Lagers are always challenging to evaluate, especially since I have not spent a lot of time drinking them. The Pacific Northwest has IPAs, man.
That said; it’s not terribly difficult to say whether or not I like this beer: I do. While it has the nose of your standard lager (which I’ve always found to be a pleasing kind of funky sour), there’s just enough body in there to leave some caramel tastes on my tongue. Secondary sniffs provide more malt and there’s definitely a bready aftertaste on this beer, which finishes pretty cleanly otherwise.
In other words, this is one of those great “gateway” beers. Something that someone who has been drinking one brand of American lager all his or her life might try and discover that ‘hey, I like this’ and perhaps branch into other flavors of beer. Or maybe they’ll just appreciate that there’s no perfect beer, only perfect beers.
At the same time, this beer is totally drinkable from the perspective of someone like me, who has been wading through many, many flavors of beer for over fifteen years. It’s light enough to stay drinkable and dense enough to have some flavor to it. In other words, it’s a pretty good beer.
A pint for Dionysus 