Byron Bay Pale Lager
The Byron Bay Brewing Company

I remember downing a schooner of this sitting outside on a real hot afternoon at The Glenmore in The Rocks, and wow, so crisp, smooth, not too hoppy; a real "summer afternoon" beer.

Format: a standard brown 330mL bottle, standard semi-macro style label. Not bad at all.

Appearance: pours a bright yellow colour with big carbonation. A small head pops up and dissipates reasonably quickly. Just a few flecks left after a minute or so.

Aroma: sweet grains and some grassy hops. Nothing very special, but it is crisp and clean.

Taste: pretty much follows from the nose. It is fairly demure, however, but again is clean and crisp.

Aftertaste: doesn't last very long in the mouth. Not a terrible thing though, it's a sessional lager.

Mouth feel: mouth feel is pretty much spot on. Light in body with a moderate-to-high carbonation to carry what little flavour across that there is.

Overall: not a bad lager - nice and crisp, with standard lager flavours. The price is where this beer falls down quite badly. At AU$55+ per case, it just doesn't add up. It is quite easy to drink, but simply too 'standard' and too light in flavour to be worthwhile. Trying to be a 'boutique' doesn't help when your product quite obviously isn't.

330ml bottle, Best before date of DEC 2014. I also see that its made under license for Carlton united brewery.

A-straw coloured, pours a very thin off white head, almost none at all!

S-hint of sweet malts and grass, but mostly a chemical stank.

T- slightly sweet malt and grassy flavours, slight bitterness but more cardboard overall. Sweet finish.

M- moderate carbonation, soapy texture, medium body

O- a standard lager dressed up to look craft. It hasn't got the adjunct taste as other CUB beers, but nothing inspiring at all.