Thresher Wheat Lager
Big Rock Brewery

 

If I could, I would rebrand this as "Puffed Wheat Lager". The cereal wheat aroma and flavour dominates this beer. Make no mistake - it's better than the average Big Rock offering. I was pleased to find Thresher in my Barn Burner mixer pack. As usual, the "style over substance" label applies clearly to this beer. It looks good, demonstrates promise, but falls flat in the end result.

330ml bottle poured into pint glass 21/2/15

A clear very light copper with lots of bubbles but little in the way of foam and lace

S dry cereal, faint citrus, a hint of hay, smells like Grasshopper with lager yeast

T some wet leaves on top of what I smell, tastes like a macro with wheat malt, nothing offensive but very boring

M lighter side of medium, enough bubbles to give it some life, yeasty cereal linger

O meh, pretty basic stuff going on here, a lawnmower beer at best

Not sure why you would expect different results doing the same thing over and over, try again Big Rock

 

 

 

 

330 ml bottle poured into a tulip glass. A burnished copper color with a compact half-finger head consisting of tightly packed beady beige bubbles. Leaves the odd dollop of lacing here and there on the glass. Aroma is toasted shredded wheat cereal (really!), the grape-like fruitiness one often gets from American lagers, a hint of brown sugar, maybe a musty dry old peppercorn spice. The smell is pleasant enough yet underwhelming. Palate is almost a perfect match to the nose, albeit thankfully more assertive. I sampled a tiny cup of this in a liquor store weeks ago and recall appreciating the caramelized wheat malt flavors. Same deal here, very nice toasted sweet grains with some leafy green hops that almost recall mint (did they use Perle in this?). Characteristic earthy Big Rock yeast and a faint booze flavor. The mouthfeel may be this beer's greatest asset, rather like a malty ale, moderate body and low key carbonation. Smooth and just rich enough to make this stand out from the Sleeman's type red lager crowd. Wheaty semi-dry finish. Although I am left a tad wanting, consistent with the new wave of half decent to quite good Big Rock brews.

 

330ml bottle, part of Big Rock's current mixed-pack. A lager made with wheat, from the name alone, I can glean, as the marketing babble on the back label just confuses things, with incongruous talk of 'fields of barley'.

This beer pours a clear, medium bronzed amber hue, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and somewhat bubbly off-white head, which leaves but a few instances of kanji-esque lace around the glass as things quickly recede.

It smells of toasted wheaten cereal, a touch of biscuity caramel, earthy yeast, a bit of white grape juice, and very weak leafy, weedy hops. The taste is more fruity right off the bat, some white grapes and applesauce garnering the headlines, with a wet whole wheat toastiness, rather understated caramel notes, and more soft earthy, leafy hops.

The carbonation is fairly lively in its slightly fizzy frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and plainly smooth, the edge of this particular wheat strain seemingly long dulled. It finishes off-dry, the orchard fruitiness lounging about, while the toasted wheat stays all wet.

Sort of hard to discern that this is a lager, rather than the much more common wheat ale, but I'm sure that's a yeast perception thing, and all I perceive here, once again, is that Big Rock house essence. Drinkable, and toasty, sure, but as simple and as forgettable as ever was.