Four Twenty Brilliant Lager
Shaftebury Brewing Company

Four Twenty Brilliant LagerFour Twenty Brilliant Lager
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From:
Shaftebury Brewing Company
 
British Columbia, Canada
Style:
American Lager
Ranked #227
ABV:
5%
Score:
81
Ranked #25,752
Avg:
3.43 | pDev: 11.66%
Reviews:
14
Ratings:
24
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 31, 2023
Added:
May 22, 2004
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
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Ratings by FadetoBock:
Photo of FadetoBock
Rated by FadetoBock from Canada (AB)

3.76/5  rDev +9.6%

Sep 04, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of ChrisCage
Reviewed by ChrisCage from Canada (AB)

3.71/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
A- This pours a very clear, yet not crystal clear light golden yellow color....perhaps chill hazed and there is a fairly aggressive white head that is fizzy and dissipates quickly into a semi dense film over top the brew. The carbonation appears to be swift and in many columns that rapidly rise to the top with big bubbles....similar to a soda. The lacing is actually quite good for a buck-a-beer, with sticky white foam clinging ever so slightly to the inside of the glass, but alas, it does eventually slide back into the liquid....it does take its time in doing so....Overall this is a better than average looking American *adjunct?* lager.

S- There is an initial sweet malt aroma, suggesting caramel and crystal malts used here, and eventually gives way to perhaps some corn/rice cleanliness, dry graininess and grassy notes. The finish has a muted buttery richness, raw sweet dough, and perhaps some yeast. No real hop bitterness is noted.

T- Well I'm actually impressed with the flavors here, as there is an overall flavor profile that leans towards an amber lager! Caramel/toffee malt sweetness, some muted vanilla extract, barley grains, both raw/dry and malted, sweet bread dough, creamy yeast like flavor, and the finish shows potential for hop bitterness, but does give way to buttery notes....some diacetyl happening maybe? Whatever it is, it does not truly interfere with the general character.

M/O- This is heavier on the palate than most cheap lagers, and for that I am grateful, as it leans into more of a medium body and the carbonation, while heavy, actually softens as it sits, and becomes quite flavorful as the bubbles softly burst on the palate. As far as drinkability goes, I could easily make this my evening lager of choice and on a warm Summer day/evening, this will do the trick. A steal for the price, as I can get this for $15.99/15 pack....definitely near/at the top of the picks when it comes to this price point....definite recommend here!
May 31, 2023
Photo of charleskimmle
Reviewed by charleskimmle from Canada (BC)

2.3/5  rDev -32.9%
look: 2.25 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.5
Weird but not terrible to my taste, especially for the price. It's definitely not your typical lager, there is considerable malt and a creaminess going on. It does taste darker than a typical lager, and it looks a bit darker almost amber. There is some vegetal funk maybe slightly decaying that doesn't come across as desirable at first, but it's not that bad overall especially when cold. If it didn't have that vegetal funk this might taste better at warmer temperatures. Is this almost like a cream or amber lager?
Jan 15, 2023
 
Rated: 3.03 by csmrx7 from Canada (AB)

Sep 16, 2017
 
Rated: 2.61 by chickenm from Canada (BC)

Oct 17, 2016
Photo of headlessparrot
Reviewed by headlessparrot from Canada (ON)

3.46/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Pours from the can a hazy pale yellow, chill-hazed but also vaguely unfiltered looking. Indeed, it almost has that pale cloudy yellow-ish of witbier. Curious. Slight head, receding quickly but leaving decent lacing.

Slight buttery diacetyl in the nose,but the dominant note here is kind of like raw bakery bread dough blended with grass clippings from a lawnmower. Slight fresh, bitter greens.

Taste lacks the crispness, the clean-ness I like in a lager, but it's actually not bad. Bready, biscuity malt with a bitter hop twang, slight pepper. Good amount of flavour. Carbonation is moderate, body is perhaps a touch heavy and a bit oily, but alright, all things considered.

At $15 for a 15 pack? Hell, I'll take it.
Feb 09, 2016
 
Rated: 3.25 by Svingjo from Canada (BC)

Nov 30, 2015
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.54/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
355ml can, a surprise return from a brewery that we Albertans have not seen hide nor hair of since ought 9.

This beer pours a clear, bright pale golden yellow colour, with a fistful of puffy, rocky, and mildly bubbly dirty white head, which leaves a bit of condensed island group lace around the glass as it surprisingly takes its time sinking away.

It smells of grainy, doughy pale malt, a twinge of sweet-ass corn, some tame hard water flintiness, and leafy, weedy, and faintly grassy hops. The taste is semi-sweet, grainy pale malt, a subtly corny breadiness, ethereal yeasty notes, and a conversely peppy leafy, earthy, and above all grassy hop bitterness.

