Ayingerbrau Lager

Formerly brewed at Samuel Smith
Style: Pale Lager
Tadcaster, England

Keg Handpump at the Boot Inn, Chester 17/04/2004 Golden coloured and crisp with some sour fruit flavour. Slightly dry lasting malt hop finish.

On tap at The Champion, London Xmas Pub Crawl. Pale gold with thin white head. No aroma to speak of, dead malts in the mouth and a bit of zing on the end. Instantly forgettable

Sour, dirty sock nose, yellowy gold with a persistant head. Sharp and citrussy flavour ending with a flowery hoppiness that ultimately turns swet. Not too bad.

Really lager, but it has a nice fruit flavor at the back, it’s a little thick, and sweet.

As we continue to plumb the depths of the Sam Smiths lager portfolio at the end of the RB London Christmas pub crawl, we move on to the "standard" Ayingerbrau. Much like any other mass produced UK keg lager really, but it does have more alcohol than the likes of Carling. There is virtually no aroma whatsoever which, in this context, is an improvement on the other Sam Smiths lagers. There’s even a touch of grassy hop in the flavour, but that’s soon enveloped by a metallic tang, which persists long after the swallow. Poor, thin, stuff. Keg at the Brewery Tap (that is, the old Courage Brewery tap, not Sam Smiths brewery tap).

MCG with white head. Sweet bland though slightly malty flavour. Medium bitter. Medium-thin in body. Crap but drinkable lager.

Keg at the "World’s Funniest Pub", The Anchor Tap, Tower Bridge, London..
This one made my laugh, it’s so malty and pissy. It’s best feature is that it’s bland, most of the other Sam Smiths beers are really unpleasent.
Sampled on the Ratebeer London Meetup & Pub Crawl, December 2004. With Silktork, Chris_o, & Kook.

A difficult one to rate, this. I find it tastes lemony and slightly soapy - but dont let that put you off! It is a nice, full mouthfull of a lager that slides down easily. Unlike the majority of high volume lagers, it has no harsh aftertaste and does not appear to contain half a childs chemistry kit. i would recommend this if you see it on draught and want a good, solid pint to drink! Avoid the more expensive and stronger ABV Prinz though - it really is very wrong.