Blonde Lager
Bira 91

This is the official beer of the 2022 T20 World Cup (Cricket) and so has made its way to Australia's shores.

Drunk while watching the cricketing heavyweights Namibia and Netherlands (that's sarcasm, by the way) duke it out in Geelong in October 2022.

L: Weak, golden yellow in the plastic cup, with a marshmallow white, fluffy head.

S: Clean, mild, toasted grain.

T: Sweet, minerally grain with a weak, sweet finish. The sweetness lingers after the swallow. Almost no bitterness.

M: Full and rich. The sweet taste, full body, and fluffy head presumably indicate a lot of dextrins left in the beer, which is great for the mouthfeel but not so much for the taste...

O: This is a fairly uninspired, generic lager that no doubt works much better in the heat and humidity of the subcontinent, where it is brewed. It would quench the fire of a spicy dish and take the edge off a hot day, but has little utility otherwise.

Cheers!

 

Crystal clear yellow body, visible carbonation, white cap. Aromas of grass and flowers with light hop bitters, but not much else in the gentle nose. Taste has a crisp cracker like malt backbone, hops finish lightly, some pale doughiness lingers. Feel is crisp, dry, clean, but thin. Still a nice crusher of a beer, does indeed go well with indian food, especially keema matar

 

cool to have indian beer with indian food, no doubt, heck cool to have craft(ish?) beer from india anytime, it so rarely comes this way, but i was surprised to see this is being brewed in the states. in any event, its a decent little lager, very pale and light, refreshing for the palate with some spicier foods, but on its own maybe less impressive, not a whole lot to it, although perhaps a little hoppier than most. the lightest shade of yellow and sparkling in the glass under a rising fizzy white head. it smells like cut and dried flowers and grasses, some spiciness from the hops, soft citrus, and a very dry dough sort of complexion to the yeast, like pizza dough from just flour and water. soft lemon in the flavor, dry and lightly herbal, less flavor than aroma from the yeast, and a very simple pils type malt base, some slate minerality, wet rocks, that sort of thing. i like the high carbonation most, and i like this best when its cold, it doesnt warm up great, a little soapy to me then, but a pretty clean brew that works well in its obvious food context. id like to try some of their other flavors but you dont see their stuff around very much...

Poured from 12oz bottle into a dimpled mug. This is the brewed-in-the-USA version.

Appearance: pale golden hue with a clear body and a thin layer of frothy white foam atop. The color and clarity are great, although more head would be nice.

Smell: light and malty; there's a little bit of corn aroma to it but really not a lot. There's not a whole lot going on here, but for the style, it's well-done.

Taste: quite malty up front, which I really like. Toward the finish there's a little bit of a plasticy character that doesn't work for me so much. It's not super pronounced; overall the flavor is good, it could just be cleaned up a little.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a good carbonation and a decent creaminess.

Overall: some light flaws aside, this is a super refreshing beer, especially on a hot day like today. It's a style that rewards subtlety and quaffability, and on those measures this beer does well.

 

 

 

 

Bira 91 "Blonde Lager"
16 fl. oz. can, coded "1068 08:48", contract brewed by the Matt Brewing Co. in Utica, NY
$2.79 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: So this is interesting, a craft brew from India. Of course this is just a version of it and I'm quite sure it doesn't taste the same. On the other hand it's just a golden lager so who really cares. It's clear, golden, and has a nice head of white above it. I'm a little surprised at how good the head retention is, but Matt is a good brewery so there's that. It's floral in the nose, and just slightly sweet. It's almost perfumey. It's quite clean. So, so good so far. The flavor displays the same floral hoppy notes found in the aroma atop gently sweetish and grainy golden malt. There are some spicy hops further in, and the ghost of some citrus. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some Cascade hops in the mix. I'm actually liking it quite a bit. Oh, I should note before I forget, that it's labeled at 4.7% abv. Back to the beer, it's mildly bitter but the spicy and almost piney hops come on pretty strong in the finish and help to dry it. My one complaint is that it's not that highly carbonated. That's great at the outset, it's medium-light in body with a very nice gentle bristle on the tongue and then smooth in the finish, but it's now starting to feel a little flat. I'm a little more than halfway through the 16 oz. serving at this point; maybe a 12 oz. serving would have been better? On the other hand, I always have to question because carbonation level really does change a beer, and maybe the lower carbonation is better here. In the end what matters is the initial impression and overall flavor and balance. I love the floral, citrusy, spicy, and even slightly piney hops and they're really nicely balanced against the malt. So for this version I give it a thumbs up, but of course, as noted, I highly doubt that this tastes like the version brewed in India, or even the other contract breweries around the world. Here in the U.S. I'd say if you're a fan of lagers this is well worth trying.
Review# 6,385

This was quite a find at the Corner Foodery in Philly on one of my recent visits. I am always scouring for CANs to add to The CANQuest (tm) & they are a great source. I was drawn in by their monkey logo since what suggests "fun" like a monkey? I was stunned by the fact that it is an Indian brewery & I knew that I had to add one to The CANQuest (tm).

From the CAN: "Bier*Beer*Birra*Biere*Cerveza*Cervesa"; "Imagined in India".

First of all, please understand that I will be reviewing & rating this as a Euro Pale Lager. It currently exists on this site as a Light Lager, but since they also make one of those, I have submitted a change request.

I Crack!ed the vent on this one & beCAN a Gussie Busch Glug that resulted in the creation of two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with excellent retention that slowly fell away, leaving decent lacing in its wake. Color was Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5) with NE-quality clarity, causing The Gelt Gang of Mammon, Croesus & Midas to come storming in for a taste. Nose smelled kind of like a German Pilsner - bready, toasty malt with a light grassy Noble hops presence. It was definitely NOT a Light Lager! Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not creamy, but very big for any style of Lager. The taste was clean, bready, clearly a Lager, with a light bitterness like freshly mown hay or grass. Mmm. I gotta say, this was going down real easy on a hot, humid Summer's day. It's relatively low ABV didn't hurt, either. Finish was semi-dry and highly refreshing. I CANnot remember its price point, but if it is reasonable, this would be a great CANdidate for the beach-bound cooler! YMMV.

 

Capped bottle: Bright straw color with good activity. Slightly foamy white 2 finger head, lasting less than 5 minutes, with weak legs and swirl. Flavors of corn, rice, sweet barley, and floral hops. Slick and smooth full body with prickly carbonation. Light strength finish, dominant cereal feel ending with balanced hops and faint minerals. Adjunct feel is moderate. Freshness is decent. Typical basic lager with some Pilsner profile. Mass pleasing brew. Overall poor quality craft.

This is a very tasty lager, with a clean and very fruity (for a blonde lager) aroma profile. It quenches thirst but also offers enough bitter hoppiness to make you want more.