House Lager
Fair Isle Brewing

An average+ lager, a bit of flavor carries this beyond the normal plain palate of a lager.

L- Very pretty beer and its getting points for the cool glass I got it in.
S- a theme, it was very complex. Hard to describe.
T- Very much "an beer", super complex and hard to discern. It felt like my tastebuds were genuinely confused and this should be for someone with a more refined palate than my trash mouth.
F- Rather heavy for a lager beer, normal effervescence.
O- this beer was confusing and I had a hard time sussing it out. Not bad but not sure I want to do it again even though it was obviously a really good beer.

Would I swim a mile for Fair Isle (Lager)? Not so much. Channel my inner Mathew Webb Raul would not. Now, if my portly friend Chucky had an extra one all while floating on an inflatable raft at the deep end of the pool, I’d be ok with doing the backstroke from the shallow end over to grab one. And that’s this beer: I wouldn’t do a Herculean effort to be able to drink one. But walk a block or two? Sure.

We all have our demons, my children. But I say fight. Fight like fu——g hell.

Be well.

*edit Ok, I’m coming full circle here. Taste is actually pretty good. That said, the feel is still just a bit too watery though.

certainly not the kind of thing we all know and love fair isle for, but these times have called for moneymakers, industry is down, everyone needs an influx of cash, these turn a bit quicker than barrel aged saisons, i guess even these folks arent immune to it, but at least they have delivered something thoughtful, even if its well outside of what they do best, quality ingredients, salmon safe, those things matter in clean simple beer like this, and its a fine can of lager, lots of character, more complete and subtly interesting than most generic yellow craft offerings, so already ahead of the curve. my can says 4.9% abv, some slight variation batch to batch still i suppose. well refined without being perfectly clear, just yellow in the glass, not richer into the golden realm, fizzy and collecting well over an inch of wispy white head with great retention. the aroma and flavor here are about identical, enough malt character to seem almost decocted, husk and hull when its warmer, clean cereals when cooler, deeply earthy, not overly kilned or toasted, its pale and straight ahead, crackery and pils-like, but less of that european vibe, more northwestern, some terroir in here. the hops bitter it appropriately, id say european inspired there, some subtle tea-like and floral notes to the hops, dried grass, trace citrus, noble-esque, simple in a good way, snappy to finish. the lager yeast also contributes, old worldy a little bit as well, off from fully tidy and fast, but i like whats left from it, and in the end it all comes together very nicely for a drinkable yet non bland lager of some interest, flavorful yet repeatable, with rushing carbonation and a softness about it. i liked it best frosty cold, but this is good however, and even though its not what made me fall in love with this place, i respect the effort and also the likely need that forced it into existence, better than many. obviously this isnt the point of this, but i cant help thinking this would be rad in a foeder, bottled in green glass with a brett pitch, something a little more their speed, this could be a killer base for that...