Mac's Hop Rocker Pilsener - Mac's Brewery

SmashPants

Australia

3.8/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle: okay 330mL brown bottle with a shit-house ring-pull that didn't work. Boring label too.

Appearance: pours a clear, deep golden colour. Perfect 1.5cm thick head with good retention. Enticing indeed!

Aroma: definitely some fresh hops on the nose. Fairly light, but all together quite pleasant, some citrus and spices.

Taste: not as refined as the aroma, but still tasty. Light tartness at the front with grassy hops. Mouthfeel is a bit lacking: a bit watery for the flavour

Aftertaste: slight carry-on of flavours, but not nearly strong enough. Expected some residual bitterness.

Mouth feel: light bodied beer with some crisp and well-sorted carbonation.

Overall: quite a nice pilsener - quite heavily and well hopped, to make more of a light APA rather than a pilsener.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2012 11:17:44 | More by SmashPants

tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle at Beer Deluxe. From notes.

A - Good carbonation, bright. Light golden colour, one finger of white head left spotty lace and a half finger of retention.

S - Citrus, grass, noble hop, light honey.

T - Light malt, lot's of grass, noble hop, thick honey and more noble hop.

M - Light body, good carbonation, nice bitterness.

O/D - A really nice pilsner. Goes down smooth with a good hop dosage. Light and easy drinking. Went down so quick and easy.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2012 05:07:33 | More by tbeckett

dansmcd

Australia

3.5/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Bright straw colour, perfectly clear, almost champagne like effervescence, short white head.

S - Sweet green apples and cracker like pilsner malt

T - Quite fruity for a pilsner with flavours of apple and lemon, combined with dry salty malt and a slight hoppiness.

M - Light spritzy body, high carbonation.

O - A better than average pils, and very cheap so great value.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2012 23:49:45 | More by dansmcd

crusian

Texas

2.6/5  rDev -29.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

Usually don't get a Pilsner, but the name sold me, and I love nz hops. On tap at northern steamship.
Pours a light golden with about a finger of head that fades quickly and leaves some decent lacing.
Nose is a huge letdown. I get a tiny bit of citrus hop, but man, I was expecting a lot more... I actually smell Pilsner malt too, with a name like hop rocker... I was expecting a hop bomb, especially with all the other nicely hopped gems down here. Boo...
Taste, yeah, same thing, Pilsner front, slight hop. With all these other positive reviews, maybe this is old? What a letdown. There is a slight citrus hop presence, but... yeah, I am sad.

Serving type: on-tap

10-13-2011 23:55:40 | More by crusian

StJamesGate

New York

3.78/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a fizz-less gold with a loose white head that surprisingly persistent with trailers. Nose is some sour grain silo, flinty hops and a musty grape skin tang. Steely floury biscuit malts with gooseberry and grass hops. Fruity finish and cottony linger. Crisp, light, slight cling.

Not a great pilsner, but interesting for the Nelson Sauvin hops (though they are light - and where are the NZ Cascade?) With pull-top bottles, meant to be more a fun beer. This would do fine at parties.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2011 19:37:55 | More by StJamesGate

eric5bellies

Australia

4.05/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a clear Golden colour with one fingered White head that retains well.

S - The aromas are very well balanced with nice grassy grainy hops and a little sweetness.

T - The flavour is nutty grains and nice saaz type hops, a little sweetness and even some aniseed. Everything is well in check and sync.

M - Medium body and carbonation.

D - A very good sessionable brew.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2011 14:54:10 | More by eric5bellies

KrisPaulk77

Mississippi

3.58/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Sitting in a hotel room in New Plymouth and craving a decent brew. I walked down to the closest supermarket and walked out with a six pack of Hop Rocker. Not too shabby, and probably on of the better beers I've tried down here in NZ. (Didn't care much for Tui...)
I poured it into a wine glass in my hotel room. Nice golden pils color and adequate bone white head. Looks fairly textbook, which isn't a bad thing.
The aroma is where Hop Rocker shines. Big and sharp citrus, spicy aromas, a touch of tropical fruit, and malt sweetness lingering in the backgroud. Reading on the bottle, NZ Nelson Sauvin and NZ Cascade are the hops used.
The taste is quite good as well. Clean, a little more bitter than an average pilsner, but balanced and flavorful. The beer is well carbonated and fills the mouth.
Overall, a good solid brew and probably near the top of the pile of beers I've sampled down here in New Zealand. If given the option, I'd buy this again.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2011 04:53:34 | More by KrisPaulk77

doktorhops

Australia

3.93/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Time for a Pilsner face-off! Two decent Australian (and one Kiwi!) Pilsner's battle head to head for my admiration, who will win? Let's see! The last beer in the face-off is the Kiwi underdog Mac's Hop Rocker Pilsener.

