Thursday's Beer from the Other Side of the World

Well, our TAP NY trip is cancelled, so there goes about 50 column and blog ideas. Still, I'm sure bruce and I will get to plenty of good beer festivals this summer. And surely we'll find plenty of interesting and exotic beers here. For example:



Harbin Lager from the great brewing nation of China.

Now I've had enough Asian beers to know what I'm getting into. I don't expect lagers that rival Munich Helles or Czech Pilsner. What I hope to find, however, is a crisp, refreshing, generally slightly malty lawnmower beer.

Harbin Lager is not crisp. It's not refreshing. If I had a lawn, this beer would get nowhere near it. A pale yellow color, thin vanishing head, and corny aroma scream "American Macro Lager." Unfortunately, the taste is even less memorable than any of those. If you're looking for an Asian option, grab a Tsingtao, Asahi, or Tiger Beer from Singapore over this any day of the week.