Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4.5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3
Industrial pale lager from one of several modern macro breweries in the Hebei province surrounding the Beijing area in the north of China; apparently made for China Ants Alliance, a collective of retailers of agricultural produce. Thanks to Stéphane for this can, all the way from China - and thanks to Peter, running a factory in the region, for translating the text on the can and providing some background information, that was more than welcome in this particular case... Moussy, regular, yellowish off-white, audibly fizzing, bit creamy and pillowy head, slowly reduced to an open, thin ring of foam over a crystal clear, warm 'old golden' robe with a pretty whirl of lively sparkling and 'metallic' orangey tinge - a tad darker than is standard for an industrial pale lager, in fact, usually a sign of a certain degree of redemption in this style. Aroma of ferrous spring water and wet rusty iron, cold pasta, natural rubber, some cardboard, old industrial biscuits, cheap cigarette shag, copper wire, burnt granulated sugar. Sweetish onset but utterly clean (as usual in an industrial lager, of course) with this sweetishness coming from malts and adjuncts, feeling a bit 'fuller' and more bready than is normally the case in this sort of beer; carbonation remains remarkably soft compared with the visual sparkling in the glass, with a somewhat 'flat', bit glueish, slick mouthfeel. Clear metallic effects and something of residual sugar stick to the teeth a little bit; slightly biscuity malts are diluted with rice-like adjunct, accentuating the overall sweetish character of this beer. A thin layer of simplistic grassy hop bitterishness stays on the root of the tongue, but the bitterness remains very faint and superficial and the sweetish cerealliness keeps prevailing - with these biscuity and burnt sugar-like accents at its sides. I had several other industrial pale lagers with a bit more (added) sweetness, darker shade of blonde and biscuity elements, especially from central and eastern Asia, and this one fits that profile; I have no doubt that its quality slightly exceeds that of a lot of other macro lagers especially in Asia, but it remains a rather artificial and superficial product, of course. Nevertheless an interesting tick, if mostly for the challenge of deciphering the Chinese text on the can...
omhper (44752) reviewed Lenhen Dry Beer from Lanheng Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 2 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 3
Canned, from Shenyang, Liaoning. Clear pale yellow, no head. Dry, ricey and sloppy. Thin, but reasonably soft. No bitterness. Pointless but inoffensive.
omhper (44752) reviewed Bestly Dry Beer 10° from Lanheng Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 2 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 2.5
Canned, from Shenyang, Liaoning. Yellow colour, coarse head. Fruity and empty, rather thin. Void rice water flavour. No bitterness.
omhper (44752) reviewed Bestly Black Beer 12° from Lanheng Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3
Canned, from Shenyang, Liaoning. Dark brown, no head. Peculiar estery strawberry aroma. Sweet, fruity and sloppy, rather thin. Almost no roastiness. Pretty much no bitterness.
omhper (44752) reviewed Bestly Beer 10° Bingchun from Lanheng Brewery 15 years ago
Appearance - 2 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 2.5
Canned, from Shenyang, Liaoning. Pale yellow, no head. Empty and thin. Vaguely fruity. Mid sweet but almost completely void. No bitterness.