Tikka Gold

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Pours with a brilliantly clear, pale, just off-white colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear gold color that get fairly pale when held up to the light. Sweet grain notes mix with ample DMS in the form of creamed corn. Perhaps a touch of herbal hop character is just noticeable, but the DMS is big enough here that it is really hard to tell. The DMS is actually a bit obnoxious after just a short while.

Sweet grain flavors up front of honey-like grain, sweet corn and pale malt move to a dry finish that has a touch of hop bitterness as well as a light herbal note. As far as balance goes there is just enough hop character to balance out the sweet grain notes and keep them from being cloying. The DMS is not quite as objectionable in the flavor as it was in the aroma, but it does tend to stick to the palate a bit with a vegetal, cooked corn note. Appropriately light bodied, though not watery, and the carbonation provides a nice fizz to the texture.

Just not all that good, even by pale lager standards. The DMS definitely ruins the aroma and don't let this warm up much as it really starts to intrude into the flavor as well.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

poured with very little head. aroma is coffee like. colour is hazy yellow. looks like pee. taste has hints of citrus in it, but again, has attributes of coffee in it. little after taste. assaults tongue first couple sips. after that not a bad beer really. quite drinkable.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

Golden color. Medium sized head. Foam dissapears fast. Aroma reminds me of corn and grain. A little sweetish taste, but actually this is more watery and uninteresting, then I expected...

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Somewhat dissapointing. I was expecting something really enjoyable but what I got was much, much less. I got a ton of corn in the nose with a soapyness that really unpleasing. The appearance was a nice clear, yellow color. The slight harshness of the beer was not enjoyable at all, and the flavor corn really didn't sit right with me. A WELL below average Belgian lager. No thanks.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Hazy yellowish golden colour with mediumsized white head. Aroma is strong grassy hops and breadish malts. Flavour is sweet caramellish malts with crashes with the stong hayish bitter hoppyness. Also some honeyish hints in it.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

This pale lager pours a light yellow gold color from a 500ml bottle. Large to medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is grassy and grainy and a touch citrusy. Damn this sure looks like a fizzy yellow beer from Belgium. Medium bodied Pale Lager. Malts are grassy, lots of corn as well. Hops are slightly spicy. Nice soft mouthfeel and carbonation. Light and refreshing lager. You can also add any other Pale Lager reference here. Despite that, its not bad for a pale lager. It’s a touch thin and perhaps a little vegetative as it warms. Mouthfeel is clean and smooth. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 9

Wasn't sure what this was, when I grabbed it during a quick stop at Hi Times last (en route from Long Beach homeward bound in my new car). Made in Belgium, but in a plain-jane 500mL straight-sided bottle, with an even more plain label. Vague Indian references scattered about on the label, but never really saying what this is trying to be. With the ABV%, I knew the "gold" didn't refer to anything traditionally from the Benelux (i.e. no Abbey Strong Pale Ale or Tripel here), but still would not have picked up on the Indian references if I didn't notice them mentioned in previous reviews on various other sites.

So..., this is a Pils, meant to emulate a beer from Indian sub-continent, that happens to be brewed in Belgium. Almost as weird as Cobra (an Indian lager made for a British company in the Baltics). And while that oddity wasn't anything special, this at least quenches a thirst well enough.

As always, I find myself wishing that these sort of beers would try to emulate their Czech neighbors in the hopping game. An adequate hop and bitterness profile here, but room for improvement IMO.

But this beer is not without a few "pros", though. Looks quite solid, with lots of lacing, and a head that doesn't get out-of-hand, but also doesn't exit after the first Act, either.

A bit bready in the aroma, which is a little odd, but not unwelcome. Again, this would be a nice place for the hop profile to step in and take charge early in the game, but still, not horrible.

A solid quaffer, since I found this quite easy to put down. Enough malt to make an impression, but again, room for improvement. Finishes easy-peasy, with only a slight must left over in the mouth. No complaints here.

Overall, this is not a bad beer at all, IMO. Not sure what the marketing angle is supposed to be here -- make this and sell it to the Indian resturants in Belgium, or elsewhere, for that matter? Or to introduce an "exotic" beer to Belgian Pilsener fans, when (if?) that get tired of drinking gallons of Jupiler?

Either way, this was a pleasant diversion from my norm this time of year. A beer I went into rather perplexed, but left reasonably satisfied....

Music: Hawkwind's "Canterbury Fayre, Live 2001"
//TB

Aroma: 2 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

This beer poured a very light yellow color with a almost no head. Appearance ponts a sold 1 so far. It smells like corn, hay, and generic dish detergent. So far this is in the toilet. The flavor has a slight yeasty presence. The taste is quite dry with some lemons, whipped cream, creamed corn, and buttered popcorn. Well overall its not too bad. Nothing I would seek out though.