Zymaster Series No. 1: California Lager
Anchor Brewing Company
- From:
- Anchor Brewing Company
- California, United States
- Style:
- American Lager
- ABV:
- 4.9%
- Score:
- 82
- Avg:
- 3.56 | pDev: 11.24%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 10
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Dec 29, 2025
- Added:
- Jun 10, 2012
- Wants:
- 4
- Gots:
- 3
SCORE
82
Good
82
Good
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by DraftMonger from Denmark
3.25/5 rDev -8.7%
look: 2 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.75
3.25/5 rDev -8.7%
look: 2 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.75
Copenhagen 3/9 2017. 35,5 cl bottle from Meny, Østerfælled Torv, Kbh. Ø. Nice little chubby bottle. Prowling Grey Bear on the label. Surrounded by Corn Ears and hops. Good company.
Pours hazy orange with small white head. Settles as thin patchy layer of foam. No lacing.
Aroma is sweet pale malts with prominent notes of grass and a little bit skunky.
Fairly strong carbonation and watery palate.
Flavor is medium sweet followed by quite strong bitterness for this kind of beer. Aftertaste is bitter and finish is semi dry.
Nice with a Pale Lager which actually has the bitterness to balance the mandatory sweetness - and then some.
Dec 29, 2025Pours hazy orange with small white head. Settles as thin patchy layer of foam. No lacing.
Aroma is sweet pale malts with prominent notes of grass and a little bit skunky.
Fairly strong carbonation and watery palate.
Flavor is medium sweet followed by quite strong bitterness for this kind of beer. Aftertaste is bitter and finish is semi dry.
Nice with a Pale Lager which actually has the bitterness to balance the mandatory sweetness - and then some.
Rated by ttoadee from Texas
3.25/5 rDev -8.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.25/5 rDev -8.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
RB transfer
Aug 25, 2025
Reviewed by ordybill from Georgia
3.34/5 rDev -6.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.34/5 rDev -6.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a 12 OZ. bottle into a tulip glass.
Aroma- has a strong sweet aroma with a backdrop of grass and hops
Appearance- pours a golden orange color with a thick white head.
Taste- Crisp barley flavored beer with some spice thrown in.
Palate- a dry beer with that is medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall- a really good beer from Anchor, not as good as their Anchor Steam or Porter offerings but worth a try.
Dec 25, 2014Aroma- has a strong sweet aroma with a backdrop of grass and hops
Appearance- pours a golden orange color with a thick white head.
Taste- Crisp barley flavored beer with some spice thrown in.
Palate- a dry beer with that is medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall- a really good beer from Anchor, not as good as their Anchor Steam or Porter offerings but worth a try.
Reviewed by Airedoggie from Wisconsin
3.88/5 rDev +9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.88/5 rDev +9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
A: A pale golden-straw color, nice white head with good retention, leaves some lacing.
S: Aroma of grains, slightly sweet with hint of citrus.
T: taste as expected in a good lager with yeasty grains, sweet malt and finishes dry with a slight bitterness.
M: Clean & crisp mouthfeel, moderate carbonation - very pleasant.
O: Very refreshing beer. One of my favorite lagers.
Jun 18, 2014S: Aroma of grains, slightly sweet with hint of citrus.
T: taste as expected in a good lager with yeasty grains, sweet malt and finishes dry with a slight bitterness.
M: Clean & crisp mouthfeel, moderate carbonation - very pleasant.
O: Very refreshing beer. One of my favorite lagers.
Reviewed by puboflyons from New Hampshire
3.79/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
From the 12 fl. oz. bottle stamped with something that looks like 1-FL. Sampled on May 31, 2014.
The pour is basically light amber to pale yellow with a big white head and loads of carbonation leading up to it.
The aroma is alive with toasted biscuit, malts, sweetness, and a quick hop bite.
Light to medium body
The taste is very traditional and meets the style right on. Good malty sweetness and mild bitterness at the end. I liked it.
Jun 01, 2014The pour is basically light amber to pale yellow with a big white head and loads of carbonation leading up to it.
The aroma is alive with toasted biscuit, malts, sweetness, and a quick hop bite.
Light to medium body
The taste is very traditional and meets the style right on. Good malty sweetness and mild bitterness at the end. I liked it.
Reviewed by Slatetank from Pennsylvania
3.65/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.65/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
I Picked this up at Whole foods in Fremont, CA, enjoyed chilled in a goblet.
The color is resplendent golden with quick moving bubbles of small carbonation rising to a thick collar of off white foam with fine bead, lace clings in a thick film with great retention. The smell is faintly floral with a yeasty almost skunky aroma but it has a good amount of malt in the smell along with a mild pine/pepper hop odor it has the slight sweet aroma combined with a czech pils yeast accent. The feel is great moderately bitter with a good amount of carbonation and slight sweet back note with clean and dry body with moderately full feel for the strength.
The flavor is very good, hops dominate with a slight pine-like bitter quality but sufficient malt is there to taste with slight sweet and toasted grain flavor, the yeast kind of hampers the taste with some floral hops coming in toward the finish with mostly dry pilsner malt quality adding to the overall perception. I like this but was not expecting anything and it is pretty drinkable for the style so for the 1.75 price I think this is a pretty decent beer if you like pale lagers with some hop flavor.
Feb 09, 2014The color is resplendent golden with quick moving bubbles of small carbonation rising to a thick collar of off white foam with fine bead, lace clings in a thick film with great retention. The smell is faintly floral with a yeasty almost skunky aroma but it has a good amount of malt in the smell along with a mild pine/pepper hop odor it has the slight sweet aroma combined with a czech pils yeast accent. The feel is great moderately bitter with a good amount of carbonation and slight sweet back note with clean and dry body with moderately full feel for the strength.
The flavor is very good, hops dominate with a slight pine-like bitter quality but sufficient malt is there to taste with slight sweet and toasted grain flavor, the yeast kind of hampers the taste with some floral hops coming in toward the finish with mostly dry pilsner malt quality adding to the overall perception. I like this but was not expecting anything and it is pretty drinkable for the style so for the 1.75 price I think this is a pretty decent beer if you like pale lagers with some hop flavor.
Reviewed by jj139 from California
3.47/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.47/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
A - Clear golden straw color with about 1/2 finger of an off-white head. Just a few streaks of lacing.
S - Very shy nose of grain with hints of citrus
T - Grain, yeast with a slight malt sweetness.
M - Clean, dry and very refreshing with moderation carbonation.
O - Very easy to drink. I love the idea behind Anchor using an old California Lager recipe.
Dec 27, 2013S - Very shy nose of grain with hints of citrus
T - Grain, yeast with a slight malt sweetness.
M - Clean, dry and very refreshing with moderation carbonation.
O - Very easy to drink. I love the idea behind Anchor using an old California Lager recipe.
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