You’re read the Christmas and Birthday card greetings but how is the following for wonderful prose: “A surprisingly thick centimeter or so of eggshell colored head blankets the beer”.
That’s part of the text in describing Graeme McDowell’s new line of boutique beer.
And with thanks to the author here is the full-flavoured description, and all that is left to say is: ‘Here’s cheers to G Mac and to his G Mac line of the amber nectar (hint!)’.
The world of celebrity owned booze isn’t limited to extravagance like Jay Z and his Ace of Spades. Beer drinking athletes can get in on the game too.
Graeme McDowell’s ‘G Mac’ brand beer. (Photo – Doug Fairall)
“We wanted to create craft beers for the 19th hole, approachable craft beers, something the golfer can enjoy and maybe associate those with a golfer like Freddie Jacobson, like Keegan Bradley and myself,” McDowell said in Golf Digest.
The beers are brewed at the Brew Hub up in Lakeland, a large facility that is producing beer for Orange Blossom Pilsner, Key Billy Island Ale, and even some spillover from Cigar City Brewing’s demand. The company itself is based out of Hobe Sound.
The beer we’re looking at today is the G Mac’s Celtic Style Pale Ale, which was developed by Graeme McDowell. Now, McDowell is from Portrush, Northern Ireland, a small seaside community in the north of that country, though now he resides just outside Orlando and runs the Nona Blue Tavern.
G Mac’s is a sessionable pale ale, hitting the green with a mild 5% abv. It pours a slightly hazy deep amber orange, with all of the color of the sun. A surprisingly thick centimeter or so of eggshell colored head blankets the beer. Aromas of mild honey malt, slight caramel, and a generic mild orangeness makes its way out of the glass. It’s subtle, and leans a bit towards the English way of doing things, only with more citrusy hops. Taking a sip, I’m met with a creamy body that is packed full of cereal and wheat bread flavors, a bit of honeyed grain sweetness which moves to an ending of floral hops and more of that wheat bread character. The bitterness is there, but holds itself restrained.
Though I initially was expecting a bigger hop profile based on the pale ale style, this beer hits the maltier side of the pale ale spectrum, dipping its toes into the amber ale category. A bit of caramel in the flavor and it would be in that camp, but the balance between the use of specialty grains and hop flavors keeps it appropriate.
G Mac’s Celtic Style Pale Ale is available now in 12 ounce cans at grocery stores like Whole Foods (where I got mine) and beer retailers such as ABC Fine Wine & Spirits.
Doug Fairall is a craft beer blogger who focuses on Florida beers, and has been a homebrewer since 2010. For beer things in your Twitter feed, follow him @DougFairall and find the latest beer pics on Clean Plate’s Instagram.
