Harbin Beer

Brewed by Harbin Beer Company (Anheuser-Busch)
Style: Pale Lager
Harbin, China

Not sure why I bought this beer. Perhaps it was the fancy "tissue" wrapped bottle that drew me. But I’ve yet to have a Chinese beer that wasn’t a huge disappointment, and this didn’t do anything to change that string of bad luck.

The beer pours out a really nice golden hue, with a decent two-finger thick head. Aroma was slightly skunked, some corn and a small bit of grains. Flavor of corn, a bit on the sweet side so it did have a decent malt profile. The soda-water like mouthfeel with it’s over carbonation was also hard to deal with. Not a horrible beer, and it does live up to it’s style points of a pale lager. Just wayyyy overpriced for the little flavor you get.

piss poor raunchy lager. Probably got lead poisoning now that I think about it. I new it was made by Matel, I mean Busch.

330mL Bottle: Pours clear gold w/ a nice white head that leaves a bit of tight lacing behind. Aroma is grainy & skunky at first, but after it settles caramel starts to emerge. Flavor is grainy w/ a little sweetness to it, that sweetness does hang around towards the back of the mouth. Also has a slight bitterness, but rather watery. Not very memorable. Actually, I think I had this before I started rating & well here it is again. So, I guess I already did forget it once...

330ml bottle. Clear, golden body. Thin, white lacing-head. Plain grassy aroma. Possesses flavours of soft sweetness and grain. Light bitter endnote. Watered and a bit sticky (at Finn’s, Tromsø 16.05.2008).

Bottle 0,33l. Golden colored. Hardly any head. Sweet malty & metallic aroma. Some metallic flavor. A bit lacking in the aftertaste. KI=3

This lighter bodied brew is noticeably grainy. pours a golden-orange colour with a pretty weak head. Taste is lighter, sort of chewy, but skunked in aroma.

This Pale Lager pours a medium gold color from a 330ml bottle. Small to medium sized white fizzy head. The aroma is sweet, malt, a touch vegetative with some corn and skunk. A medium to light bodied pale lager. The malts are fruity and sweet touch of corn and some rice. The hops are slightly spicy. A pretty typical tasting pale lager, though not as skunked as most. It is a touch sweet and a little vegetative and mostly beer flavor seltzer water. But it’s not really objectionable. Mouthfeel is a touch thin. Finish is crisp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet with a touch of cardboard.

[330ml bottle from Tesco’s] My bottle was only 4.7% - I get the impression this varies in different countries? Weak, watery, no flavour other than a mild but thoroughly unpleasant lingering sourness in the aftertaste. Quite the worst beer I’ve ever had. Are A-B simply distributing this to make their Budweiser taste good in comparison?