Harbin Beer

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

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Lager glass, Shaker

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A classic bottle inscription for connoisseurs of Chinglish: "Harbin Beer since 1900 is the source of Chinese beer industry. It is soaked by Chinese old culture. It has not only the very good taste, but also the old history and rich background. It’s top old brand in China." Lovely stuff. Unlike the beer, which is another of those curiously hop-free Asian lagers. It’s the familiar watery gold and raised an extraordinarily large souffle head that left great reefs of foam down the glass. Dull aroma of rice, salted corn and lemon washing-up liquid. The palate is thin but has a creamy quality like rice starch. The soft mouthfeel is one of the few pluses. Very easy drinking because there is little in the way of flavour to negotiate. It’s mainly watery lemon juice with a sour finish. No obvious malt or hop presence and certainly no bitterness. (640ml bottle from a hawker stall in Little India, Singapore)

Never seen a bottle with a hairnet, so they get points for original packaging. Pours solid gold, well carbonated with a generous head. Slightly skunky mild malt and CO2 aroma with hints of floral hops. Rather spritzy and crisp. Not much in the flavor dept. but clean with no detracting adjunct flavors. Has a little malt. A bit stale. A bit sweet. Low bitterness. Not bad.

pours a clear light yellow with little to no head. smells like a heineken, very faint, grain. taste is carbinated, light, thin, and a little tangy. just an average beer, taste like a heineken but not as good.

UPDATED: JUN 27, 2009 Poured clear golden yellow, clean, crisp, malt, grainy, little hops, little corn, little light fruits.

bottle at resteraunt. clear golden. big foam head. light pils aroma. light and sour with hint of lemon. Fairly poor quality.

Pours a pale, golden color with a white head. Aroma is of grain, earthy hops, and a slight citrus aroma. More flavor then I was expecting but not much. Grainy, floral hops, and a hint of citrus. Crisp finish. A little better than I expected.

THOUGHTS: Not very good, but pretty nice for a pale lager. It had a little more sourness than most pale lagers. That cut down on the metallic finish may of them have. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, medium yellow with nice carbonation and a small white head that mostly diminished and left no lacing. The aroma was metallic with moderate malt and lots of grassy hops. The initial flavor was lightly sweet, while the finish was moderately sweet and bitter and sour. The flavor was malt then metallic hops. The light to medium body was like watery syrup with fizzy carbonation and a metallic finish.

Bottle from Slikwily on his return visit. I have this burning question: What makes a lager taste so Funky? Do they all have that skunky,yeast, doughy nastiness?

Clear, golden, with fair head. Insipid grain and grass flavor with skunky finish. A nice complement to Budweiser.

quickly dissapating head with a golden transparent color. a sour malt flavor with little hops. very weak beer. not good