Laid Back Lager
Big Surf Beer Co.

Not what it used to be. I think they changed their recipe because it isn't good anymore.

Your now officially drinking Mercury by GP Brewing but canned in BiG surf laid back Lager cans for the 2020 season.

To review this beer properly is to review Mercury.
When it's not soured it has a good smell and light frothy feeling on the tongue with hints of sweetness caused by using improper yeast to consume the disaccharides that you find in the cheap 2 row malt by RAWR.
Colour is a deep honey hue caused by the small amount of caramel Vienna malt which also adds to a slight toasty flavour on the back of the tongue.
Small hint of magnum hops but very faint and not over powering by any means.

Your typical laid back lager is okay.
This year they changed the recipe.
Big surf contracts there beers to other brewery's to produce beer for them.
G.P brewing co brewed and canned big surf laid back lager this year. The original recipe is not what your drinking this year.
Big surf's grain bill was to expensive according to Matt Toni owner of GP Brewing and big surf lager co according to him cheaped out and just asked for regular Mercury.

I hope you find this review helpful thank you for taking your time to read to the end.

355mL can served in a tapered glass. Beer pours fantastically pale. Seriously this might be the palest beer I have ever seen. It's clear and looks slightly darker than Sprite -- there might be almost half a lovibond here. Small bubbles, no head formation. I'll give it extra points just because I know I couldn't brew a beer this light if I tried.

It mostly just tastes cold to me. Crisp, fairly refreshing. But super bland. Still, no obvious defects make this more or less what I wanted right now.

 

 

 

 

 

A crisp drink with a slight hopiness in the finish.

 

 

 

355ml can poured into tulip 24/10/13

A slight haze in a pale straw yellow body, lots of bubbles and they coat the side of the glass looks odd, a short lived thumbs width of foam leaves no lace

S apple, honey, sweet grains, very little going on really

T a little tin, has a faint mineral water thing going on, much like the nose not a whole lot happening, not offensive but not all that great either

M thin and watery, foam up and flattens out, a little slimy on the palate, not much of an aftertaste

O I could drink a few if I wanted to catch a cheap buzz between paychecks but that's about it, a little metallic and boring

far from the worst cheap 6 pack I've had but nothing special except the price tag,

 

 

 

The beer came in a bright yellow, almost a neon too-many-vitamins-in-my-urine yellow. There was some head that didn't stick around too long, and it smelled like a stale Molson Canadian. My buddy and I just looked at each other, and we figured "Well, it's a lager, it should go down without much of a fight."

My first sip into this beer, and wow. Laid Back Lager should be changed to Cat Pee. The taste of this beer reminds me of the smell of cat pee, mixed with the smell of Canadian. I'm sorry, Big Surf, but there is no way in hell I'm going to order anything from you guys without a taste test first.

Maybe it was old, near the end of the keg. Maybe it was a bad batch, maybe. There are a lot of possibilities, but the one I'm sticking with is that this beer is just plain garbage.

If you're looking for a North American-style lager that actually has some merit and would knock this one out of the park (faster than San Jose knocked the Canucks out of the first round), then try the Mt. Begbie "High Country Kolsch" -- it's a far superior beer.