Yanjing Beer
Beijing Yanjing Beer Group Corporation

Bought at Liquor Shed.

Pours a pale gold with nearly a finger of foam, lacing is very good.

The smell is, umm, of rotten vegetables with a sickly sweet aroma and smells light struck.

The taste is a nasty grainy sweetness, vegetal non goodness, plain terrible.

Thin and watery body.

Yeah, it is a single bottle that I bought!

Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a stemmed glass goblet. Crystal-clear pale amber, with a couple of fingers of snow-white head that left some nice lacing as it settled. Comforting aromas of grain, grass, and tart apple that obtain on the palate as well. The light malt provides good structure, and there is an unexpected but pleasant umami note (however slight). Fairly light bodied, good carbonation, clean finish. Overall, an excellent Euro pale lager. I wish I had me some Chinese food right about now. :)

Found this at Binny's on its Build-Your-Own 6-pack shelf and had been there for a couple of months. (Not likely to return.)
I wanted to try it and I did and I won't again... unless I can find it fresh.
While Yanjing has a decent personality, I had it next to Off Color's Si Fang (designed for dumplings.) On a relative basis, Yanjing just lacked flavor; I suppose designed for refreshment, but not as a contributor to the kitchen.

To be consistent, I owe Yanjing one of my "micro" reviews, but I'll keep it short: I couldn't find the English button; so I only could review some superficial macro marketing. Hence, below average Overall rating.

cool to run into a bunch of random new to me asian lagers last week, i have long been a fan of the international lager experimentation game, much as these are all the same they also all have their own little personalities and quirks, and its fun to drink through them in life. this one is very light, close to ruined in the nose from the green glass, not my favorite packaging decision, but who knows if this was ever meant by the brewery to land in idaho, a long way from home to be sure. its immediately frothy and very well carbonated, practically leaping out of the bottle which is appealing. past the skunkiness its got a simple cereal grain base, seems like all malt, nothing cheap or extract-esque about it, not even metallic either which so many of these are, and i can appreciate a little continental ale yeast, this almost has czech pils elements to it in grain and yeast. the faintest herbal hop and balancing finish, enough to be quenching and crisping if this were fresh, but alas it is not. oxidized and with wet paper character, still its oddly clean on the swallow, it goes away fast, but its skunky enough to be a bit unappealing, even when its frosty cold. cool to get to try this one, the malt character and its effervescence are its best features, but i like it having a touch of body too and dont mind trace grain sweetness. perhaps better than most when its nice and fresh, hope to try it that way next time...

 

 

I had this beer in China and it was my personal favourite. Liked it better than the other Chinese beers. Easy drinking and nice and strong. It's typically drunk when you're eating spicy Asian food. The general reason is that it helps to clear the palate in a refreshing hydrating way so you can move on to the next spicy dish. That's probably the reason why it's so popular in China especially for Chinese food banquets. So if you're having spicy Asian food, you really cannot go wrong with this beer. It is in my opinion, a hidden gem that I was glad to discover.

 

I normally do not do lagers but this one was pretty good. It’s complex and has a sweetness or fruitiness I couldn’t peg. I’d get again.

 

 

12oz bottle from Brewers Haven. Very pale gold, with a nice tight, rocky head, lots of lacing. Grainy, malty aroma, some corn. Taste is sweet, and more grainy flavors, and lacking any vegetal notes you usually get with cheap lagers. Tasty, smooth, light.

Let’s be real: the beer is what it is. I’m not going to call it a Chinese Heineken, but it still isn’t gonna win me over like Kiera Knighlty in a nightie. What I like is that my homeboy down the street at the liquor store told me to put it in the freezer for 20 minutes before I pop it. And you know what I got? Ice cold nothing! Which is better than regular cold skunk.

I’ll drink to that!

...Honestly, I kind of like it!

 

Decanted from an 11.2 oz (330 ml) bottle into a custom taster pint; no production information.
A: Pours a crystal clear, straw to golden color with a two finger, foamy white head, decent retention, but spotty lacing at first, although it picks up lower on the glass.
S: Peppery and toasty with grainy (especially corn) and grassy aromas.
T: Semidry. Fruity (apple and corn) and very lightly malty with a surprising degree of bitterness given the style and area of origination.
M: Light bodied with very solid carbonation. Drinks smoothly, crisply, and cleanly.
O: This is a solidly constructed lager without being stand out. It is no longer in the clear bottle, as depicted above, but rather in a green one (which is no improvement from the perspective of skunking. The absence of a production date is a problem, especially as it is an import and trying hard to penetrate the American market.

 

 

 

Pours a clear medium yellow that resolves to faint lacing.
Smell is fairly strong sweet corn malt.
Taste is skunky sweet corn malt and slightly bitter finish.