Enterprise Brewery Knappstein Reserve Lager

Brewed by Enterprise Brewery (Knappstein Wines)
Style: Premium Lager
Clare, South Australia, Australia

Finally have got around to trying this beer and I have to say it’s deserved of the hype. Visually lacks excitement; just your standard light amber premium lager-like hue. Bouquet is choco-block full of passion fruit abd grassy herbal notes. As others have rightly observed very wine / sav blanc like (minus the sweaty notes sometimes found in Kiwi savvys). Overt fruit notes drop off in the mouth but are more than adequartely replaced with floral fruits / hops and a firming, bitter finish. Very different and really does push the fruit / floral aromas very well.

Bottle. An interesting lager, from a producer who is more famous for the wine they produce. This was crisp and refreshing, which i guess is what most people making lager are trying to achieve, however, this was a little different. This had some wonderful fruit punch sort of flavours. Some kiwifruit and goosberry in here, which instantly draws comparisons with NZ Sauvignon Blanc even though it is indeed a beer. This was fresh and fruity, and it just seems made for a hot summers day in Australia.

That rarest of beasts - a good free beer! Nelson Savin hops are the hop of the moment in the craftbrew world and this beer showcases them well. Premium lager is a class littered with dissappointing rubbish but this is not. Nice bright gold with NS hops to the fore in aroma and flavour with an interesting finish (citrus as others noted). Recommended.

An amazing lager. Without doubt the best I have ever tasted, so perfectly balanced with a gorgeous fruity bouquet of hops aromas.

Ok, my personal jury was out on this one for a long time. Having now had it in the context of a couple over a good meal I’m ready to rate it. This is one of the best Aussie lagers I’ve ever had, if not the best. Strange melony, guava, grapefruit & grass notes on the nose. Pours slightly green with a fluffy white head. The flavour has loads more of that fruit - melon, grapefruit and underripe mandarin. It presents a refreshing, long, dry and hoppy finish. This is by no means a pedestrian lager, and it is by no means a bad one.

Chilled330ml bottle. Fruity nose, obvious parallels to a sav. blanc wine; plenty of passionfruit, pear, kiwifruit and citrus notes to entice, quite outstanding for a lager really. Pale gold body with seemingly minimal head and lace. Bit of a light grainy backbone of pale malt supporting the tropical fruit driven hop flavorus. A herbaceous note also makes its presence. Slightly creamy mouthfeel with a citrusy note of bitterness to finish. Definately a unique lager from my experience, well worth a try.

Malt hop aroma. Clear yellow colour with poor head and lacing. Malt sweet hop flavour. Flat palate.

Bottle -- Very clear, very yellow with a head that soon dies off. The aroma is distinctly floral and grapefruit. My immediate reaction once in my mouth was that it’s closer to a sparkling wine than a beer, but its beeriness soon comes through, with its bitter, quite lemony edge staying in the mouth for quite a while afterwards. A really interesting and unusual beer.