What does Harry Potter and Tooheys New White Stag have in common? Well nothing so I thought, but the teenage girls across the road inform me that ol’ Harry has a big white stag that can come flying out of his wand, a patrician or something I wasn’t really listening as the footy was on.
And what does this have to do with beer I hear you ask?
Well nothing really, and that’s what I normally think about the category that this weeks’ Drop falls into. Nothing. Low carb beers…I personally think they taste like nothing, and give false promises:
– Full strength, tick.
– Lower carb’s than normal beer, hmmm, sometimes.
– Full taste, well, let’s just say there is a taste….
The “Stag” though is a little better than other run of the mill low carb stuff that’s out there. I know! It surprised me too; I could probably drink this one for a whole session, if I really, really had too. And when you crunch the numbers, it starts to stack up as a definite upgrade for the diet drinker: per stubby White Stag has 3.1g of carbs and 435kj while Foster’s Pure Blonde for example has only 3g of carbs but a higher joule count of 444kJ. As we’ve discussed before, the kilojoules are the waistline grabber.
Poured into the glass it had a nice amber colour with a good head, which faded off a little quickly, I thought. The aroma I can’t quite put my finger on. I know this is going to sound stupid, but for some reason it reminds me of the smell of the Cutheringa Bowls Club in Townsville. Not a bad smell by any means. It’s just that I can’t get past remembering that club when I take a whiff of the Stag (must mean it smells like 100-year-old wood, tobacco, liniment and purple hair dye all rolled into one I guess).
There is a slight bitterness nothing that could be described as gob smacking, but enough to notice. No zing on the back of the tongue, and leaves a clean mouthfeel not that powdery chalky feel you can get on your teeth from some of the lower carb beers.
I’m not a big fan of low carb beers so this is one that you probably should try for yourself and make your own mind up. I liked it more than the Pure Blonde that I tried a while back (granted that was from a tinny). I like a fuller tasting beer, if your going to have a couple then at least make them a couple of good ones. Like my neighbour Russell said, “If your drinking those low carbers you should have it taken off you and replaced with pom-poms”
