LaCrosse Lager - City Brewing Company, LLC

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A clear, yellow/straw-gold body is topped by a decent-sized head of bright-white froth. The retention is fair, and although it eventually drops to just a collar, it does leave some minimal spotty lace. The nose is clean and fresh with a bit more malt than your standard "generic" beer aroma, although no hops are detectable. Hops do appear in the flavor, however, even if they only play a walk-on role. It's malty, and not over-done with adjunct; and very finely balanced with a slight hop flavor and a noticeable touch of bitterness. The median carbonation is quite fine, and appears softer than it actually is, leaving it gently crisp in the mouth. It finishes short and mostly-dry with just a minimal maltiness in the mouth. Not bad at all!

Serving type: can

09-14-2003 02:22:31 | More by NeroFiddled

Bighuge

Minnesota

3.43/5  rDev +15.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Crystal clear pale golden. A fizzy white head forms and dissipates with the same speed. Moderate carbonation is noted. Aroma is better than average. Some soft maltiness, corny sweetness and flowery hops are all found. For a macro, not too bad at all. Soft malts on the palate as well with some adjunct-like sweetness blending in. A little hay and straw. And a slight bitterness lingering after the swallow. Light bodied and moderately carbonated. Average brew. Drinkable, but average.

Serving type: can

04-03-2005 03:28:55 | More by Bighuge

plaid75

New York

3.4/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured a medium straw hue with a one finger foamy white head. There was decent retention and lacing.

The smell featured a light doughy malt and a smattering of flowery hop.

The taste was rather well balanced and consisted of some soft bready malts and light balancing hops. Pleasant residual sweetness.

The mouthfeel was toward the fuller side for the style with a touch of creaminess.

Overall a tasty lager. I enjoyed the simplicity of this beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2007 00:49:11 | More by plaid75

Dogbrick

Ohio

2.63/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Courtesy of Vinny’s at the La Crosse airport. Clear straw color with a fizzy white head that disappears quickly. Nil lacing. Aroma of mild hops and wet paper bag. Light-bodied and crisp with a decent hoppy character, along with a hint of malt. The finish is bitter but not flavorful. All in all this is an average Lager.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2005 13:44:55 | More by Dogbrick

ZAP

Minnesota

2.95/5  rDev -1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

(Ratings are in relation to its class)

Crystal Clear straw color with a 1/4 inch fluffy head on top that shrinks to a sliver in minutes...nose is adjuncty...cooked corn...sweet....the taste is a little sharper than you'd expect from the nose...pretty crisp...highly carbonated....flavor reminds me of more of an early 70's lager...adjuncts are there...not a bad lawnmower beer...I'm glad I finally found this as it is not distributed in my neck of the woods...definitely worth trying but I don't think it's much different than the rest of the macro lot..

This is supposed ot be pretty close to the original Old Style beer and it is brewed at the same place....I couldn't tell you how close to the original it is but it's OK...I'd drink High Life eveyr time over this though..

Serving type: can

08-19-2004 20:45:21 | More by ZAP

hopdog

Pennsylvania

2.95/5  rDev -1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

12oz bottle acquire as part of the Mystery Beer Swap v2 from DocLock (thanks!).

Poured a lighter and see through straw color with an averaged sized white head. Aromas of grain, some straw/grass, and a touch of honey. Tastes of grain and lightly honey sweet. Thin and watery body.

Notes from: 2/7/07

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2009 15:05:39 | More by hopdog

drpimento

Wisconsin

3.1/5  rDev +4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This recipe I've heard is based on an older version the Heileman's Old Style from the 70s. Not bad. Yellow gold color, slight head, no lace, beery aroma of some hops and malt. Flavor is basic world wide light lager. There is a bit of body to it. Carbonation is decent for this kind of beer. Get a good burp out of it. ok finish.

Serving type: can

05-24-2007 03:42:27 | More by drpimento

tgbljb

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev +30.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured a medium amber color with sparse white head. No retention, no lacing.

Smell is very light. Only a slight sweetness detected.