The carbonation is quite understated in its banal and generally plain frothiness, the body an adequate middleweight for the style, and mostly smooth, nothing else really sticking around here to cause us any trouble. It finishes tempting the sweetness gods, as the grassy hops start to peter out, while the inexpensive, but hardly cheap malt carries on and on.

Not a bad brew, overall, really, and given its low-cost, but high-volume re-entry into our rather competitive beer market, who's to say how it will do. Easy to drink, and crushable, I would imagine, in the alluded to 15-packs this stuff now parades around here in.
Sep 16, 2015
 
Rated: 3.9 by ZachT from Canada (BC)

Feb 21, 2015
 
Rated: 3.12 by BcCraft710 from Canada (BC)

Dec 12, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by schopenhauerale from Arizona

Aug 12, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by bumchilly25 from Canada (BC)

Mar 02, 2013
 
Rated: 3.25 by sansho from California

Dec 23, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by papawu76 from Canada (BC)

Dec 02, 2011
Photo of axfelix
Reviewed by axfelix from Connecticut

3.3/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Just like everyone else has said, this isn't nearly as bad as it could be, considering that it's among the five cheapest six-packs in any BC Liquor Store (around $9 as of February 2010). It's not much to look at, and it smells predictably like beer; it also tastes almost exactly like PBR (which, for those playing along at home, is a bit more alcoholic and better-tasting north of the 49th, in addition to being more commonly referred to as "Pabst"). Also, it's local, which is somewhat novel to me as a New Englander; unless you count Sam Adams, there isn't much tradition of microbreweries that brew reliably mediocre beer.

Vancouver's crown prince of "keep it in the fridge for when you're feeling cheap on a Tuesday night." If you're reading this website, you'd be hard-pressed to tire of it.
Feb 21, 2010
Photo of ezza
Reviewed by ezza from Canada (BC)

4/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A very drinkable offering from Shaftebury - definitely sessionable. I'll second Shadman's opinion - clean, slight biscuit taste, nice malt/hop balance, hint of citrus, dry finish. Remarkably similar to Okanagan Spring's 1516 - unsurprising since both are now brewed in the same brewery! Extra props for the very low price point... at $8.25 a six-pack here in BC, it clocks in a good $3-$4 cheaper than OK Spring's 1516 and its competitors. A rare beer deal. Lastly, this has been miscategorized as an American Adjunct Lager - no adjuncts in this beer. Says so on the can. I'd say Munich Helles...
Nov 08, 2009
Photo of Graham5161986
Reviewed by Graham5161986 from Canada (BC)

3.43/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
A: Pours a clear, dark amber-gold with two finger white head that dissipates slowly to form a thin film and slight lace.

S: grassy hops and a slight scent of bready malt

T: like it smells: grassy and bready but very dry, leaving hardly any aftertaste

M: medium bodied and slight creamy texture with tingly carbonation

D: An interesting beer that was a lot drier than I expected. Nevertheless, it's easy to drink and would make a pretty good session beer. Would do well as a summer beer.
Nov 26, 2007
Photo of Shadman
Reviewed by Shadman from Canada (AB)

3.28/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
a bit darker than your average lager. Coaxed a 2 finger bone white head that took it's time receding. That's a good start! Smell was faint, but what was there was grassy with some grainy malt. Very similar in taste to Okanagan's 1516. Very clean initially, then i found it to have a slight biscuit taste followed by a decent malt/hop blalance. Noted just a smidge of citrus as well. Found it to be slightly creamy and smooth, but the finish is a tad dry. A decent lager to try out on your pals wasting away in macro 'lageritaville'.
Mar 22, 2007
Photo of Viggo
Reviewed by Viggo from Canada (ON)

3.6/5  rDev +5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a clear golden/yellow, thick white head forms, settles to a decent layer, nice lacing. Smell is sweet, some grass, citrus, pretty mediocre lager aroma, bit of a malt backbone though. Taste is very grainy, dry biscuity malt, some citrus, little caramel, very drying decently bitter finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. I find this surprisingly thick for a lager, and I'll give them props for the bitterness.
Dec 24, 2006
Photo of BigBry
Reviewed by BigBry from Canada (AB)

3.47/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Average looking lager; clear yellow-gold color, starts with not bad head, but quickly shrinks away. Smell is grassy, grainy with slight hop finish. Fuller flavor than most macros, grain and malty sweetness, more hop finish. Well carbonated, even thought the head is lost, crisp clean finish. Nothing overly great, but a nice option for an east drinking summer beer.
May 21, 2005
Four Twenty Brilliant Lager from Shaftebury Brewing Company
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 24 ratings