St. George Lager

Brewed by St. George Brewing Company
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Hampton, Virginia USA

Another fine beer from St. George, yes lagers may lack the weight and depth of other styles of beer, but this is a truely outstanding lager and perfect for those events where you’re drinking for the loing haul. Pleasant flavor and lighter in body then most of St Georges offerings, this is a home run amongst lagers.

I thought this one was great. Good bready maltiness with a subdued lager flavor in the background. While it does lose points for clarity, it gains points for a great balance of complexity and drinkability. Yet another victim of ratebeer.com’s biast against light beer. Sure I prefer an IIPA, but judging the style at hand- St. George did well on this one.

Draft at the 4th Annual Virginia Beer Festival in Norfolk, VA. Was told by the brewer that this was two weeks old and was just released. Gold bodied with a small white head. Nose is grassy and malty with light citrus and mild biscuity notes. Taste is slightly bready and malted with citrus, grass light hay and mild hoppiness. Body is medium with creamy carbonation. Very refreshing and crisp at the end. Finishes light and crisp with bready malts, grass, hay and some buttery biscuits. Nice!

Bottle, from the Dragon Pack bought at Total Wine in Huntersville NC. Pours a ncie golden color with a light head and a touch of carbonation. Aroma is a touch of malt. Taste is clean, vigorous and quite surprising. This is what a lager should take like. Nice job!

Bottle courtesy goryshkewych. Aroma is strong with grains and a light diacetyl. Clear straw-colored with a thin white head, steady active carbonation. The flavor is enjoyable and refreshing, a grainy/grassy sweetness well-balanced by a very mild spicy hop finish. Creamy palate, highly drinkable. This is a nice helles that surprised me.

Bottle from Secret Santa. Lagers get no respect, even when well made, and this one is no exception. The pour is hazy canary gold with 1-finger whitish head. Aroma of apricot, peach, hopcitrus, pale malt. Very fruity, nice aroma. Tastes hopcitric, pale malty, with some honey and apricot notes. The taste isn’t as fruity as the smell, but this one stays smooth, crisp, and complex all the way through, making me wish I had a sixer. In my mind, this is one of the world’s top twenty lagers.

Bottle. Sweet flavor. Very fine clean lager. Yellowish color, with a small head.

Had this one bottled in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. A pretty typical lager, but, as with everything else from this brewery, it’s distinctive. Pale yellow clear pour, slightly sweet, hoppiness in the finish. Good.