Taste is unexpectedly full bodied. There is a very strong malt presence that gives this beer great flavor and a refreshing character.

Great taste retention with a long lingering malty sweetness.

Very nice to drink, Refreshing. A very enjoyable tasty beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2008 22:22:38 | More by tgbljb

brewdlyhooked13

Ohio

2.75/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Ahh, the fully krausened Lacrosse Lager. Let's give 'er a go...

Appearance - pours the basic golden straw color, a thin white cover. Decent bead action in the glass.

Aroma - a mixture of grain and sour apple. That's a first for an all-malt. Starts to wear on me after a bit.

Taste - hmm. Grainy like I expect, and per the sniff, quite apple-ly too. It's kind of like a shot of apple cider in the beer. Unusual profile, I think I'd go for it more if I knew what to expect. A little strange outta the gate though. I'm undecided on this one.

Mouthfeel - thin and crisp per the style, no surprises here.

Drinkability - light, a bit sweet per the apple flavor, a little tasty and a little weird at the same time.

Serving type: can

10-23-2008 04:04:44 | More by brewdlyhooked13

ADR

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Attractive cans just say what everyone thinks Wisconsin must be like. Clear gold, slightly darker than straw with a good head, but one that's a little foamy. Little duration of suds or lace. Aroma is malty, slightly eggy. Mouthfeel is pleasant enough, slightly overcarbonated. The taste is spot on neutral, somewhat biscuity malt with better hop finish than some, even with some slight pine-iness. A toss-'em-back beer, one that deserves patronage when you want to support a local brew to drink at a tail gate.

Serving type: can

01-11-2004 20:15:35 | More by ADR

morimech

Minnesota

3.9/5  rDev +30.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 5

The Old Style beer of yesteryear.
Nothing sets this apart in the appearance or aroma. Typical macro straw yellow color with a short-lived white head. Some spotty lacing is left on the glass. Has a sweet malt aroma. Has a pleasant sweet macro flavor with a touch of apple. A little more hops in the flavor and bitterness than your typical Bud or Coors. Light body and fizzy but finishes nice and clean. This is superior to much more expensive macro beers at a budget price.

Update: After a couple of years, this has become my cheap beer standby. Cannot beat the price/taste point. I have upped the score.

Update 2: This beer deserves a spot in the top 50 in Pale Lagers. It is better than most that is listed at half the price.

Serving type: can

01-27-2009 22:42:01 | More by morimech

TastyTaste

Minnesota

3.03/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Paler-than-straw in color, with a small white bubbly head. Smells of corn and malt. Taste is very smooth, this is definitely an Fish House beer from 'Scony. Looks out of place in my Samuel Smith tulip, but it is not bad for the price ($7 for a 15 pack).

Serving type: can

02-01-2004 01:33:18 | More by TastyTaste

garymuchow

Minnesota

3.33/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Hey at $.35/can I had to give it a try.
A sour almost skunky smell I notice in lots of beers of this ilk. Not particularly appealing to me, but I guess it's the way it's suppose to be. Touch of malt too.
Looks as it's suppose to. Brilliantly bright and clear. Paper white head that's big and full, but settles fairly quickly. Yellow gold.
Nice malt sweetness dominates and stays throughout. Rather appealling really.Very slight sourness and very mild dryness, neither unappealling. Adjunct qualities are really low. Dryness increases as warms and becomes less enjoyable.
Mildly filling from carbonation, yet adequate smoothness for style.
Maybe this got me on a good day. Really not too bad. I'll give 'er a try again and see how it goes.

Serving type: can

07-31-2005 04:22:55 | More by garymuchow

Redrover

Illinois

3.98/5  rDev +33.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12oz brown longneck. No freshness date.

This beer pours a very light yellow (kind of the European Pilsner color). Minimal head and lace. Smell is decent. You pick-up some hops & grain.

This beer surprised me. Given the moderate price and the initial appearance when poured, I really didn't expect very much. I was pleasantly surprised with taste. Well balanced with hops slightly in the forefront. There is some grain that adds sweetness, but it was a good sweet. Excellent carbonation. Very small and active bubbles. Very good with spicy food.

