Green Man Krystal Weiss

Appearance: A hazy golden colour with a very small off white head.

Nose: Banana, clove and hints of lemon.

Taste: Banana and clove lead the way followed by peach and a small amount of cherries trailing off to a cranberry like bitterness.

A Bavarian style beer made by Green Man’s German Brewmaster, how can it not be good? Fruity and effervescent weissbiers are my favourite style of beer, and after this one they could be yours too.

5 out of 5

Green Man Premium Pils

Appearance: Pale gold with a slight hazy look and thinning head.

Nose: A biscuit sweet malt and citrus notes.

Taste: Strong citrus notes, hints of mango and passion fruit. A rich floral hop finish

Pilsners have been around since the mid 19^th century and some of the world’s most famous beers fall under the banner (Stella Artois, Becks, Heineken) but it was the Czech’s in the town of Plzen that did it first with Pilsner Urquell. Green Man’s Premium Pils is clean and crisp with a light mouth feel and drinkable enough to make the people of Plzen proud.

4 out of 5

McCashin Stoke Amber

Appearance: Beautiful deep amber colour with nice off white head.

Nose: Stone fruit and heavy malt.

Taste: Notes of honey and nectarine with biscuit tinged malt and strong floral hops finishing clean and dry with really smooth mouth feel.

Surprisingly enough this beers name came from its glorious colour. It’s similar in style to an IPA and extremely drinkable. Made according to the Bavarian purity law using water from an underground source (that’s 14,000 years old), organic Nelson hops, bespoke yeast and premium malts. It is all brought together in a place named after my home town (Rochdale Cider factory) how could I not like it?

4 out of 5

McCashin Stoke Gold

Appearance: Crisp golden colour, thinning bright white head.

Nose: Sweet and floral slight malty finish

Taste: Apricot, honey maybe a touch of passion fruit. Mellow floral hop finish.

Clean and crisp this is a really nice golden ale that goes down perhaps a little too easy. Great for a sunny afternoon barbeque and beer session. Thankfully it’s made in the Rochdale Cider Factory in Nelson and not in my home town of Rochdale as if it were made in the latter there wouldn’t be any sunny days to enjoy it properly!

4 out of 5

Monteiths NZ Lager

Appearance: Pale gold, good carbonation and a thinning head.

Nose: Fresh bread quite yeasty with some light citrus notes.

Taste: Fresh bread, biscuit hints of pear and apples, with nice floral hop finish.

Fans of this beer should stock up as it has recently been announced that Monteiths will not be continuing production, which is a shame because it’s a great beer really drinkable and refreshing on a spring afternoon.

4 out of 5

Monteiths Radler

Appearance: Bright amber, fluffy white head that rapidly dissipates.

Nose: Lemon and lime cordial.

Taste: Lemon and lime lollies a little zesty but not in a hoppy way, very little if any malt.

To give this beer a wider audience Monteiths have given the tame 2.5%ABV usually associated to the style the boot and instead given it a healthy 5%ABV. Doing this has given one of my least favourite styles of beer a bit more guts and made it that much more enjoyable. Now let’s see if I can stay on my bike! A legal battle between DB and The Society of Beer Advocates (S.O.B.A) over the use of the word Radler is currently pending.

2.5 Out of 5
p.s
My original review of this beer was a little more critical, but because I'm doing these reviews for work and don't want to ruin the relationship between store and brewery I changed it. My personal opinion is that a style of beer should not be copyrighted. How can the general population learn more about beer if they cannot knowingly compare variations of that style? Especially when Monteiths Radler isn't even true to the original Radler first created almost 100 years ago. I wish S.O.B.A the best of luck in their on going battle with DB

Monteiths Black

Appearance: Black with slight red hue and a well laced tan head.

Nose: Dark chocolate, coffee and roasted malt.

Taste: Dark chocolate, hints of vanilla and a heavy coffee kick.

Trophy winner of the European lager styles at this year’s Brew NZ awards. This beer has a smooth velvety mouth feel. One of the lightest dark beers I’ve tried, which makes it really drinkable and approachable for people who don’t usually drink this style.

5 out of 5