White Tip Lager

A friend of mine brought me back 4 beers from the Cayman Islands. This was one of them, White Tip Lager, which is billed as being brewed as a European Premium Lager, which in the BJCP world would still fall under the Premium American Lager category right along with Becks, Stella Artois, Corona, and Heineken. I am confident in the freshness of this beer seeing as the guy who brought it directly from the Caymans just returned 2 days ago.

One thing I don’t enjoy about reviewing light lagers is that you tend to get emails about how much they suck and on. But as a beer judge (especially if you are a beer lover who thinks that way) you need to put that beer snobbery away and judge the beer based upon what it is according to the guidelines, not your personal preference or thoughts on Light Lagers. Like it or not these beers are a part of the craft beer world, although they get little respect. So put those ideas aside, read over the guidelines and accept the beer for what it is, not what you wish it was. So, with that said, let’s review this beer as it would fall if it were in Homebrew Competition.

Aroma: Very low floral aroma, it comes through a lot more if you agitate the beer. There is a slightly sweet clover honey aroma as well. I get the faint aroma of fresh milled grains as well. Other than that, there is not a whole lot going on. Most of the aroma needs to be coaxed out the beer. If you pick it up after sitting a bit, there really is not much to find other than the slight honey aroma. For what it is, it is not bad. If you compare this to the likes of Becks, Stella, or Heineken you will be lacking that classic “skunky” aroma, which is a flaw from being lightstruck. I recall a time when someone would call that the “good stuff” because of that smell. I’m glad that for the most part many people have moved beyond that mindset and recognize that aroma for what it is, a downfall of shipping beer in green bottles across 2 continents.(9 points)

Appearance: This beer is very beautiful. It has a nice gold hue and pours a decent 3/4″ head. The beer is crystal clear. My favorite part comes about half way through the pint, there is a thin 1/8″ layer of foam still present. (3 points)

Flavor: The beer has a nice sweet honey-like flavor that I am digging. The hop flavor is slightly spicy and fairly low. The bitterness lays around the low to medium range and really flows well with the up front sweet flavor of the beer. The beer finishes a only slightly dry. It could be a bit dryer and have a bit more pop to it. It’s not as crisp and refreshing as I would hope. Still the overall flavor is very nice. This is what I find a bit discouraging about beer review sites like Beer Advocate and Rate beer. A majority of the people are rating the beers based on their taste. And many of those people have a taste for the big IPA’s, Barleywines, Belgain Dubbels, and so forth. Granted a beer like this pales in comparison to those extremely flavorful beers, but for what this beer is…..and what the brewery was shooting for, is pretty well done.(13 points)

Mouthfeel: White Tip falls in the medium range for mouthfeel for me. So it could be a touch thinner. That’s strictly by style, on a personal level I like it where it is, but by style it should be dryer so we will have to ding it for that. Carbonation is adequate but I would like to see it a bit higher. More carbonation would give it that pop and help give it a more dry quality as well.(2 points)

Overall: Overall, for an American Premium Lager (which I am comparing more to the other Imported versions we all know) this beer is head and shoulders above it’s competition. While it could thin out a bit, and have a bit more pop, I love the fact that it is not what we are used to for this particular style. I am sure there are plenty of craft brewed versions just as good or better, and it’s possible your local brewpub brews up a version of this style, but I think if you are in Caymans and this is on the beer menu, you will not be disappointed as long as you take it for what it is, a light lager.  (7 points)

Score: 34 points which is a “very good” beer. If I were to assign a letter grade to the beer this would be about a C+. With that, let the email commence about how much the beer sucks because it’s not hoppy enough or big enough.