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a 500ml Stein glass.

A: Golden straw hue lends itself well to the body, with a 2cm chalk head that reduced to half a centimeter. Nothing special.

S: I could breathe this in all day: nutty malts with strong earthy hops with a herbaceous note... I'm enamored with it's musk for reasons known only to beer drinkers across the globe.

T: The flavour is also nutty malts with earthy hops, and a slightly acidic/bitter aftertaste (like wormwood). It's an interesting combination for a Pilsner and I dig it. It's not quite as hoppy as you would expect from the name but it does the job well.

M: Creamy and medium bodied. A good Pilsner feel.

D: It's a very good effort and I commend the Mac's brewers for thinking outside the square. It doesn't taste traditionally Pilsner and you could almost mistake it for a pale ale (like I did with the James Squire), but it's an easy six pack for me.

Food match: Spicy chicken with a garden salad... there, I said it! Also could go well with seafood, shell fish or calamari.

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2011 09:23:28 | More by doktorhops

foles

Australia

4.38/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a pale yellow/golden colour. Creamy head that reduces to a light whisp. Spicy hops on the nose. First sip - wow, sharp spicy edge with a drawn out nelson sauvin bitter sweet twang. This is the right hop to funk up a pilsner with - no citrus or flowery stuff. Just pungent spiciness. Somehow it manages to be balanaced and we have a lovely pilsner that is very unique.

Serving type: bottle

11-24-2010 10:44:58 | More by foles

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.03/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours gold with a quickly fading head leaving nice lacing.
Nose shows herbaceous, spicy and piney hops along with the expected passionfruit/peach from the Nelson Sauvin. Hints of white wine and woody notes also present along with a fair bit of sweet caramel.
Similar flavours (spicy, herbal hops, woody notes) but also some bready, grainy malt.
Light body, med-high carbonation fitting the style.

Serving type: bottle

06-24-2010 10:27:58 | More by CrazyDavros

Macca

Australia

3.35/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This pours crystal clear gold colour with a finger of white head.

Wonderful hoppy aromas - pine resin, citrus. Not quite what I was expecting but great.

The hoppiness is still there on the palate but not as pronounced as I was expecting from the aromas. Some malts assert themselves as well.

Quite a high level of carbonation.

Not sure how I feel about a pils being this hoppy but I don't mind this one.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2010 08:54:10 | More by Macca

mazstar

Australia

3.98/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I was attracted by the Mac's labelling and was tossing up between the Gold Lager, Little Creatures Pilsener and this.

It pours with a decent head and retains it fairly well. It is a nice, clean light amber with typical lager aeration.

Like other reviews it has a citrus smell, much nicer smell than the average mass-market lager.

Tasted unlike what I expected. I was expecting something more bitter towards the end and displaying a more herbaceous aroma. This reminded me more of the Knappstein Reserve Lager but a bit more neutral.

Good drinking beer, went down well. Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2010 16:40:30 | More by mazstar

joecast

Australia

4.5/5  rDev +21.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

well done macs. i was worried reading the back label that the hopping would overpower this beer. as it turns out it is nicely balanced and a joy to drink.

clear golden showing high carbonation and a big frothy white head.

aroma is seriously nice. still grassy and fresh, but a touch of malt. just the right level of hops here to justify the name.

taste is clean with a high level of bitterness. simple but well done and refreshing.

this is a winner for sure. might have to head back to the shop for another bottle.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2010 08:31:39 | More by joecast

femALEist

California

2.88/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

German style pilsner.-5% abv. Says: a superb golden pilsner heavily hopped with sauvin and cascade varieties giving it citrus aromas and a proper bitter finish. It poured a clear yellow with a slight Orangina hue. On the nose, you can actually smell a hint of hops and wheat. It tasted like a light wheat with a touch of citrus. I can see how people can easily drink this and think it's a 'craft' beer because of the touch of flavor, which is lacking in any mainstream corporate beer. However, I guess it's a gateway beer and hopefully it might open up people to the idea of flavor for their beer and they can keep trying others until they realize this stuff isn't that great.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2010 04:57:39 | More by femALEist

keitho

New Zealand (Aotearoa)

3.83/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Apppearance-Golden in colour,two finger white frothy head,some lacing.
Smell-Fruity banana smell,hoppy aroma.
Taste-Nice hoppy Pilsener,well balanced, fruity.
Mouthfeel-Above average.
Drinkability-It's very refreshing and another good brew from Macs.I could have a session on this no problem.

