Gage Roads Premium Lager

I picked up a six pack of Gage Roads Premium Lager this week at the local Woolies for around $15. This is a craft breweries attempt at a mass market beer and it does hit its mark, albeit only when on special.  Woolworths has recently purchased a stake in Gage Roads so we may see more of their brews in Woolies at decent prices. You could take the stance that this is big corporations buying up and ruining craft breweries but I prefer to see it as an opportunity for good value, high quality beer to be in my belly.

The beer is, in essence relatively boring; however it is a clean, easy to drink lager. It has a balanced flavour with a little bit of hops, a little bit of maltiness and not enough of either to offend anyone, or alternatively get them too excited. I didn’t get any of the “spicy, lemony hop flavour” proclaimed on the web site but there is definitely a sweet, pleasant maltiness balanced by just the right amount of hops. You may as well drink it out of the bottle as it has a thin head and looks generally disappointing poured.

The beer’s easy drinking qualities make for a good session beer and there is a pleasant, non-offensive aftertaste which is very important if you plan on drinking more than 3 or 4 of anything. Despite the above painting a picture of a boring beer sometimes that is exactly what is required. If you go into the bottle shop with a friend and they go to pick up some extra dry or similar mixture of carbonated glass shards that costs about $15, slap them and grab some of this instead. It is at most going to set you back an extra dollar or two and is a pleasant experience that most beer drinkers will enjoy.

7/10

4.7% alcohol
www.gageroads.com.au