1.9 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 2/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 7/20
This beer seems to be held up as an icon in NZ, but why? Sure it has a somewhat romantic brewery story behind it (although it is now owned by Lion breweries, who in turn are majority owned by Kirin), but the beer doesn’t measure up. It looks okay, but the flavour has (as another rater called it) a hint of sour citric. Something just doesn’t taste right. I think it is a poor "craft" beer.
2.5 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 12/20
Bottle. Pours a pale golden colour with a medium rather short white head. Aroma of malt and some hops with a little sweetness. The flavour has a pleasant maltiness, bit sweet and hoppy. The finish is dry with a mild bitterness. Nothing great but not bad at all.
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
UPDATED: JAN 6, 2008 Second rating: Straw colour. Fresh grassy nose with breezy malt notes and a hint of mint. Fresh, light malt character, very slight hop character. Quick and vaguely refreshing.
Original rating: Clear golden with a light sparkle. Quite metallic in the nose with some bread notes. On the palate it’s got hints of bread and a light mushroomy character. Actually decent as macrobrews go. Ar 5 Ap 2 F 4 P 2 O 9 = 2.2
2.4 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20
Pint - Dull yellow, probably chill haze given the teeth chattering temperature it was served at. Minimal nose of nothing noteworthy. Clean but only really developed any flavor towards the finish (when it had warmed). Prefer this by choice when only alternative is Kiwi Brown’s but on it’s own there’s nothing too enlightening.
2.1 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 7/20
Bottle. Blah. Nasty stuff. Aroma of Nordic pee-lages and perhaps some grass. Pale golden, medium white head. Feels oily, broken bubbles. Taste bitter, dirty with almost no finish.
2 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 7/20
Another forgettable beer from a brewer that has all the right credentials - independent, avoids additives, uses fresh local ingredients - and yet produces stultifyingly dull beers. I always approach their stuff with optimism and end up disappointed. This one was translucent pale gold with a fat shaving foam head. The doughy aroma had metallic overtones but was otherwise remarkable for how little there was to remark upon. Light, sourish citric flavours gave way to a chalky finish with some light herbal astringency. Minimal bitterness. There is an unusual flavour, presumably from the local Motueka hops, but it doesn’t add up to very much. (330ml bottle from Vintage Cellars, Clovelly. BB 27/10/07)
2.7 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20
Sweet aroma with a slight honey to it. Sweet upfront malts with a slight corniness to it. There is reasonable bitterness and finish to this to balance it out. Not a bad quaffer, but that is about it.
2.1 AROMA 2/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 2/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 13/20
330ml bottle from BeersOfEurope. A clean, slightly biscuity lager. Soft, interesting hops in the finish - quite herby. Some soap overall. Nothing great, but quite drinkable.
2.1 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 8/20
Typical pale lager appearance - yellow gold with a loose white head and lots of bubbles. Light tasting with some mealy grains coming through. No sign of the NZ hops except for a little bitterness. Rather boring and plain.
2.8 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
I’m ashamed to admit I’m predisposed to antipathy towards anything antipodean, living as I do in west London. It pains me therefore to report that Mac’s Gold is a ok beer. Not that much to look at - standard golden hue, but very light in the mouth, soft, creamy flavour that’s low on sharpe notes. I didn’t detect many hops in there. It’s a bit watery, but at least its distictive. Nice bottle design.
|
