Castle Lager
South African Breweries plc

 

RB transfer

 

 

 

March 2004: (330 ml bottle). Pale golden colour, large thick head. Fruity melon-like aroma, flavour is typical industrial lager, a bit sweet. Not something I'm busy trying to sample again.

710 ml can into an imperial pint glass. straw/golen yellow w/soapy head
smell of grains/rice/cereal
taste is bland but not skunky thank goodness
feel was light and watery yet crisp & refreshing on a hot day
over all not great but better than most in its category.
BA frustrates me with low scores of beers like this/the "bros' are too snooty for my taste lol.

 

 

 

A: The beer is crystal clear yellow in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that died down but never completely faded away.
S: Light aromas of pale malts and skunk are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has a bit stronger, but still light flavors of skunked pale malts. There is a faint amount of bitterness.
M: It feels a bit more than light-bodied, a bit smooth and rather clean on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is easy to drink and has a nice mouthfeel. It’s not that flavorful, but the skunk in the smell and taste is rather minimal.

Serving type: can

 

As a South African, it pains me to concede how poor this beer is. Growing up, there was nothing better than an ice cold castle in a bottle on a hot day. Now, its taste ranges from awful to metallic to metallic corn awful. Not sure if the recipe has changed or if mgmt has just let it fail.

A: Pours a crystal clear pale yellow in color with moderate to heavy amounts of active visible carbonation rising quickly from the bottom of the glass and faint pale golden yellow colored highlights. The beer has a finger tall sudsy bright white head that reduces to a large patch of slightly mottled very thin film covering a little more than 65% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light to moderate aromas of grainy malts with a hint of rice + corn adjuncts and a light amount of grainy sweetness. Hints of grassy hops.

T: Upfront there are just shy of moderate flavors of grainy malts with a hint of rice + corn adjuncts and a light amount of grainy sweetness. That is followed by very light flavors of grassy hops which impart a light to moderate amount of bitterness which slowly fades away.

M: Slightly heavier than light bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Crisp with a clean finish.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a pleasantly crisp, clean mouthfeel. Similar to the big AALs from American breweries, not bad but not something that I would seek out again. Would pair easily with foods and be refreshing in a very warm climate.

 

 

Z01

Castle Lager is an excellent all around beer. It is your typical light lager but with just a touch of extra bitterness that makes the beer taste crisp and refreshing. It's good for hot summer days at the beach and good for barbecues. It's also a great beer after a hard days work no matter the season.