It looks like the Michiganders have decided to make a brew that is specifically for people who live near the Great Lakes. I can't blame them, as the old adage is that you should think global and act local, and they appear to be doing that. I can't imagine that beer will taste much different sitting on my deck than it would if I was on a deck that was adjacent to one of the lakes. With the paddles in the design, however, it may imply that you should be out on the open water. I'm not someone who boats on a particularly frequent basis, but I am told from people who love it that drinking while boating is a thing. We here at BFBCPing.com do not condone drinking and driving a boat. But if you're passenger, let's see what kind of beer you would have (assuming that's legal. I'm not a lawman nor boatman).
The beer is yellow, and it is hazy. The head disappears very quickly, and it disappears almost completely. There's a little peach fuzz left on top of the beer with even less hanging out near the sides of the glass. The aroma is wheat and grains over everything else. It does smell strangely sweet, but that shouldn't be that unusual for a lager. What's weird is that I'm occasionally getting a whiff of something that smells a little more like booze, and that would not be reflected in the 4.8% ABV. Maybe I'm smelling something that isn't near this glass. However, I don't have any booze laying around.First sip is clean, crisp, and almost tasteless. It's not so weak as to be a nonalcoholic beer or a low-calorie beer, but it isn't exactly bursting with flavor. That said, it is after the beverage has gone that the real flavor seems to hit. The flavor that hits is mostly wheat and the sweet malt. I'm genuinely wondering at this point if the inclusion of a boat might change the way I was perceiving this beer. Kicking back with some friends on a warm day with a cool breeze coming across the water might be the relaxing atmosphere that something that is relatively unassuming might be perfect for.
Tip-in is weak wheat sweetness and barely-there carbonation. The middle becomes a bit louder and fuller as lemon joins carbonation that suddenly rockets to the top of the mouth and gives texture to what had previously been an uninspiring beverage. The finish is a crisp snap of sweet wheat and grains before lemons come back to hold the tongue for the trail off.
Bottom Line: Suitable for certain situations, and certainly inoffensive.
2.5/5