Steinlager Pure
Company info:
Lion Nathan
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Bottle size sampled: 330 mL
Alcohol: 5%
Standard drinks: 1.3
Cap type: Non-twist
Cost: I picked this up for AU$3.60
Label info: ‘You are holding in your hand one of the purest beers we can make. No additives, no preservatives. Water, malted barley, hops and yeast. All sourced from the purest place on earth, New Zealand’
What the label really means: I am always happy to try beers that are natural in flavour without additives and preservatives. It might just be a psychological thing but I always seem to wake up the next day feeling that little bit better. Let’s hope this lager has a delicious taste to accompany its promise.
The Hell-Cat review starts here
Label: Ok, let me just lay my cards on the table for a second. I don’t get the name. A New Zealand beer giving themselves a German name – Steinlager. If this beer was direct from the kegs of a brauhaus in Deutschland I could understand. Dammitt, more than understand I’d be barracking for it as a traditional sounding name that rings of all things Deutsch! So Steinlager has been brewed according to the German purity law (meaning only water, barley, hops, and yeast can be used in the production). Woopa dee doo! No need to go all fancy and turn a New Zealand beer into a German off-cut. New Zealanders should be proud of their beer and name it something that reflects their homeland.
As for the label itself, well, I like the embossed glass, and the thin half-transparent label. But, it’s nothing to write home about.
I give it a label rating of 5 out of 10.
AROMA: A strong hoppy, wheat-filled aroma.
Taste: GLASS – Steinlager pours out a nice pale golden colour that loves the nightlife. It’s got to boogie on the disco round. Yeah.
Swirling it round in my mouth I am hit with an enticingly sharp bitterness that overplays a lingering wheat taste. It’s not too bad at all.
I give it a beer from glass rating of 6.5 out of 10.
Taste: BOTTLE – It becomes weak in flavour but still packing a sharp after taste. It’s not pleasant at all and is quite the contrast to the bottle.
I give it a taste from bottle rating of 5 out of 10.
A word from the wife: “Very fizzy! Very light tasting but the bubbles make it very hard to drink”
She gave it a taste rating of 6.5 out of 10.
Accompanying food: It’s a pale beer that would suit spicy dishes such as Thai or Vietnamese.
Best season to appreciate: Definitely a Summer thirst quencher.
All-nighter beer? Yeah, why not. Hell, I got nothing else to try out!
NB: I realised this was my ‘2nd’ Lion Nathan beer after the tasting. I did not intend to do a second beer from the same brewery just yet. Though, I don’t really count my first, Kirin, as Lion Nathan are just the local brewers / suppliers. Forgive me, folks?
NEXT WEEK: Leffe Radieuse
Hell-Cat's beer blog 
I drink this from time to time when its on sale. I always say I like my beer like I like women – all of them, but to be honest if I was going to sum it up in one word it’d be ‘weak’ – if I had to sum it up in two words it’d be ‘bit weak’ – if I had to sum it up in three words it’d be ‘a but weak’ and to sum it up in four ‘ it’s a bit weak’. You get the idea. However, beautiful and honest review as always
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Nice work Fran – thanks for your thoughts. I agree with ya.
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Hate to be one of those guys, but Steinlager Pure is a different beer to normal Steinlager! It’s less worse!
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Thanks H.A – I’ll adjust the title.
I had originally thought to put ‘Pure’ in the title and for some reason left it out.
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oops – that info came from:
http://www.freebase.com/view/en/steinlager
except the new name suggestion.
That came from a cock at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Petersham-Australia/Little-Treasures/120578681295282
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Some background on the name:
In 1957 the New Zealand Minister of Finance, Arnold Nordmeyer threatened to cut international beer imports as part of his “black budget” and challenged New Zealand’s brewers to “come up with an international-style lager beer”. Lion Nathan produced a beer the following year named Steinecker, named after the company whose equipment the beer was made in. The beer’s name was changed in 1962, not in response to a challenge from the Steinecker company, but to distinguish it from Heineken.
They should change it again – to:
HeyBro
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Outstanding stuff Luke. I’d love to order a pint of HeyBro. “Hey Bro, gizza Hey Bro” would save a lot of syllables compared with “I’ll have a pint of pale ale please” and thus allow more time for drinking.
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Agree with the review. I wouldn’t worry about this being the second Lion Nathan brew – it’s most certainly not as if Kirin counts as one of theirs.
Moving on to much more important matters, NEXT WEEK’S BEER IS BLOODY FANTASTIC AND I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO GIVE IT A GO BEFORE NEXT WEDNESDAY! There, I’ve said it.
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