Name: Buckbean Brewing Company

Location: Reno, Nevada

Type: Production brewery

Available in DC Market: No

What you need to know: Opened in 2008, Buckbean is the vision of two craft beer “junkies.” Buckbean’s brewmaster, Daniel Kahn, was a professional chef before getting into breweries. The brewery attributes this to a fine level of taste discernment in the portfolio of beers. They produce three different beers, all in cans, and are the first brewery to incorporate orange blossoms into a beer.

Sponsorship

Beer #1: Tule Duck Red Ale

Notes: Billed as a “rich, robust American red ale” with a malty backbone and a complex combination of American and German hops, this one is definitely for those who like a sweeter, heavier red ale. The thicker mouthfeel comes from the addition of oats.

Beer Advocate: C+ (18 reviews)
Rate Beer: 50 overall, 72 style

Beer #2: Original Orange Blossom Ale

Notes: At first glance, these reviews aren’t so good. It’s going to be hard for me to defend to you a beer that has a 24 rating overall, I imagine, but I think this beer is pretty unique. The use of orange blossoms is going to give this a bright, but not hoppy, citrus note. The trick will be if the orange can keep from overwhelming the rest of the beer’s profile

Beer Advocate: C+ (41 reviews)
Rate Beer: 24 overall, 27 style

Summary: The ratings for these beers aren’t overwhelmingly positive, but I’d encourage you to look past that and give them a try despite that. We probably will not get these beers in our market again for quite a while. For you orange fans out there, the Orange Blossom Ale may be your version of heaven!

This profile is a part of the DCBEER.COM SAVOR Brewery Profile series. For more information, follow the link to see profiles of all 2011 SAVOR participants.

Beer Review Disclaimer: The beer reviews found on Beer Advocate and Rate Beer do not represent the opinions of this site. We provide these in the hope that they will serve as a resource showing what some craft beer fans have thought of the beers. These reviews can be a helpful guideline, but are not the be-all end-all about a beer’s strengths or weaknesses.