Harp Lager

Brewed by Dundalk (Diageo)
Style: Pale Lager
Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland

Golden color with minimal head. Aroma is green grassy, metallic, some bitterness and some faint caramel malt. Flavor is bitter, green and some caramel malt and finishes slightly metallic.

(12 ounce bottle - pint glass) Pours a clear gold beer with little head but it still leads to a decent lace. Aroma is a citrus hops balanced with a hay malt. There are skunky notes in the nose too. Taste has citrus hops, hay and bread malt, and a less noticable skunky taste too. Lively carbonation, medium body and has a almost oily texture. Reminds me of Yeungling.

A decent, if typical, lager. Considering that a pale lager isn’t going for much flavor, it almost feels wrong to mark Harp poorly. It isn’t like the bar was set very high to begin with. So, of all the macro pale lagers, I prefer this one; yet, it still doesn’t have many defining characteristics. Its aroma does have an interesting note of apple or grape, and although it is well carbonated, it isn’t overdone like most of the macros. Decent.

minimal white head on a pale gold pour. grain and a little fruit on the nose. Grain on the initial taste and lingering on the palate. nothing special...but not bad. good mouthfeel

Served very cold at a pub near Dublin. Aroma isn’t much, just grains, nothing offensive though. Colour is off-gold and not too appealing. Taste is a typical lager wtih grain notes and an average mouthfeel, which makes sense, as this is a decidedly average beer.

TAP: Weak attempt at beer - intended for the mass market. Light gold pour, typical lager nose and taste, some Corona-like funk to the taste, but definitely more flavor than American macros.

Draft. Nose is sweet and slightly metallic with hints of bready malt. Flavor is first the off-sweet of the nose with some hay, then a hit of (unpleasant) sourness and acidity that just ruins any positive things it may have had going. Perhaps this places lines are fouled, but this was not good...

A mediocre lager in a mediocre style. It’s not bad and probably better than American macros, but that’s no high compliment. I used to really like euro lagers. Now, they’re just boring macros, not so much bad as mild, sour and lacking the depth of a good beer. The nose is average but not nearly as poor as some macros. The taste is somewhat worse. It’s all cheap but honest malt and thin sourness. The feel is mildly watery, but it prickles with carbonation. It’s not an undrinkable beer. I’m just not sure that I would want it as my first bottle of the night.