Windhoek Lager
Namibia Breweries Limited

Windhoek LagerWindhoek Lager
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From:
Namibia Breweries Limited
 
Namibia
Style:
European Pale Lager
Ranked #165
ABV:
4%
Score:
73
Ranked #27,731
Avg:
3.09 | pDev: 19.42%
Reviews:
60
Ratings:
111
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 24, 2023
Added:
Aug 16, 2002
Wants:
  10
Gots:
  15
No description / notes.
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Ratings by Johnq1964:
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Rated by Johnq1964 from England

3/5  rDev -2.9%

Aug 16, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3 by BrisLoganite from Australia

Sep 24, 2023
 
Rated: 2.54 by Chilmer from Iowa

Sep 04, 2023
Photo of johnnnniee
Reviewed by johnnnniee from New Hampshire

3.08/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
Bottle from Total Wine and More Houston enjoyed in the hotel.
Dark gold color with a fluffy white head that persists.
Light macro lager sweet malt faint hops not horrible. Country tick
Aug 06, 2023
Photo of Nass
Reviewed by Nass from Florida

3.67/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 3
The pour is straw colored with a good amount of carbonation. The taste is grains & cooked broccoli. It was good to try a beer from Namibia. Cheers! B
Feb 16, 2023
 
Rated: 3.35 by BirdsandHops from Oregon

Sep 10, 2022
Photo of puck1225
Reviewed by puck1225 from Texas

3.67/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
I had this beer during a visit to South Africa over a decade ago and I found it last night at a local grocery store.

I enjoyed the beer in SA and am enjoying it now. It is indeed a pale lager and maybe not the most exciting beer but it has pleasant German-esque fruitiness and dry bitterness that I like. It goes very well with spicy food and it is a beer I would buy again.
Aug 30, 2022
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Rated by BMBCLT from South Carolina

1.58/5  rDev -48.9%
look: 2.75 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5
Drain-pour!
Aug 04, 2022
Photo of freetexas
Reviewed by freetexas from Texas

3.05/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3
It's a pale lager, not a rich color. Nice initial head that disappears fairly quickly. It has a slightly skunky smell which reminds me of Heineken. The taste does as well, with the skunky quickly replaced by a surge of malty followed by the bitterness of the hops. Overall, it's a good, low-alcohol light lager that would be fine in a bar in Namibia, I suspect. If I visited it there, I'd have one, but would be more interested in their stronger brews.
Dec 31, 2021
 
Rated: 2.92 by smithj4 from New York

Dec 15, 2019
Photo of metter98
Reviewed by metter98 from New York

3.1/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
A: The beer is crystal clear yellow in color and has a slight amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a short white head that left a patch of bubbles on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light aromas of pale malts are present in the nose along with hints of bready malts.
T: The taste follows the smell and has light to moderate aromas of pale malts with hints of bready malts and slight bits of sweetness.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied, somewhat smooth, and a bit clean on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is an honest lager. It’s not especially flavorful, but doesn’t have any off aromas or flavors. I liked its mouthfeel the best.

Serving type: bottle
Oct 28, 2019
 
Rated: 3.21 by Sparky44 from Illinois

Jul 20, 2019
Photo of Thisdrinkinglife
Reviewed by Thisdrinkinglife from Switzerland

1.98/5  rDev -35.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1
Review: 330ml green bottle of Windhoek Premium lager: 4.0% vol.

Reads “crafted with passion since 1920” on the bottle..

Looks good on the pour, a very nice white frothy head, quite big, and a lovely golden coloured beer. Good carbonation, fizzing around. After a while it all settles down to look a bit flat.

Overall it is a solid look. Ok

Aromas of grains and pale malts and citric notes, typical lager smells, all light, but ok.

Not getting a whole lot from the bottle, all fizzled away perhaps. The initial taste is not bad, grainy and am getting nice big malty mouthfuls, but afterwards the beer does die in the taste department, goes a little flat in the mouth, very fast in fact.

Getting usual lager traits, of malts, grains, and sweet corns. Also got a slight off taste to the beer.

Overall, despite initial promise, this is a very thin and weak brew, a boring and bland generic lager, very forgettable, and not worth purchasing again. Not quite as good as it gets, far from it!
Jun 23, 2019
Photo of Beginner2
Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois

3.21/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
If you were in either the desert or the hot, humid tropics... you would be glad to have this beer.
Namibia is a place unto itself and this beer is welcome.
That said, it is not great.
It really doesn't Look like much, it only Smells slightly below average. Tastes are balanced and Feel is, as I said, welcome.
Windhoek Lager also is listed on the "1001 Beers To Taste Before You Die" because the editors want at least one beer from every country.
Roger Prost also reviewed Windhoek Lager at length in his "300 More Beers To Try Before You Die."
Let us be grateful for what we got.
Jun 09, 2019
 
Rated: 3 by yaron73 from Israel

May 29, 2019
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

2.51/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25
L- Mid-gold, clear, pours with 3mm fine white head, which is slowly reducing...
S- When I popped the bottle it was like I was transported to Kathmandu, just momentarily... oh yeah! Later up close I don't get that at all, just subtle grains.
T- It is quite hoppy/dry, a slightly off flavour briefly flavour comes in, then the richness builds. On sip2 and onwards the off-flavour doesn't return, so perhaps just a sensitive palate versus 1st sip of 1st beer tonight. The flavour seems confined to malts and grains, ie a basic lager, there are no contemporary facets here.
F- It has quite a rich mouth-feel, it might be just a little too rich for me. I've just checked the ABV% again and am a little surprised to see it's 4%, the richness suggests it's higher.
O- There is nothing of note going on with this beer; sadly rather underwhelming.
This bottle was imported all the way from Namibia to London where I found it in a southern African specialty shop in Paddington station W2. If you happened to be Namibian living in the UK this might be a welcome taste of home but I couldn't find anything in it that would make me pay a premium to buy it again.
BB: End Feb-19
Dec 18, 2018
 
Rated: 3.29 by Pens1967 from Louisiana

Oct 28, 2018
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Rated by breakingbland from Michigan

3.28/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Had this beer in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.
Jul 26, 2018
 
Rated: 3.14 by jroof1 from Massachusetts

Jan 11, 2018