Bright honey flavor comes shining through. Light body, pleasant finsh, easy-drinking. Not much in the hop department, but that's not what they're going for. An excellent summertime refreshment!

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2003 13:26:48 | More by feloniousmonk

beernut7

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This light golden summer brew from Big Sky presents with a bold honey malt character and a rather aggressive hop profile
for a beer brewed with honey. This is a quality beer.

Serving type: on-tap

08-17-2002 09:22:32 | More by beernut7

ADR

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Clear yellow ochre color with a substandard head that's a trace after 20 seconds. Bright aroma, trace of honey. Off tastes (!), tap water with spicy impressions. Stays medium-bodied to the swallow, but has some unsettling qualities in the esophagus. There's a little mid-mouth interest in this brew, but it doesn't redeem the wandering finish of sweet/sour/weird to my tongue. Big Sky Brewing is a real puzzler to me, high variation in quality in their brews.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2002 09:25:05 | More by ADR

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.43/5  rDev +31.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This clear light golden brew throws out a medium white head with little retention. Beautiful sweet clover honey is present on the nose with some light spicing perceived also (cinamon?). This is really a nice tasting summer brew. The honey is evident as well as some wheat malt it seems. There's a nice little hop bite. It's light to medium in body and glides over the tongue effortlessly. There is also a very nice dryness present throughout the drink, but moreso on the finish. One of my favorite quaffable summer beers.

Serving type: bottle

08-02-2002 19:31:38 | More by Bighuge

ZAP

Minnesota

3.58/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Clear, crisp golden in color....spritzy carbonation like champagne, and with a nice creamy white lace....very nice nose...honey, and nice floral hop profile..the nose is deinitely the highlight of this beer.

The taste doesn't match the nose, but it's not bad...the honey is evident, along with a twang of grassy hops...finishes on the dry side....it does have a creamy mouhtfeel...the hops give it a real fruity flavor to accent the honey...

Not bad at all....I'd take it over Leinie's Honey any day of the week...I've got three more of these and may adjust this rating as I drink them, but my first impression is pretty good...

Serving type: bottle

07-21-2002 15:15:54 | More by ZAP

garymuchow

Minnesota

3.25/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Interesting light, somewhat spicey aroma with a honey sweetness and slight fruitiness to it. Very clear, yellowish gold color, fizzy head with a relatively short life. Fairly bland flavor. The qualities that make the aroma pleasing don't transfer that well into the flavor. Fairly dry over all. Has a somewhat refreshing quality to it to make it an appropriate seasonal beer for summer. Somewhat full mouthfeel and a good amount of carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2002 21:37:08 | More by garymuchow

jreitman

California

3.05/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Nice gold-orange color, but unfortunately for me the beer quality did not match it's appearance. Honey sweet with citrus undertones and a medium (leaning towards the light) bitterness. Subtle hints of nuts.

Serving type: on-tap

06-16-2002 08:16:42 | More by jreitman