Best before 04 08 10 poured into mug.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2009 11:45:12 | More by keitho

DIM

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

a: This was a clear, golden straw color. It poured with a fluffy white cap.

s: Hop forward aromas, citric and quite bitter. Biscuity malts in the backround.

t: Mirrors the smell. Short lived bitter finish.

m: Crisp, long lived carbonation.

d: I selected this at the bar because I assumed it would be an IPA based on the name. Oh well, this was very good anyway.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2009 11:55:02 | More by DIM

MeisterBurger

Ontario (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pint at the Northern Steamship Company Mac's Brewpub in Auckland. Cool place.

The appearance is a golden yellow, clear with decent head. Good head retention and it laces wonderfully.

The taste is biscuity sweet malt undertones balanced against grassy, floral hops. Slightly bitter for a pilsner, and a little tart and mildly vinous.

The mouthfeel is nice and creamy, fluffy, and crisp.

A decently drinkable pilsner. The name seems more fitting for an IPA or a DIPA than a pilsner....and rather sadly, it promises more hops than it delivered.

Serving type: on-tap

10-28-2009 01:38:01 | More by MeisterBurger

laituegonflable

Australia

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a gold colour with a clear body. Light bead and thinnish head, snowy white. Lacing leaves some thin webs trailing across the glass, pretty decent, but overall pretty meh.

Hops are quite grassy and fruity, lots of burgeoning floral characters, bitter green smell, with a slight caramelly malt behind it. Good German pilsener smell, hoppy but not overly so.

Taste is nice, quite bitter from very early on. A fruity tang at the front gives way to hints of medicinal phenols and citrus rind in the grindy bitterness. Gets quite tangy at the end, no doubt thanks to the Sauvin influence, but a nice aggressive bitterness takes the lead for the most part. Maybe just a bit too rindy, leaves traces of that acerbic citrus character in the mouth, making it not as clean as it could be. I like the hop blend very much though.

A bit fizzy on the feel, hints of sharpness around the edges, and a bit thin. Good for what it is but pretty average overall.

Not as clean a lager as it could have been, but good drinking nonetheless.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2009 01:38:47 | More by laituegonflable

dgilks

Australia

3.78/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Crystal clear straw yellow pour with a fluffy white head. Great head retention.

Grassy hop aromas with a hint of citrus. Slight sulphur but I like a little bit in my pils.

Quite hoppy on the whole. Initial citrus notes fade through some quite grassy, herbal hops. Hints of sulphur are here as well. The bitterness levels are about right but don't linger providing a crisp but very short finish.

Light with crisp carbonation makes for a very good mouthfeel for the style.

Overall, a nice refreshing pils. Plenty of flavour action and the sort of sessionable, summer beer that you want in our hot climate.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2009 04:46:40 | More by dgilks

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.63/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a vibrantly clear deep golden colour (I'm trying to tell whether the slight pink tinge is a trick of the light), with a truly excellent head of frothy, fine bubbled solidity. Lacing is very good. This is a truly excellent looking pilsener.

Certainly some fresh hop notes on the nose - not extremely strong, but with a pleasant citrussy bite. Tart lime, pepper and fragrance dominant. Disappointed the luscious tropical nature of the Nelson Sauvin doesn't come through more strongly, but it's still very pleasant.

There's a hint of the Sauvin tartness on the front palate, and a later grassy lightly herbal character, but the finish is exceptionally weak, with no backbone of bitterness to extend the experience. Otherwise it's very clean, and with some pleasant hop characters on the front. Mouthfeel is crisp but light, not overly effervescent, and with a definite taper to match the diminuendo on the palate.

