2011 Beer Review #3: Henninger

Another beer from my Christmas International 10-Pack, Henninger Premium Bier looks at first pouring like a mass-produced lager that offers nothing special. It's got a clear, golden color that's maybe a tad darker than the bright yellow that characterizes so many lame mass-produced brews. The head is foamy enough and mostly disperses quickly (I'm including this note because I'm told head is important and not because I know enough to make any quality judgments based on the information).

The aroma offers the first clue that this might be different. There's more earthiness in this aroma than I noticed in my last excursion into the mystery 10-pack. Sadly, my nose is even less refined than my palate, but I think I smell apple. At the very least, we have aroma! Actual flavor can't be far behind!

And sure enough, we have flavor! There are hops in this beer, working in concert with malt to provide something like complexity and artfulness. The initial sip doesn't seem to offer much, but holding it in the mouth for a moment allows a light, fruity flavor to come forth. And sure enough, at the back lurks bitter hops to take some of the edge off the sweetness. I won't pretend this is the best beer ever, and I'm sure most experienced beer tasters would disdain it as mass-produced swill, but for the moment I'm taken in enough to declare it the better of the two beers I've tried tonight.

That all said, this isn't something I could come back to quickly. For one thing, it's really really sweet. The hops are doing what they can to balance things out, but they're fighting a losing battle. I still prefer my beers nice and malty while I learn to appreciate hops more, but this is just too much. Also, I mentioned the apple flavors, right? Well, it's apparently very similar to apple juice in that it raises all kinds of hell with my stomach. As I'm writing this, I'm still not through the pint and I can already feel my stomach cramping up. That's not a winning recipe--who wants their beer to kick them in the gut when there's a whole wide world of beers that play nice with Daddy's insides?

If you're following along, I've now tried 7 of the 10 International Grab Bag beers (I lost my tasting notes for the first 5, and anyway those don't count because I had them before New Year's) and only one of those was genuinely a bad beer. Henninger might take the prize so far simply by virtue of being more than an international version of Budweiser. I've deliberately held back a bock (quite possibly my favorite style) and a porter, so I fully expect the pecking order to change a bit before this is all done.

Henninger is definitely worth a try, but anyone who's sensitive to apple juice should consider themselves warned. If you have friends who won't give up Strongbow for actual beer, Henninger is a great transition beverage.