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User Review

Knappstein Reserve Lager

Oliver and Geoffby

★★★
Consistently inconsistent
Very, very floral. “F---ing hell. I don’t think we’ve had a beer like this before.” Is this really in the style of Bavarian lager, as the label claims? It’s more of a rich dessert beer. Strong tasting, strong smelling; perhaps of hay. Is this the Sauvin hops, we wonder? Lisa described it as having a “floral, pissy smell”, but also being “a little bit yummy and tasty”.

This was the fourth time Oliver had tried this beer, and each time it had been significantly different in the degrees of aroma and taste.* If we were the Movie Show, we’d say: “This is groundbreaking cinema; I loved every moment of it. A completely enthralling film. Two stars.” But we’re not the Movie Show, and we say: “An interesting and bold beer. Three-and-a-half stars.“

* We find this variance intriguing. Winestate Magazine, reporting on the launch of this beer in 2006, quotes “master winemaker and brewer” Paul Smith as saying: “Wines vary with each vintage, reflecting the season, the oak and of course, the fruit. Unlike winemaking, brewing requires a strict discipline to ensure consistency.” So how does one explain this being one of the most inconsistent beers we've ever drunk?

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