Szot Rubia Al Vapor

Brewed by Szot Microbrewery
Style: California Common
Santiago, Chile

A California Common, that explains it. I thought they just f*ed up. Looked like apple juice and exactly the same as their pale ale. Really bad chill haze. Hoppier than expected. Had the rough pineyness of chinook, the fruitiness of cascade, and some earthiness like columbus. Pretty good combo, could use a little tweaking. It didn’t work that well with the malt though. Too much residual sweetness. It was a rather sweet sweetness as opposed to a malty sweetness...yea. I’m not a big fan of the Cali Common ester profile, so I wasn’t digging that part, but I suppose it might have been fairly well done for a CC.

Nice, especially in the summertime. Probably a favorite for girls. You expect a lager and get something completely different. Very fruity aroma.. like a ale but bitter and refreshing taste like a pilsner... yum!!

Has a deep amber colour, hazy, with a long lasting head. Strong aroma of lemon (very strong), with notes of herbs, candy, malt, and some yeast. Flavor is mildly spicy, malty, and pleasantly bitter. Smooth texture, average carbonation. It’s ok.

Dull orangey amber body with good head. So far most of the Szot I have tried have similar characters. Grapefruit bitterness that is not balanced as I would hope for. Solid lacing.

I will ignore the description that this is like a porter. In colour it is as much a porter as I am a Springbok supporter. It is an orange/amber with a very cloudy body, perfectly acceptable for a bottle conditioned beer. The head is a clean white but given the 6% it is going to flatten somewhat. Quite fruity in the nose as I would have thought for a cerveza al vapor. Equally zesty in the mouthfeel and one that reminds me a little of the Aussie Coopers Sparkling Ale. Their advertising states that their beer is cloudy but fine, equally the brewing climate in Chile is looking at a sunny future if this beer is one of the new breed.

Nice dark yellow colour, with beautiful white foam. Complex aroma; malty, frutal and a little toffee. Taste is great, with apples, malt and a touch of caramel. Good finish with a soft bitter and frutal aftertaste.

330cc. It doesn’t feel like a lager. Its heavier. Bitter finish and spicy. Poor head. Good carbonatation, bubbles of different size, continuous in the glass. Very dry. Excelent.

Bottle, thanks Cristián and David! This beer shouts quality in all aspects. A solidly malty beer with smooth, toasty graininess all through it and then a balanced, mellow, complex grain finish with toffee, malt, bitterness and some dryness. Good stuff.