Waikato Draught

Brewed by Lion Breweries - NZ (Lion Nathan Co.)
Style: Pale Lager
Auckland, New Zealand

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

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330ml can from The Beer Cellar. Not sure that this is a pale lager as is is a very dark amber colour, although it is quite clear in the glass. Malty flavour with a nut finish.

Faint bitterness added as a token to justify the label. It’s really just normal mainstream sloshy lager with a bit of caramel colouring and low budget artificial essence of slight bitterness added, which, by default, does make it a tad more interesting than a mainstream sloshy lager. But only just.

20th September 2011
Bright clear deep amber beer, tidy white head. Light palate, a little crisp and a little dry. Dry pale malt. Mild and sweet generic fruit. Mild minerals and then a pretty dry finish. Interesting. Nice flavour but a bit too dry.

From a 330ml bottle on 18/1/2013. Pours a clear dark golden with a biggish head. Has a typical, modest stale grain smell. Flavour wise, there’s a dash of sweet malt and not much else. This is saved from being horrible by a good dash of bitterness at the end. Still, it’s quite watery and ordinary.

Like most bitters, this is not really bitter. Sweet, malty, but not sickening sweet. Bitterness only for balance. Not bad, in the end.

We get asked about this A LOT. Finally got it in and tried it today. It says ’bitter beer’ on the label and that pretty much sums it up. Lager yeast and bitterness. Bitterness cuts short any shitty mainstream lager length that might be left about which is a pretty good thing I suppose

Pale yellow. Small head. Negligible aroma. Weak in hops, weak in maltiness, weak in flavor. Watery and bland. No thanks.

Golden amber with the makings of a white head. An almost vegetal aroma that I don’t attribute to hops at all. Sweet malt underlaying. Cold, fizzy and then there’s a disturbing twist of something sour that you can forgive in Belgian sour ales, but not in New Zealand mainstream. Yeah, nah. Not good.

A bit of salty and nutty green cabbage with a buttery flavor that seems to also be in the mouth feel. thin in the body with some rosemary white pepper type minty zing that peeks in from time to time. small soft seltzery foam and a copper colored head. a bit of fruit and some caramel sweetness.

Bottled. An amber beer with a thin lazing off-white head. The aroma has notes of caramel and malt as well as a bit of metal. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt, caramel, and metal, leading to a dry finish.