Manav India Special Reserve Beer

Brewed by Manav Breweries
Style: European Strong Lager
Ghaziabad, India

Date: 06/24/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

clear golden, thin white head, sweet corn aroma, some body, nice sweetness, lots of corn flavor, touch of hops in the finish

Aroma: 4/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 4/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 8/20
Rating: 2.2/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: *+/4

Batch #05: Pours a clear, lively effervescent pale golden with a nicely-lacing frothy white head. Aroma of lightly sweet, pale malt and toasted grains with a touch of light fruit. Body starts with a mild sweetness, quickly drying toward a more earthy noble hoppy balance. Very drinkable and has some pleasant characteristics for a lager.

Light noble hop aroma. Brassy gold color with a decent white head. Near medium bodied with fizzy/creamy carbonation. The hops are definitely present, but the malt is just a slight touch caramel. The finish is less than dry, malt tends to dominate. The hops don’t quite balance this. Ok to drink though.

Poured a clear gold with quite a bit of fizzy bbubbles rushing to the surface and a small white head. Sweet malty grainy aroma with a light floral hop and some fruity notes. Malty flavor with a fair amount of hops. Light bitterness with a crisp clean finish. Decent body.

Bottle. Pours a pale golden body with a white head. Sweet with some dried fruit a hint of sweetness and some grain husk with a mild hop bitterness. Thin and light with a bready finish.

Slightly hazy and pale yellow with a foamy white head. Body was light and watery, with a mildish carbonation. Malts were sweet (sugar water) and shallow. Corn/DMS hung out in the background, which really put a damper on things. Hops were spicy, herbal and grassy (not very exciting or aromatic). Bitterness was mild. It was what it was.

Appearance: Pours out a slightly hazy, straw-colored body with a frothy white head. Smell: Lightly floral, sweet aroma of grains and grass. Taste: First of all, there’s a delicate malt body supplemented by some faint grassy notes. Second of all, well, actually that’s all there was to this beer. Mouthfeel: Thin-bodied with a nice effervescent creaminess. Drinkability: As my pal AndoBrew put it, this one’s "absurdly drinkable." Some have accused me of jumping ship any time a brewery dangles a few more ABV percentage points or whacky ingredients in front of my face. This, of course, is not the case, friends! Even I can find some small pleasure in this gift from Ghaziabad, India.

330mL bottle. Golden color. Thin white head. Decent aroma. Smells like a familiar German Lager. Aroma of grain and hint of hop. Grainy malt sweetness. A detectable amount of hops. Crisp and refreshing. Unique taste. Much better than our standard American Lagers (sorry AB).