Lion Strong
Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC

 

My local bottleshop in Glenfield is run by a nice Indian guy, and he stocks some interesting foreign beers from the sub-continent. I never expected to drink a Sri Lankan beer, alas here I am. As I understand it, it's a high alcohol lager (malt liquor if you will. So here goes, eh). The label tells me there's water, rice, malted barley, hops and (not sure if this is a typo or not, but food addictives - yes addictives. I think that's meant to be additives, but we'll see if I have a hankering from crack cocaine after this...)

Vessel: 500ml Pint can. Label of a ferocious looking Lion on the front. Best before is February 2024, so a couple months left for freshness.

Appearance: Rough pour into my Coopers Tulip, golden yellow standard lager appearance. Lots of bubbles clinging to the glass tells me this should be as bubbly as champagne. Thick white foamy head.

Aroma; Bready malts, sweet, syrupy and fairly strong aroma of alcohol (but for an 8.8%abv beer, I'm not surprised) and an earthy citrus, pine and stale vegetable smell. It's not horrid.

Taste: very sweet and a strong residue of alcohol after the swallow. Almost a wine aftertaste. Getting slight pine notes, but is just very sweet and syrupy.

Feel: It's syrupy. Carbonation isn't as strong as I was expecting, but I violently poured it out of the can.

Overall: It's not horrendous, but you wouldn't drink this unless you're looking for a quick buzz. I wouldn't drink this at room temperature, close to frozen as possible. It's too sweet for my liking, and unless I was playing catch up at a party in Colombo, I don't think I'd pick this up again.

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Found in Kigali, Rwanda. Poured into a mug from the 500mL can. The beer is a dark gold color with a foamy offwhite head of 1.5 fingers that sticks around surprisingly long.

Smell is slightly medicinal with alcohol and vegetal notes. Some bready malt underneath. Not the most appealing aroma. I think I know what I'm getting myself into though here.

Taste is sweet up front with some grain and then a medicinal mid palate. Finishes with a slight bitter-sweetness including bread malt and some earthy hops.

Feel: Watery with a bit of an oily finish.

Overall: This is in line with most other Euro Stong lagers I've had. It doesn't go down super smooth, but it is indeed strong and cheap, which I suppose is the goal. Avoid.