Castle Lager
South African Breweries plc

Castle LagerCastle Lager
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From:
South African Breweries plc
 
South Africa
Style:
American Adjunct Lager
Ranked #249
ABV:
5%
Score:
62
Ranked #28,465
Avg:
2.54 | pDev: 24.02%
Reviews:
102
Ratings:
170
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 04, 2023
Added:
Jan 07, 2002
Wants:
  9
Gots:
  15
No description / notes.
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Rated: 3.39 by Chilmer from Iowa

Sep 04, 2023
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

2.58/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.25
March 2004: (330 ml bottle). Pale golden colour, large thick head. Fruity melon-like aroma, flavour is typical industrial lager, a bit sweet. Not something I'm busy trying to sample again.
Jul 29, 2023
Photo of aussiebushranger53
Reviewed by aussiebushranger53

2.76/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
710 ml can into an imperial pint glass. straw/golen yellow w/soapy head
smell of grains/rice/cereal
taste is bland but not skunky thank goodness
feel was light and watery yet crisp & refreshing on a hot day
over all not great but better than most in its category.
BA frustrates me with low scores of beers like this/the "bros' are too snooty for my taste lol.
Jul 29, 2023
 
Rated: 4.11 by Beergod420 from Michigan

Jan 30, 2023
 
Rated: 3.12 by pajfuwen from England

Feb 06, 2020
 
Rated: 2.37 by smithj4 from New York

Dec 15, 2019
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Reviewed by metter98 from New York

2.51/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 2.75 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
A: The beer is crystal clear yellow in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that died down but never completely faded away.
S: Light aromas of pale malts and skunk are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has a bit stronger, but still light flavors of skunked pale malts. There is a faint amount of bitterness.
M: It feels a bit more than light-bodied, a bit smooth and rather clean on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is easy to drink and has a nice mouthfeel. It’s not that flavorful, but the skunk in the smell and taste is rather minimal.

Serving type: can
Oct 28, 2019
 
Rated: 2.5 by Thorfinn960 from Ohio

Jul 27, 2019
Photo of robed
Reviewed by robed from California

1.78/5  rDev -29.9%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.75
As a South African, it pains me to concede how poor this beer is. Growing up, there was nothing better than an ice cold castle in a bottle on a hot day. Now, its taste ranges from awful to metallic to metallic corn awful. Not sure if the recipe has changed or if mgmt has just let it fail.
Jul 15, 2019
Photo of dbrauneis
Reviewed by dbrauneis from North Carolina

2.63/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75
A: Pours a crystal clear pale yellow in color with moderate to heavy amounts of active visible carbonation rising quickly from the bottom of the glass and faint pale golden yellow colored highlights. The beer has a finger tall sudsy bright white head that reduces to a large patch of slightly mottled very thin film covering a little more than 65% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light to moderate aromas of grainy malts with a hint of rice + corn adjuncts and a light amount of grainy sweetness. Hints of grassy hops.

T: Upfront there are just shy of moderate flavors of grainy malts with a hint of rice + corn adjuncts and a light amount of grainy sweetness. That is followed by very light flavors of grassy hops which impart a light to moderate amount of bitterness which slowly fades away.

M: Slightly heavier than light bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Crisp with a clean finish.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a pleasantly crisp, clean mouthfeel. Similar to the big AALs from American breweries, not bad but not something that I would seek out again. Would pair easily with foods and be refreshing in a very warm climate.
May 02, 2019
 
Rated: 3.11 by yaron73 from Israel

Apr 15, 2019
 
Rated: 2.79 by jrpapajcik from Illinois

Mar 10, 2019
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Rated by Mclusal from Colombia

3/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Z01
Feb 10, 2019
Photo of BitbEerpenguin
Reviewed by BitbEerpenguin from Pennsylvania

4.92/5  rDev +93.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Castle Lager is an excellent all around beer. It is your typical light lager but with just a touch of extra bitterness that makes the beer taste crisp and refreshing. It's good for hot summer days at the beach and good for barbecues. It's also a great beer after a hard days work no matter the season.
Dec 28, 2018
 
Rated: 3 by Winston3737 from Michigan

Dec 02, 2018
 
Rated: 2.09 by JonnoWillsteed from England

Nov 23, 2018
Photo of Thisdrinkinglife
Reviewed by Thisdrinkinglife from Switzerland

1.66/5  rDev -34.6%
look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1
Review: 330 ml bottle of Castle Lager: ABV: 5% vol

Nice brown bottle with a a logo of a castle, go figure, but nice all the same.

Appearance is one of a clear golden colour, with a white head that doesn’t stay around, some small carbonation going on, and overall the beer is not much to look at at all.

Has a nice piercing smell of sweet corn, and a lager type aroma, very malty, grainy and lemony. Ok on the nose.

Taste has nice warmish mouthfuls. Not a strong initial taste, and a bit flat.
Bit metallic in initial taste, not nice, and in overall taste as well. Difficult to drink to be frank.

Feck me this was a disgusting beer to drink. I felt a bit sick drinking it. It’s like a chemical infused beer with little thought given to flavours or tastes.

Beer two.
Taste is very hoppy, too hoppy, too much sweet corn and all a bit sour, hard to stomach especially for what is meant to be a lager. All in the front end. It’s a dead kind of taste. No, too hoppy for me, not nice.

Very disappointing when you consider that SAB have morphed into the worlds largest brewer of beers yet their baby, Castle beer, is muck.
Apr 06, 2018
 
Rated: 3.12 by jroof1 from Massachusetts

Jan 11, 2018
 
Rated: 2.9 by DeutscheAfrikaner from South Africa

Jan 07, 2018
 
Rated: 2.25 by Hayley_86 from Netherlands

Aug 13, 2017
Castle Lager from South African Breweries plc
Beer rating: 62 out of 100 with 170 ratings