B.Man
Invercargill Brewery

 

 

 

Purchased from The International Beer Shop in Perth while on a visit.

Pours a pale and slightly hazed deep golden colour, with almost no head, just a patchy film of white fluff on the top of the glass. Lacing is minimal, but where it forms it appears in pleasant fine patterning. Eh. Not a great look, but not bad either.

Nose is plain and dull, with very little coming off it at all. Perhaps there's a slight whiff of greenery, and a touch of dusty grain. But that's it. Very disappointing, especially given what was promised on the bottle, and of the style in general.

Light and pleasantly crisp on the front palate, giving a decent oily bitterness, that is then pummeled by a Weetbix grain character and a big bread yeast finish. Eh. The flavours that stick around aren't the pleasant New Zealand hop flavours, but I do like the crisp and robust bitterness at least.

Still, this is a mediocre attempt at a great style. I believe it needs a whole heap more aroma, and to lay off the grainy malt a little. Some pilsner grain notes are great in the style, but only if they have the hops to back it up.

I think it's fair to say I found this very disappointing.

With a light clean citrus aroma and a crisp clean citric hop flavour Biman is a tasty beer. A moderate, crisp bitterness and clean malt profile help to make it really good. The crystal clear, golden colour and moderate, creamy white head are all good and the medium-light body makes this a refreshing thirst quencher. The moderately-high carbonation, while appropriate, is a little too gassy but this is a good, refreshing and tasty beer.

This beer pours a pale amber hue with little carbonation that leaves a fast vanishing half finger head,it has beautiful aromas of lemon and lime and a really strong passionfruit aroma that is one of the strongest ive smelt it smells like a orange,lime and passionfruit juice very enticing,its taste is very nice aswell the citrus,passionfruit hop flavours are dominant and it has an average mouthfeel but it leaves you with a really nice taste on the pallete which is balanced out perfectly this is a beer i will buy again and probably the best beer ive tasted from this brewery.

According to the bottle: "A smooth, all-malt golden lager with an enticing hop aroma of passionfruit and lime, styled to compliment hot, spicy food."

Appearance - Beautiful, deep golden color with big, fluffy head of average retention. Starting off well...

Smell - Distinct lemon-lime hoppy aroma (NZ saaz?) and I do get notes of passionfruit, but I may be biased from the description. Nice, assertive hoppiness in the nose.

Taste - Much maltier than expected from the smell. Sweet, full-bodied with fusel alcohol detected, which I consider to be a detractor. The malty backdrop for this beer is just a bit too sweet for my liking as it lacks a minimum balancing hoppiness.

Mouthfeel - full, heavy body with decent carbonation... not inspiring, but not bad either.

Drinkability - For a golden lager, I found this beer to be not as drinkable as it should be in my opinion. The alcohol notes take away points in this area as it's only 5.2ABV, and I think I'd look elsewhere if this is the style I'm looking for. But having said that, it's not a bad crack at it from the world's southernmost craft brewer.

A: Crystal clear bright gold that sparkles. Pours big dense pure white head that drops down to a finger/finger-half that is very stubborn. Some lace and lots of carbonation. Best looking export lager ever.
S: Not much but some passionfruit and sweet malts.
T: Very interesting. Biscuity malt throughout with a bit of passionfruit and lime through the middle. Piney dry hop and alcohol finish.
M: Nice medium-body with good carbonation. Little soap like astringency.
D: Not that I have a lot of experience with this style but this is about as good a golden lager as I've ever had.

My favorite of the Invercargill brews I tasted. Golden straw body, sparkling, with a dense, off-white head. Fruity, passionfruit, light hay, lime, tequila. Interesting. Malty, buttery, sweetish, honey and fruit. Grains of paradise, kiwi. Flowery, herbal, limey-tang hop bitterness. Delicious. Med-bodied, smooth. Very good.