This is a stupid beverage but actually not that bad. It's been out for two months and the marketing campaign has been pretty great I guess, which forced me to drink this remarkably mediocre brew.

12 oz bottle; got this from my brother-in-law. Pours a clear deep old gold (not amber) with a sustaining off-white head; laces really nicely, actually--not too common with beers from the Big 3; leaves a constant blanket of foam down to the last drop. Aroma is grainy, caramelly, whiff of vomit, wet dog, metal, minerally. Taste is thankfully an improvement over aroma. It’s lightly sweet with extremely faint bitterness in the finish. Bland, yet inoffensive flavor. Mouthfeel is creamy, body thin. When I tried this straight from the bottle, I thought it was horrible--cloying caramel malt is what I remember. It’s better out of a glass, but that aroma is definitely a detraction. Easy to chug this out of a Spaten stange. Simple, bland beer that is better if you don’t stick your nose into the glass. As a sidenote, I’d like to repeat what others have mentioned. What gold medal did this win? It’s weird that they don’t mention that on the label. And who is this ’Band of Brewers’ with such a passion for brewing that they can’t make a more interesting product than this? I know I wouldn’t even be close to being proud of this beer if I were to homebrew something like this, so why are these so-called expert brewers so proud of it? I think it’s obviously just marketing and this ’Band of Brewers’ likely doesn’t even exist, but, you know, just saying...

Hop Devil Grill, NY tap ($7): Pours amber. Smells caramel malts. Taste is inoffensive. Slightly sweet. I didn’t realize that this was macro when I ordered it, but I am not in the least bit surprised.

Bottle: Glistening golden amber in color with a huge creamy off-white head. Bubbly. Very mild aroma is grassy and lightly bready. Picks up a little more intensity in the flavor; grassey, malts, bread, and some dirty florals. Not too shabby little session brew.