Warsteiner Premium Verum

A Sim rate (Draught at Lucia’s 70th shindig): Smells of hops and malt and is surprisingly not too offensive. Appearance is watery and fizzy with no head at all. Flavour is malty but bland, slightly citric with an almost unpleasant finish.

Beer No.1 on my Berlin trip, from the Buffet car on the train from Paris. This will explain my brief notes: Very carbonated. Malty. Sweet short finish. I wasn’t impressed. A woman in the same compartment as me said ’Ah, in German this is a very cheap beer’. I trusted that better awaited me.

12oz bottle. Pours golden, clear. Head lost quickly. Crisp hoppy aroma. Lively carbonation. Good malt. Sweet bread finish. Overall good German.

Bottle. Pale yellow pour with light head. Not the best German pilsner I have tasted, but still pretty good. I’m actually impressed that its not at all skunky and in an amber bottle. Mouth feel was good and beer is definitely high on the drinkability scale.

500ml can. Not a whole lot to say about this one. Middle-of-the-road german pilsner, that’s still enjoyable but nothing remarkable. Worth a try if you’re into pilsners, it’s not skunky don’t worry (well, I didn’t find it to be skunky or unpleasant). EDIT: I was too harsh on this initially. It does have a bit of a weird plastic type flavour to it, but for some reason that seems to work? Nice malt profile actually with some nice Noble hop character. A go-to beer for me, as well as a solid party beer.

Bottle. Pale yellow with a small head. Smells like a worse pilsener than it actually is. Taste has a little more hop than your average mass produced pilsner. Not bad for a warm day, not that exciting either.

My instincts tell me this is just another common pilsener, but my eyes, feasting on that ornately Prussian label like an officer’s medal, can’t help but say “Now this is a real beer, a sophisticated beer, a gentleman’s beer!” Well, I’m nearsighted. My eyes can’t be trusted, and the Warsteiner Premium Verum did end up being just another pedestrian drink. But I can see myself ordering it at a bar or restaurant, especially if the establishment’s touted “Global Selection” means all the world’s worst macros. It’s a pale, sickly yellow beer, like an overworked orphan at the chemical factory. A single pillar of carbonation rises from bottom to top in the direct radial center of the glass, feeding a mottled, sea foam head as it clings tightly to the glass sides and edges in a desperate bid to escape the receding beer line. The smell is sticky and viscous, accumulating in the nose like geologic layers, oozing with honey, corn syrup, white grape juice and freshly cut green apple. The taste is a blander version of the aroma with the added benefit of rough, wheat grain to balance out the sweeter bits. The body is medium, moderate, in the middle and totally unexceptional. Served cold the Warsteiner Premium Verum is a dessert and refreshment at the same time, but too much thought, consideration and time spent drinking it can spoil the effect. It’s a mass produced pilsener after all, but one that slips the villainous connotations of nuts and skunk. If I were trekking around Germany with a heavy camera around my neck and a backpack filled with guide books and souvenirs, this beer would look darn appealing, especially if it could be had at a friendly beer garden.

clear piss color reminiscent of natty, but strong german pilsener taste and flavor - good beer to get crunk at a bar