16 July 2012

Watchoo talkin' 'bout, Williams?

Reuben has already had a go at this one, and I'm sure it's the first thing that any beer writer notes when sitting down to tackle the Williams Brothers' Caesar Augustus: "Lager/IPA Hybrid". Really, Williams Brothers? Really?

What you get is a highly fizzy golden beer whose flavour is centred on a sweet biscuity graininess: the sort that's common to good-quality lagers. And indeed a lager is what it really is: the brewing process is helpfully described on the label and we're talking about a lager yeast and a month or so of low-temperature maturation. That's lager, that is.

Hop-wise there's a little hint of soft fruit in the aroma and an initial bitter catch in the back of the throat on first gulp. A vague kind of peachiness emerges as it goes but there's nothing I'd consider serious hop impact.

It's a decent enough lager. Clearly the "IPA" tag is little more than an attempt to jump on that particular style bandwagon and shift a few units to beer drinkers who perhaps regard lager as a dirty word, the fools.
To the rest of us it's a short-lived curiosity followed by a nice refreshing beer.

Thanks to Derek for the bottle.

3 comments:

  1. A "Lager/IPA Hybrid"? (An IPL, perhaps?)

    WOW! The most innovative thing since "Imperial Pilsner"! How come nobody has ever thought before of putting a handful more (American) hops to a pale lager?

    Oh, well...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Many have done so but none called it a lager/ipa hybrid. It was simply their lager offering.

    ReplyDelete
  3. yeah, I found the same. Decent, tasty, refreshing pale, but neither IPA nor lager.

    ReplyDelete