REVIEW 16: STEEL RESERVE 211

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  Steel Brewing Company (SABMiller is the parent company.)

STYLE:  Malt Liquor

ABV:  8.1%

PURCHASE:  40-oz. bottle, $2.95. 

SERVING:  Said 40, poured into Guinness branded imperial pint glass. Why not raise the profile a little bit, huh? Particularly for a malt liquor, this is extremely heady. It took a very slow pour of about 30 seconds just to produce an initial crown of under an inch. The first pour, my usual ten-second job, resulted in a dense head that took up over half the glass, and took much longer to dissipate than you would expect.

APPEARANCE:  Fairly opaque for a malt liquor. A moderately dark shade of gold, bordering upon caramel. Standard white crown.

BOUQUET:  This brew is characterized by essentially two aromas: A prominent adjunct smell, like boiled corn; and a fumy, alcohol essence. Other than that, the only detectable whiffs were that of a freshly soaked sponge. Not that that's bad, exactly, whatever that's worth.

PALATE:  Medium body with high carbonation akin to a soft drink. Cola-like astringency. Fairly sweet to the tongue, though only in a generic way. Genuine beer-like qualities are largely indiscernible, as they are overrun by the sharp crescendo of carbonation that characterizes each initial swig. Highly throat-warming finish that gives rise to an aftertaste dominated by fumy alcohol--as in the nose--and accented by biscuity, unremarkable graininess and faint "cooked veggie" notes. It's not off-putting; it just has a taste profile that gets old very quickly. Each sip seems to shoot straight to the skull. But I guess that's the point.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  "High Gravity Lager." In 2012, this won the gold medal among 36 other entries in its category at the World Beer Cup. Huh?

The Alström brothers at Beer Advocate actually gave this a B-. Say WHAT? 

It's doable. I'll say that. And I know it must come in handy during the peak of winter for a certain segment of the population. If it keeps you warm, it can't be too bad, right? 




GRADE:  D

Did you know Steel Reserve was celebrated--I think--by the Ramones? Take a listen: