Small Beer Lager
Beer Street Brands

fairly clever little marketing ploy here, play in the space between yucky fully non alcoholic beer, and actual craft lager, position it as a crafty beery thing, but also be too cool for actual drinking, appeal to the younger, hangover averse crowd that doesnt really quite get what partying is, definitely mediocre liquid and highly targeted and invested marketing, as much a branding operation as a brewery it appears, but this is probably going to work. the idea is a good one, and the beer really isnt bad, this is their flagship, its light and thin as is to be expected, but thats not necessarily a bad thing, its frankly closer to real beer than most of the non alcoholic stuff, and it starts in the pour, this has some nice golden color, near clear, and importantly holds a bit of head, is nicely carbonated, and kind of looks and feels like a beer in the hand, even though this might be a right from the can thing from the demographic who is likely to embrace it. the aroma is subtle, which is a good thing with these, no corny cheapness, no metallic or phenolic weirdness, its real pale grain, very mild lager yeast which isnt quite neutral, and approximates a yellow beer pretty well, smells fresh, thin and minimal, but decent, a little doughy thing going on, and if the flavor was the same as the nose i would like this even better. it warms to some cheaper notes, maybe not quite all the way adjuncty, but reduced in a way, but it is appreciably well lagered which counts for a lot in a beer that doesnt have much going on, and with the bubbles its not watery, just overly light, but the kind of textural thing one could get used to. very light floral aspect to the hops in here, but this is meant to be a mass appeal thing and lacks interest from hops, no big deal. lots to like about this, but also lots to be critical of if you want to go that route. for me, its better than most non alcoholic beers out there, straight up it is still actual beer, so props for that, and if this serves to extend evenings and make beer more inclusive, than im for it, maybe it could even be a gateway into normal craft for some. right now young people arent drinking beer, so if this brings them into the fold, even a little bit, it has to be a good thing...