Still, this is a very clean and very drinkable pilsener, very, very easy to make a sessioner. I wish it had more bite on the back, and I'm a sucker for Nelson Sauvin, so a little more of that character would have made it exceptional. As it stands a very drinkable and very enjoyable brew.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2009 07:50:22 | More by lacqueredmouse

ADZA

Australia

4.25/5  rDev +14.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This beer pours a yellow/amber hue colour with loads of carbonation which leaves a nice creamy,frothy two finger laced head and leaves nice subtle creamy lacing down the glass,it smells of beautiful freshly cut grassy hops and it tastes very sweet indeed for a pilsner one of the best examples of this style by far it has a nice hop taste which is perfectly balanced out by the malted barley but i do think the serious hop addition of nelson sauvin hops which is stated on the bottle plays out the beautiful sweet tastes that are evident as i have always found nelson sauvin hops leave a nice sweet taste on the palette from past experiences and this beer seems to back up my theory,the taste of this beer leaves you with such a moreish taste that you wish you had bought a six pack instead of the two beers i did buy,i will buy this again but will just buy more of next time.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2009 13:15:50 | More by ADZA

THEMGG

Australia

3.6/5  rDev -3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Gulped from my trusty Unibroue tulip.

A - Poured a classic golden Pilsner colour, carbonation looks great, comes to a two finger head with tight bubbles with a nice spread of bubbles rising from the bottom.

S - Faint malt scent, citrus hop smell comes through strong (cascade?) also get a faint white wine smell coming through, grapefruit, kinda like an APA crossed with a Euro Pils.

T - Sweet malts across the tongue for a second or two then a nice cutting hop flavour comes through. Bitter is well balanced, lasting just long enough. I'm getting citrus/grapefruit/passionfruit from the hops and also that white wine tang which apparently is a feature of the Nelson Sauvin hops. As with the smell, I think its
kinda like an APA crossed with a Euro Pils and is a nice change from a normal style Pilsner. Can it still be called a Pilsner without a late addition of noble hops? Anyway its a refreshing taste.

M - Light, smooth body that goes down quite easy.

D - One to add to my session beer list, I don't see myself struggling to drink the rest of this six pack tonight...

Serving type: bottle

07-09-2009 08:51:54 | More by THEMGG

LittleCreature

Australia

3.63/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - 4.0
Looks gorgeous in my pilsener glass (although that is partly due to my expert pouring) with two fingers of domed white head that settle at a single finger, sitting atop a bright, clear body of pure gold. More lace would be nice, but otherwise faultless.

Smell - 4.0
Appealing aromas from the hops include pine needles and citrus, with biscuity malt, toffee and a whisper of butter.

Taste - 3.5
Balanced and tasty with flavours of juicy citric and floral hops that give a moderate level of bitterness. Malt is there for balance, giving little flavour, finishes very dry. Butterscotch is noticeable when cold, and unpleasant with warming.

Mouthfeel - 4.5
Fine, lively carbonation is almost creamy in the mouth.

Drinkability - 3.5
Light enough for a hot summer's day, but tasty enough for all but the coldest weather. I would drink it again, but not above the best imported pilseners, as there is a bit too much going on.

OVERALL - 3.7
A very tasty pilsener. Buttery aromas and flavours detract, but not at temperatures where the beer is most likely to be consumed.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2009 08:19:19 | More by LittleCreature

lamarr04

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

330 ml bottle poured into a glass mug

A: Pours a clear gold with active carbonation and a one inch which only makes a brief appearance.

S: This may be the highlight of the beer. Ripe sweet citrus from the hops comes through pretty strong. Sweet grain compliments the hops and makes for a fruity nose.

T: Hop bitterness is balanced nicely by sweet grain. Would give the beer higher marks for taste but it has hints of metallic off flavors around the edges. Not as clean as I would like a pilsner to be.

M: Crisp carbonation punctuates a light to medium body that finishes semi-dry.

D: For the money this one is a winner. nice session beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2009 08:49:18 | More by lamarr04

jarmby1711

Australia

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pretty sure I wouldnt have picked this as a Pilsner at first guess.Non the less I really enjoyed this beer.
It has lovely lemon aromas and a fruity hoppiness that is unexpected.
There is a harsh burnt grain quality in there as well which adds to the uniquness.
Broken down into its parts it seems like a beer that doesnt quite know where its going , however summed together it makes for a jolly nice drop

Serving type: bottle

05-28-2009 08:22:25 | More by jarmby1711