Stag Draught Beer
Asahi Beverages (NZ) Ltd

 

Pours a clear copper color with a nice off white head.

Dusty, tea like, with some corny sweet adjuncts on the nose. A little funky, but not bad.

Clean, and kind of boring. Some light tea and biscuit like malts, and a touch of caramel sweetness. Finish has some crispness, and maybe just a hint of mineral hop bitterness.

Not bad, feels full enough for a "draught style" canned brew.

Ok. It's a fairly standard, decent, yet uninteresting tasting beer. It goes down pretty easy though. All in all? It's so so... it took me a while to finish the pack I bought, and while they weren't bad, I wouldn't buy again.

The can merely states that it was "brewed for safeway traders" so I am only assuming that it was by independent breweries because they contract brew a lot of other beers in this country. This one is contract-brewed for the "New World" chain of supermarkets and as such is a version of the mainstream NZ brown ale style. In appearance it is a pleasant amber colour but with an absolutely pitiful head that lasts no time at all. The taste is of malt and chemicals with a light hop bitterness. It tastes a lot better straight out of the can which says much of it. My flatmate said that it gave him a relatively light hangover but thats the only evidence I have that it isn't chocker with adjuncts - it certainly tastes like it. Its cheap as anything and if anything its good to see that the supermarkets have given us a cheap'n'nasty brown instead of a cheap'n'nasty lager.