Review: Steinlager Pure (New Zealand)

 

As you know about me, I'm not a fan of lagers. I'll still drink lagers. Heck, for a long period of time, my beer of choice was Lucky Extra. However, after hearing several people, including one of the staff of the local LC raving about Steinlager Pure out of New Zealand, as you know - I have to check it out.

Steinlager Pure hasn't been available in Manitoba for long, for a few months or so. I haven't tried any beer from New Zealand either, so - let's try this thing!

Appearance: Pours a clear golden straw hay. Quite a bit of a snow white foamy head. Looks like any lager I've had on the planet.

Aroma: Slight amount of maltiness, light hops and a bit of barley.

Taste: A bit of a straw taste. For a lager, it has a very decent amount of hops, which is quite rare in lagers - especially lagers in a green bottle. I don't mind it. My mom on the other hand, wanted to try it, all she said was "BLECH this is gross!" She doesn't like any beer with flavour. This tastes like a lager to me and she didn't even like it, as she's swigging back a can of Molson Canadian 67.

Overall Thoughts: Steinlager Pure is approximately $2.00/bottle for a 330mL bottle with 5% ABV. It's one of the better lagers out there. Unlike Moosehead and Heineken, I did not notice the usual skunkiness attributed to beers in a green bottle. The decent amount of hops gave it a nice zing. This isn't a beer I'd drink often. However, seeing it's March 18th and it's currently 21C here in Manitoba, this is a beer that's going PERFECTLY with the heat. The beer uses water, hops, malted barley and yeast all from New Zealand.