Becks's Vier - Brauerei Beck & Co.

woosterbill

Connecticut

3.03/5  rDev +32.9%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

On-tap into a plastic pint at Twickenham stadium.

A: Clear yellow body with only vague remnants of a thin white head. Insipid.

S: Flat, boring aroma of pale malt and not much else. Maybe some faint grassy hops. Uninspiring.

T: A little livelier than the aroma promised, with grassy + herbal hops leading to a rather rich graininess. Orange marmalade on a buttered muffin. A little too sweet of a finish, but pretty tasty overall all. Surprisingly interesting.

M: Thin and bubbly at first, but then high carbonation gets smoothed out toward the end. Quaffable.

O: Do I want to drink this beer? Not really. Am I happy drinking it in a stadium while watching rugby? Hell yes. For a slammable lager, you can do a lot worse.

Cheers!

Serving type: on-tap

06-17-2011 00:22:30 | More by woosterbill

cypressbob

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

2.63/5  rDev +15.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

On tap locally

Pours with a lemony yellow body, dense white head with good retention, effervesant body, fairly noticable carbonation

Smell, seems to be mostly grain and a touch of corn, little bit of wort, slight hint of hop aroma but very slight, some dms in the background

Taste, fairly crisp with biscuity malt, little bit of underlying hops, touch of corn on the finish

A pretty poor lager

Serving type: on-tap

10-06-2006 15:18:50 | More by cypressbob

TheBrewo

Michigan

2.55/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

We pour a brightly colored brew, bordering on neon yellow. It holds a transient one finger head of white bubbles that disappears in a flash. There are bits of lacing left around the sides of the glass. There is full translucency and no sediment is noted. Carbonation appears to be high. The nose is mute, with the only real aromatics popping through as toasty barley and stale, grassy hops. Overall the malts are pale, adjuncty, and sweeter, with less metallic bite than one might expect. As we sip, overly metallic and adjuncty grain hit first. These meld together into one, with contributions from a basic, bitter yeast. The middle moves forward with stark, chemically bitterness. This is in part due to the grain, which remains so until the finish. Otherwise we end with further bittering grain, yeast, watery alcohol, and the faintest floral notes to round things out. The aftertaste breathes hollowly, with booze, grain, and general bitterness. The body is light and the carbonation is medium. With each sip there is a cooling coat, but this recedes into the depth of the throat, with all of the moisture it can find, leaving the mouth baked and dry. There is little slurp or froth. The abv is appropriate and the beer drinks somewhere in the middle.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was the cooling mouthfeel. It was relatively soft throughout, leaving a fair coating. The dryness imparted was not overly so, but rather seemed appropriate and somewhat pleasing. Where we lost points, however, was in the watery, overly light flavoring. We know that the style doesn’t boast big and bold flavoring, but it would have been nice to have a bit more punch to each component, with less bittering grain overpowering everything else.

Serving type: can

08-09-2011 23:22:19 | More by TheBrewo

rarbring

Sweden

2.5/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A pale straw colored lager with medium sized bubbles, a small white head leaving no lacing and small curtains,

A smell of white bread, boiled vegetables, not much nose really.

A weak corn taste, a dash of lemon juices, some alkaloid bitterness.

Medium high carbonation, rather refreshing texture, a small body and a small short dryness.

In all a very standard euro pale lager, no thrills, no joy but no real badness either.

Serving type: on-tap

05-02-2012 14:26:34 | More by rarbring

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

2.25/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

This beer, being a little brother of ordinary Becks, looks like a compromise deal for those prefering binge-drinking. Somehow I can't but suspect InBev's intention to promote this kind of anti-social behaviour, as their own Leuven-based Stella brewery is also promoting a lager with lower gravity, "Petermann", over Europe. Well, as this beer is on sale at 50 pence at my local Sainsbury's, I'll try to review it with as much objectivity as possible. BB DEC 07, served chilled in a pint glass.

A: straw hue with perfect clarity, coming with a thin layer of loosely-formed white foam that's quickly consigned to obscurity; medium-lively fizziness.
S: light maltiness and faint lemony fruits, added with a somewhat rice- or corn-like grainy note; and yet lager malts seem to linger well--overall, not too impressive or too bad.
T&M: watery, watery, watery... numbed-down malt-water and neutrally-flavoured malts are the only signs of this being a malt-related product... with dry-ish hints of hops and some plastic note typical of a mass-produced lager. Pretty clean on the mouthfeel, while the carbonation comes a bit spritzy, even slightly sharp; besides, the feather-light body and the lack of a theme on the palate make this beer a real bore.
D: all in all this beer is not good at all, when compared to the already "very ordinary" ordinary Becks; I won't buy it again, not even at 25 pence a can...

Serving type: can

04-28-2007 19:53:36 | More by wl0307

Antilochus

Ontario (Canada)

2.17/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

On tap at a bar in the City, along with a host of other strange InBev concoctions. 4.00% abv, pint glass.

Perfectly clear straw yellow body with a hint of a head that disappears quickly.

Frigid temp prevents a great assessment of the aromas but there is some sweetness and faint grassy notes. No malt to speak of.

Palate is exceptionally cloying, with a fizzy mouthfeel. Gets a bit syrupy after a while. No real maltiness to speak of.

Serving type: on-tap

07-21-2008 09:21:09 | More by Antilochus

fullsweep

United Kingdom (England)

2.15/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

440 mL can poured into a pilsener glass.

A: thin yellow, fuzzy white head that dissipates moderately slowly and actually leaves a tiny bit of lacing.

S: a bit skunky in the can, but then virtually nothing once poured.

T: very thin, a slight unpleasant bitterness, but not much else. Not a lot to complain about, but there's just very little flavor here.

M: average; fizzy/carbonated; typical lager.

O: had to buy once, for review purposes (not to mention it's cheap in the UK) but won't rush to have this again

Serving type: can

06-17-2011 19:54:04 | More by fullsweep

kojevergas

California

2.13/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Served on draught into a Beck's Vier pint glass. Reviewed from notes.

A: One finger head of fair thickness, no cream, and good retention. Wonderful upward bubble show. Clear light gold colour.

Sm: Clean light barley.

T: Clean light barley body with a bit of a creamy undertone - but not really. Simple but balanced. A touch of bittering hops on the climax. Poorly built for the style. I don't know that more bittering hops would help the beer, even if that would bring it more in line with the conventions of the style.

Mf: Too thick for what it is. At this low an ABV and so little flavour, it should be more thin and drinkable. Too smooth and wet - until the climax which is only slightly better. Chewy and lumpy. Rather poor.

Dr: Too expensive (4.30 quid in Galway, Ireland is obscene). You can handle it one after the other with ease, but your wallet probably can't.

Serving type: on-tap

05-27-2011 02:25:51 | More by kojevergas

ThaCreep

Belgium

2.1/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

Nose relatively low basic lager, there is not even an animal presence cereal either the nose or mouth. Very light, very watery, the body remains in default of malt and hops, it proposes that finally ends with a little bitter but that sounds too artificial to derive some pleasure. Just easy to drink and very low in calories.

Serving type: cask

06-28-2010 09:36:07 | More by ThaCreep