For the first time in the history of the TOTM, this month's Taste is not something that I thought remarkable in terms of what flavour it possesses, but rather a beer that honestly amazed me with its near-complete lack of flavour. Sleeman Clear is Canada's first low carbohydrate beer, the product of Sleeman Breweries of Guelph, Ontario. I tasted it during the last weekend of the month at the Great Canadian Brewing Festival in the brewery's hometown.
As it was my first beer of the afternoon, my palate was untarnished by any strong, lingering tastes, and while the beer was served cold, it was not so frigid that it should have had all its character frozen out of it. But there it was, a perfectly bland beer. I tasted it once and stopped dead in my tracks, waiting in vain for the flavour. I sipped again and swirled the beer in my mouth this time, inhaling a bit to aerate the brew, but again it was like I was tasting only slightly flavoured water. I tried a third time, straining to detect flavour notes, but once more I was frustrated in my attempts to describe it.
Sleeman Clear is not a clear beer in the fashion of Miller's famously failed experiment in beer without pigment. It is a 4% alcohol by volume beer which I believe to be a lager -- it lacked the characteristic fruitiness of an ale, but then again, it also lacked pretty much everything else -- and possesses 90 calories and 2.5 grams of carbohydrates per bottle. Which is all well and good if you like the idea of vaguely beer-ish, alcoholic water, but for me, I'd prefer something with taste, please.
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