A Beer a Day

I was so excited by last night’s entry that I decided to get an early start on today’s review. Usually, I reserve breakfast beers for day I don’t plan to remember, but today seemed like one in need of a sunshine infusion. As I looked out over the wet pavement outside my window, I decided to break out a bottle straight from the Sunshine State itself: Unique Beers’ Orange Blossom Pilsner.

Hailing from Florida-by-way-of-Maryland, Unique Beers’ flagship brew has high aspiration: according to their website, OBP is part of an effort to save Florida, described therein as the "Great Beer Wasteland", from mediocrity and macrobrews alike. Accordingly, OBP hangs its hat on honey; the bottle features all of your standard bee-related images, in addition to a prominently displayed bronze medal from the 2004 Great American Beer Festival. The makers are also keen to let you know that their beer is made with 30% orange blossomn honey. We’re set up to be impressed before the bottle’s even open.


Honey! It’s made from honey!

In all honesty, the stuff’s not that bad. It gets knocked around pretty well by some reviewers, but I didn’t find it as acutely offensive as most of them seem to. As I poured it, the faint smell of Honeycomb cereal hit my nose. This was fine: I happen to like Honeycomb, and, seeing as I was drinking this beer during a cereal-appropriate time of day, it was a nice way to start the day.


Honeycomb’s got big, big taste. Too bad this beer doesn’t.

After the auspicious beginning, things headed south. After a few drinks, it became readily apparent that this beer wasn’t going to win many people over based on taste alone. The honey that smelled prominent was muted in the flavor department. What did come through reminded me of mead, and gave the beer the slick feel you might associate with typical sweet wines. The subtleness wasn't an edge or a hindrance. Really, it just was.

The aftertaste was, for me, a little schizophrenic. After some drinks, all I could taste was bitter, like tears of failure or Alex Russell’s face. Then, after others, I could’ve sworn that the honey I’d been promised was finally coming though, and bringing hints of citrus with it. Eventually, it became like a game. A long, not terribly interesting game. With beers. And sometimes bees.

I also noticed a not altogether unpleasant fizziness throughout, a quality that did more to wake me up than the taste and smell combined.

Overall, while it wasn’t anything to write home about, and while I’ll probably never go out of my way to drink another bottle, Orange Blossom Pilsner is nowhere near as bad as some might have you believe. In fact, if I could only drink beer during those blurry morning hours, this one might actually vie for a regular spot in my cooler. Find out more right here.

Also, because I’m both curious and comment-hungry, I’ll ask this: on those days when you drink in the morning, what’s your poison of choice. I usually go with a nice bloody mary. Nothing says classy alcoholism like vodka, Tabasco, and a surly disposition.

Posted by Tyler on Friday, May 4, 2007 at 3:32 PM | Permalink