Macs Hop Rocker

Brewed by Macs Brewery
Style: Pilsener
Wellington, New Zealand

Serve in Flute, Footed Pilsner

Personally I think this is the best beer in the Macs stable as it has something the others lack - flavour. Has a sweet hoppiness in the front palate which unfortunately in the back palate gets a little bitter with a slight cardboard characteristic. Don’t get me wrong, I do like this beer and for the price is much better than certain big name brands which are more expensive.

Gentle wafts of hay and orange come from a perfect golden lager with a frothy, lingering head. Surprisingly complex in the mouth, biscuity malt is rolled over by a bit of tart, rough hop flavour. Lingering bitter aftertaste. Quite nice, and a lot better than I expected from one of New Zealand’s unimaginative big commercial brewers. But through one reason or another (the brewery having to relocate due to the Christchurch earthquake? A desire to challenge the growing craft market on their own terms?). Whatever the reason, this is a very full and flavoursome New Zealand Pilsner style - not as hopped as some, and the malt is bettered by others, but as a middle-of-the-road, hot summer’s afternoon sort of pilsner, this does well.

Easy to drink mass produced pilsner, hoppy and bitter, slightly more on the colour of a lager. Nice sunny day in Auckland, great Sunday afternoon drink.

Bottle - grassy with some soap and pine in the aroma. Crisp dry taste right through to a lingering sharp dry finish. Decent carbonation with a medium body.

Beautiful golden amber. Really nice to look at. The nose is fruity and citrusy, almost like a white wine. The pallate is similarly winey, with voluptuous and almost ’squishy’ malt leading into a medium level of hoppy bitterness. As the name suggests, it has a good deal of hops for a commercial beer which brings to it a nice crispness but this is somehow let down by the malt which is lacking in this regard. It also feels a tad watery. All in all a decent pilsener, especially for the price paid.

Bottle from Mane Liquor. Golden orange pour with a small white head. Light honey and grass on the nose. Lemon is very productive throught the taste with touches of caramel, honey and light grass. Easy drinking with a very balanced bitterness. Nice

very pale golden color. Light hoppy mouth, very light malty mouth. Very dry not very bitter, but very clean and balanced

peachy floral noble hops in the nose, light corn/grainy taste with lingering resinous finish. Headache 10 minutes after the glass, as wit all mac’s beers for me. Too much sugar in the grain bill I guess