Shavi Lomi Helles lager
Genuine Brewing Company / Black Lion

450 ml bottle poured into a nonic pint glass.

L: Brilliant clear yellow-gold pour, two finger white head, rocky foam is fairly persistent and eaves lace.
S: Faint bright aroma, spicy hops and toasted barley.
T: No surprise, spicy hops and toasted barley malt, lightly sweet honey up front, quickly dries to the finish, a touch watery, mild hop bitterness, balanced to malt.
F: Light bodied, high-ish carbonation, smooth with a just a bit of crisp coming late.
O: Easy drinking with good flavor, wanted another pour.

Woah. This tastes like my grand father’s lakehouse basement. Funky. Weird. Almost like a lake float or a neoprene wetsuit. I wouldn’t ever finish this.

 

 

(450 ml brown bottle, purchased off shelf... poured into a Tubinger mug)

L: brilliantly-clear, grainy amber liquid; tons of tight foam... keeps a pretty thick, spongy collar; a few broad, crystalline lace streaks

S: I don't know how, but it smells like a skunked Heineken... herbal, cereal malty... overall fairly bright and expressive... big time bread crusty

T: too peppery-hoppy for a Helles, its sharp, acidic bitterness buzzing long into the aftertaste, during which a flash of sweet, doughy malt makes a lasting mark... I'm tasting the skunk too, fascinating

F: plump for a light body, bit of oily drag in the finish... bitterness leaves a frictive, simmering warmth on the taste buds

O: this is a Euro pale lager, not a Helles - took one sip to realize... relatively fresh, serviceable, but indistinct (2476)

Not a bad attempt at a Helles.
Shavi Lori Looks slightly above the average, this golden could use more lasting foam. Smells may be the best part as mostly sweet malt gets aromatic hops to balance the brew at the end. The same basically happens in the Tastes, although not as successfully; possibly more bitter would properly check the sweet. Not quite medium-mouthed, mostly because the style typically is softer. Decent with a cheese sandwich for lunch.

As for Genuine Brewing, they have no real website that I can find. on UnTappd, they claim to be Georgia first micro. And they seem to contract brew with Global Beer Georgia. So everything seems to just be starting up in Georgia. And because crafting can be an important culture enhancer, I give Genuine good Overall Hugs.

 

Poured from a brown 15.2 oz. bottle. Has a golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of mats, somewhat sweet. Taste follows the aroma, light hops are present. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a clean and refreshing beer.

Brilliantly clear light gold, big dense white head, excellent retention, thick bands of lace. A really pretty beer
Grainy, cracker malt, a bit of noble hop aroma, some sulfur aroma
Grainy malt, green apple, a bit of caramel creme flavor
Light bodied, creamy, well carbonated
I can dig it

Poured into a small pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with as fine, one finger white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of bready and grainy malt, cracked grain, mild caramel and a little skunking. Flavor is grainy malt, cracked grain, mild apple juice, grassy hops, mildly floral with a hint of skunk. Light grassy hop bitterness. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. My first beer from Georgia in a classy bottle. It's got some skunking, which is a tragedy, since it is in a proper brown bottle, which should have protected it. The profile is basic grainy lager; it states that it is a helles, but has less sweetness and more bitterness than that style (which is to my taste, so that's fine). Husky grain throughout. A satisfactory. crisp lager that is quite drinkable, but I wish it had not been mysteriously light struck. Looks nice.

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a clear golden color with a small head of white foam. The head fades rather fast leaving a light level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is strongest of a very grainy smell mixed with notes of bread and some light earthy hops. Along with these smells comes a decent showing of caramel, toffee, and crème, adding a nice sweetness and balancing the grain well.
Taste – The taste begins with a grainy and cracker malt flavor mixed with the crème and caramel that were in the nose. As the taste advances more and more earthiness joins in, with it adding a nice backdrop to the flavor profile, but never getting too intense. Toward the end of the taste transition, there is a bit of doughiness that joins in, leaving one with an easy natured grainy taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body is light and crisp with a moderate carbonation level.
Overall – A pretty nice easy natured lager with a good natured drinking feel and taste.

 

Global Beer Georgia "Shavi Lomi Helles lager"
500 ml brown glass bottle coded "L5097268G 23:42"
$4.49 @ Total Wine & More, Claymont, DE

Notes via stream of consciousness: This beer is from Georgia, and Shavi Lomi translates to black tiger. The drawing of the face on the label looks like a cross between a lion and a man. It's poured a clear straw gold body beneath a short head of bright white foam. There's not a lot going on in the aroma but it's clean, mainly just grainy malt and background herbal hops. The taste delivers that grainy malt but it's fairly light and I imagine that there might be some adjunct in use here. Or perhaps not, what's the ABV? It's 4.8% so I'm going to guess that yeah, there's probably some adjunct in play. There's a pleasant background fruitiness that's reminiscent of fallen apples, and some herbal and lightly floral hops. A stiff bitterness balances it and brings it to a dry, mineralish and lightly herbal finish. In the mouth it's medium bodied on the lower end and gently crisp with a fine-bubbled carbonation. The head held up about average, and it's left some lacing about the glass. I feel that this is well-brewed and nicely balanced, leaving it refreshing and quaffable but not particularly memorable. That's OK because it is what it is, and I could easily see having one of these alongside a khachapuri or bowl of kharcho. Hanging out with the guys and having a few beers - of course! Sporting events and hot summer days? Absolutely. That's what this beer is meant for.
Review #9,286

450ml bottle from Total Wine and More in Short Pump, VA The lager poured a clear gold with a white foamy head and good head retention. No lacing was observed. The aroma of crystal malls and bread was noted. Nicely balanced lager! The flavors were mostly from the malts. Not too sweet and not grassy like some lagers. The lager had a medium body and average to soft carbonation.