For the Second Beer of Christmas, we jumped ahead six months to a
beer whose name screams “SUMMER!” Saint Arnold’s Fancy Lawnmower.
Before buying a six-pack, I was told that this beer “tastes just like
freshly cut grass smells.” That comment had always made me a little
leery of buying this beer. I like the way my lawn smells after I mow
it, but I’m not sure I’d want a glass of that. It turns out that it
tastes nothing like freshly cut grass smells. Doesn’t even remind me of
it (see below for info on the naming of this brew). But this coming
summer, after spending a day mowing the lawn or repairing the fence,
this is the kind of beer I’m going to reach for.
Light bodied, with a clean, crisp finish, this beer is as refreshing
as it is clear (if you’re not sure how clear it is, check out the full
size picture, you can see the texture of my living room wall through the
glass). It’s like the Gatorade or iced tea of beers: thirst quenching
and refreshing, light and drinkable.
However, like Gatorade or iced tea, it doesn’t stand out much.
Neither the taste nor aroma are particularly remarkable. Not bland, but
not remarkable. Now don’t get me wrong, this summer I will probably be
twisting the top off one of these on a Saturday after mowing the yard
because my usual post-mowing fare, a Shiner Blonde, is just a bit too
heavy. But cold, clean, and light bodied, these just slide down.
Fancy Lawnmower will never be my staple beer, but it might just be a
thirst quencher that finds a regular home in my refrigerator during the
summer months.
Aubrey’s thinks it’s a tasty brew, light and refreshing, but her
favorite part of the beer (which applies to any Saint Arnold’s beer) is
the witty comments printed on the inside of the caps: “Wait no lager!”,
“Grin & beer it!”, “Be hoppy”, etc. She’s looking forward to our
Tour of Texas Breweries this summer when we’ll visit Saint Arnold’s.
Stats
Brewer: Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Location: Houston, TX
Website:
http://www.SaintArnold.com
Style:
Kölsch
Alcohol Content: 4.9% ABV
Interesting Note: After creating the brew, they had five possible names
for it: Select, Blonde, Kölsch, Golden and Fancy Lawnmower. They took a
survey of people and asked people to rank the names on a scale of one
to five. If they’d averaged the scores, Golden would have won. Fancy
Lawnmower got lots of 1s and lots of 5s, but regardless of how it was
rated, all the survey participants wanted to discuss that name. And so
it stuck.
