REVIEW: SUPER BOCK

European Beer Challenge #36 Portugal

Who would have thought that a beer from Portugal would be so hard to find? I’ve finally found one so it’s time to drink one!
Portugal has a long brewing tradition dating back to when it was known as Lusitania. The Portuguese make and drink alot of beer, so hopefully this one is a good one.

The Super Bock is produced by Unicer from Porto. Between Unicer and Sagres they hold 90% of the beer market in Portugal. Super Bock Original (this one) is the single most popular beer in Portugal holding a staggering 42% sharehold of the market. The beer has even inspired a chant sung at football games: “Super Bock, superstar, gets you more pissed than Stella Artois.” Sounds like my kind of beer, let’s do this!

This beer pours a crystal clear golden colour with a tight white head on top. The head is only 2 fingers thick, which may be a little small for the style but looks really good. There is lots of carbonation rising to the head, which has excellent retention and some of the best lacing I’ve ever seen in a lager. It’s pretty much the perfect looking lager, hopefully it tastes as good as it looks.

Unlike most American Adjunct Lagers this one doesn’t smell hideous. There is no corny or skunked smell to this beer. Macro lagers typically don’t have great aroma’s and this one is no different. It’s very thin on the nose with some grains and some light hints of fruit and hops. The hops are a grassy variety but very mild with little to no bitterness, it isn’t offensive but it’s hardly appealing either.

The Super Bock is a very standard European lager. The taste is very short and the flavour is quite mild. The grains are thin and inoffensive, while the fruit flavour I could smell exposes itself as a bitter apple, which is still very limited. The hops are grassy with just enough bitterness to make the beer slightly bitter. It’s very easy to drink, but nothing special.

It’s a surprisingly drinkable lager. It would make a fantastic session beer as it’s really easy drink. The price is pretty cheap but it’s really hard to find. If the distributor puts serious money into this it could become one of the best drinking beers in Australia. It’s nothing special so I wouldn’t go out of your way to find it, but if you come across it I would certainly buy it.

Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!