LagerShed Original
Shawn & Ed Brewery Co

This fizzy yellow drink is clear with a tall off-white foam head.

A little toasty, astringent and metallic but also floral and corny.

The lighter body is but frothy and semi-dry.

Crazy I haven’t rated a beer from my hometown, a brewery I go to every week for trivia night! Their Amber Ale which is cask aged, and their Ontario Pale Ale on tap are phenomenal. I need to rate them but I’m too busy with the trivia nights! I’ve never seen beer more gorgeous than straight from the cask that. The bubbles, the thick head, and the unbelievable lacing as if the beer just finished and got served half a millisecond ago.

Anyways, this is their flagship, the original. Apparently a Pilsner style lager. I can taste it in the crisp snap and slight bitterness in the finish. I don’t note any polish-y notes myself, though I’m pretty likely getting the freshest cans in all Ontario considering the brewery is 2 minutes away from the local Beer Store and LCBOs.

Grainy malt sweetness, tasty pale grains. Gorgeous in the glass. Straightforward and by no means complex (like their other beers), this is one of those pure drinkable beers that could probably even satisfy the folks in your group who only drink light beers or coolers. And it goes great with their pizzas!

Little on the sweeter side. Tall metal bottle a little unnatural in a good way. Love the design and taste. Smells a little nail polishy.

 

 

 

 

 

I am a pilsner addict. Once when I was young I tasted the perfect beer. It had integrity...it had a nice cereal finish...you could taste the quality ingredients.

I don't remember the beer but I keep chasing the dragon. The cereal graininess.

Lagershed has a flourish. It takes me back to that mystery beer.

Had on tap at a not-inexpensive-restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Nice, simple, clean lager. Refreshed the mouth on an August day. Went well enough with appetizers before a decent and not-inexpensive dinner. While a decent Looker, aromas were average. And while not much hops for a pilsener, I'm OK with that... being a malthead. But I must say, LagerShed will have a hard time distinguishing itself.

I went on the brewer's website since this was my first (and probably only since it is hard for Canadians to get distribution in Chicago and I won't go to Toronto again for a while.) But it is very nice that two guys who love beer (one who works in the U.S.) can start a brewery and make a go of it. They know enough of what they are doing that I can confidently say that: "who knows what the future will bear?" Good Luck to Shawn & Ed.

473 mL aluminum bottle from the LCBO; dated Jun 18 2018 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a clear pale golden colour, topped with one finger of foamy white head that settles off within two minutes' time. A thick, frothy collar and thin cap last on for a good while longer; it's a fine looking lager. Immaculately clean nose - I'm not getting anything other than gritty, grainy pale barley malt sweetness, along with maybe a touch of weedy, grassy hops. Nothing to complain about just yet.

A well-made pale lager, especially by domestic standards. The flavours are no less crisp and clean than the aroma - this is a very straightforward tipple, with grainy malt sweetness carrying the bulk of the load. A very slight hint of grassy hops surfaces towards the finish, leading up to a fairly dry aftertaste with shades of metallicity (the only aspect of the flavour that even begins to bug me, but only barely). Light in body, with moderately low carbonation that gently nudges the surface of the palate. This is a double-edged sword: there's no bloat factor whatsoever, which is great, but it also lacks that crisp, prickly refreshing quality that I desire from a cold pilsener. Still, it has fantastic drinkability - I could easily plow through several of these in a night, and I can't see myself getting sick of it, either.

Final Grade: 3.68, a B grade. LagerShed Original is a very good Canadian lager, though I don't know if I'd call it an especially great pilsener, German or otherwise - the hop contributions are fairly marginal, but I don't get the impression that any corners were cut on the malt bill, which is rather tasty. If you like pale lagers, this is worth looking into, and it might be a perfect stepping stone beer between the realms of macro and craft. My only real gripe is the price, because there's no shortage of cheaper German/Czech imports that can fill the same role.

330 ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. Thanks to Brent for this one. Review from notes

Appearance - Pours a clear pale golden color, with not much thin white head. Lots of bubbles, little retention and no lacing.

Smell - Clean with subtle bits of sweetness and a general grassiness I find with German Pilsners.

Taste - Clean and refreshing, with medium bitterness, lots of grassy flavors and middling sweetness up front as well. Weird metal taste on this bottle as it warms. Will check final bottle of the sixpack to see if this is confirmed as I hadn't noticed it previously.

Mouthfeel - Finishes dry, medium-light bodied, carbonation is on the lower end of average.

Overall - A solid if unspectacular pilsner. Just a touch behind the likes of Wernesgruner and Warsteiner to name a couple never mind Radeberger and Bitburger. Also behind some of Amsterdam's solid pilsners of late, but a cut or three above the macro swill.

 

On tap at Zees Grill in NOTL. Clear gold with good head. Light malt nose with medium-light body, some creaminess to the crisp finish. Enjoyable.

 

Pours light gold colour in my glass, with a midrange head. The smell is all grains and cereals. The taste adds a slight hoppiness with a bready aftertaste. Carbonation level is nice. Overall a nice beer and I really love the aluminum bottle.
April 23 2022