Rebel Lager
Franciscan Well Brewery

 

 

 

 

On tap at the Bull & Castle, Dublin.

Pours pale gold with lively streams of bubbles and lumpy white shaving cream foam. Toasty nutty malts with heavy musky herbal hops. Greasy, crisp and light.

Brings some heavy hops for a beer not claiming to be a pilsener at all. Need to come back to this one.

2nd tasting: Tinny grain and hay nose, sour husk malts and tingly herbal and spice hops with minty finish and toasty linger. A good if uncomplicated light crisp German lager.

Served on draught in the Bull & Castle, Dublin. Served in a Paulaner pint glass. Reviewed from notes.

A: Two finger head of poor cream but decent thickness. Standard clear blonde colour.

Sm: Barley/malt. Nothing special.

T: Standard lager body, built minimally with heavy bleeding of the notes from the nose (which an't much). Finish is unremarkable. Cream is sorely missing.

Mf: Nicely coarse and wet.

Dr: Disappointing. Very expensive, even by Dublin standards (and trust me, that an't good). Not worth bothering with, unless you're a hardcore lager fan (which I'm not) or a hardcore Irish microbrew fan (which in spite of my best efforts is hard to be). Pass it up lads. If you're at the Bull & Castle, grab an offering from Trouble brewing instead.

Best summary is this is a nice Irish-brewed helles lager, Could've told me it was a Beck's or Hacker-Schorr and I'd have believed it but for a little bit of sweetness in the aftertaste. Nice light golden yellow with a tight white persistent head and a subtle noble hop aroma over a restrained pilsner malt, flavor stays true to the aromas. Easy drinking with enough flavor to make another sound like a fine idea. Certainly a good 'gateway" beer for the macro-drinkers.

I've tasted this beer on draught at the microbrewery, in Cork, Ireland. I've found it a very good lager, even if this type of beer is not properly an irish style. It's quite fruity, with a great flavour of hop (Saaz, I think).