Review: 2 Crows Refresh Lager (4.3% version)

2 Crows' Refresh is a lager brewed with barley, rice, hops, water and yeast. On their website the beer appears to be 4.8% ABV but this version is only 4.3% ABV. As I write this, it's currently 35C out so it's absolutely perfect time to sample a lager.

Appearance: Crisp, golden straw lager with a light amount of cloudiness to it. The beer has a lot of carbonation in the body, while the head is thick, white and fluffy. As the head diminishes, there's a slight amount of lacing, but not much. 

Aroma: I don't know what to think about lagers brewed with rice as all I can think of is macros like Bud Light, but I think the rice works for this beer - I do get the aroma of rice popping up in the beer but I'm finding it compliments the hops more than anything else. The hops are floral, pine-forward and citrusy (lemon). Quite a lemon-forward lager, but very appreciative for a hot day like today.

Taste: Very crisp lager with a lot of hop presence to it, there's a good amount of lemon, floral notes and pine popping out. VERY "crushable" lager. The rice pops out like in the aroma, giving off a bit of a sweetness to it, while the barley gives off a slight graininess. The aftertaste has your typical lager bite to it, a lingering graininess to it, but doesn't have a cheap lager vibe to it.

Overall Thoughts: The hops and rice pop out quite a bit in this beer to give it a taste that's a bit different than your typical every day lager. It's floral, bitter, lemony, very easy to drink and honestly screws with my mind a bit.. doesn't really come out as your typical lager to me. 



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