Thoughts – This was my first liquid yeast lager, the previous examples I had used a few sachets of dried yeast and for some of them with great results. When I racked this beer into a keg for lagering, I was really concerned that it was too dry and the carbonation would make it thin and watery, I was definitely wrong about that!

Appearance – Gold in colour, head has been quite nice on the beer, though not so much in the picture I took. There is chill haze on the beer that goes away with it warming up.

Aroma – Sterling, Sterling, Sterling the hopping strategy on this beer worked quite well, there is a strong hop presence in the nose but its not too bitter.

Flavor – The hops exert a strong presence in this beer but there is enough maltiness to balance out, I am getting some nice graininess coming from the Pilsner Malt.

Mouthfeel – The body is excellent, the carbonation turned it into a smooth textured beer, much more than I would have expected.

Drinkability -  Very Very drinkable, its been awhile since I have had a 10 degree lager, and I forgot how easy it is to sit down and drink it by the litre.

Food Pairing – Lagers traditionally get paired with a wide variety of foods, this one with the spicy notes of sterling would stand up well with Nakládaný Hermelin as the hop will cut through some of that creaminess, I also think some spicy south Asian food would work well too.

Final thoughts – I am really happy with the way this lager turned out, I think the Budvar yeast (Samson Brewery) turned out fantastic and I am surprised more people don’t use it. I have made some major changes for the second revision, it will be interesting to see how that turns out and what direction my third revision will take.