I really picked this up on a whim when I was picking up some of this brewery's very fine pale ale. However, the taste made sure that I will buy more in the future. Truly an unexpected find!

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2003 20:19:31 | More by Redrover

pmcadamis

Illinois

3.08/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours crystal clear pale gold from a cheesy loooking bottle into the pint glass. This champagne like beer has a 1/2 finger head and streams of bubbles rising to the top. Some decent lacing is left on the glass.

I just got back from a long run out in the heat, and I'll be damned if this doesn't look thrist quenching.

It smells pleasanty fruity. I smell apples and apricots in addition to a weird but nice rubbery smell. I tried the light version of this about a week ago, and the smells are almost identical (this one is just a little bit more pungent than LaCrosse light).

The taste is fruity and grainy with a macro-ish funky taste. Not bad. It's better than just about any other cheapo beer that I've had (read: all of them....I was a poor college student once). Mouthfeel is nice and creamy
for such a lightly colored beer.

As predicted, this is extremely thirst-quenching. Sure beats gatorade!

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2006 16:24:55 | More by pmcadamis

Frozensoul327

Michigan

3.63/5  rDev +21.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This is a darn good American Macro. Screw all you beer snobs who can't drink a Mass-Made Beer from a can. You don't know what you're missing. Pourd out to a nice clear golden yellow color with a nice head that stayed to nearly the bottom of the glass. No lace noted in the glass. Looked like a classic beer with a foamy white head. Medium carbonation. The aroma was a little weak, but traces of hops and corn were noted. The taste was really good for a macro. Pronouced flavors of hops, malt and corn, with a smooth overall flavor. Very good. Felt good going down, leaving a crisp, slightly sweet and malty aftertaste. This is an excellant beer for the money. Highly recommended for lager fans.

Serving type: can

08-21-2005 20:54:20 | More by Frozensoul327

brdc

Wisconsin

3/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Light golden, with a decent white head.
Smell is your average lager, although no hops are noticeable here. Mostly bread and sugar dominate the smell.
Taste is better than your average lager, if not complex. Pleasant light body, and malts and bread are evident.
Easy to drink, nothing special but perhaps a good beer for a large party.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2007 23:03:04 | More by brdc

Mdog

Minnesota

3.6/5  rDev +20.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pale gold, fading head. But it's meant to be drank out of the can!

Smell: Sweet, maybe a touch of vegetable.

Taste: Grain sweetness, some crispness.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, light.

Drinkability: Very good, easy to drink.

This is probably my favorite "cheap" beer. I find it to be better tasting than the macro-brews. It has enough taste to be enjoyable, but it is light enough to have a bunch if you're drinking with a crowd. Supposedly this is the same recipe as Old Style. I like it!

Serving type: can

03-24-2007 18:10:01 | More by Mdog

FreshHawk

Illinois

3.03/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A - Light golden color with a fairly full, foamy, bubbly, light, whispy, white head. Average retention leaving a very thin lace.

S - Very grainy and sweet. Also lots of apple in the back. Almost like a light/off cider. Some hints of bready malt. Overall it is pretty light though.

T - Similar to the nose. Pretty light with grainy, bready, and sweet malt being strongest. Very little grassy hop flavor. Again, plenty of apple notes given it a ciderish taste.

M - Light body with above average carbonation. Light, crisp, and a lingering sweetness.

D - About as drinkable as a macro light lager. Apple flavors make it slightly distinct, but I'm not sure how exactly I feel about it.

Notes: Interesting beer. Lots of apple that isn't too far off from some malt liquors. Grainy and bready sweetness. Ok but nothing to search for. Ok for a cheap beer but nothing impressive, even for the price.

Serving type: can

10-21-2011 00:29:53 | More by FreshHawk

biggred1

Indiana

3.55/5  rDev +19.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Clear gold with a fizzy white head that quickly shrinks to a tight collar of foam and leaves scraps of sliding lace on the glass. Sweet malt,soft lemon and hay make up the nose. The flavor is nice, grainy and corny with a decent mild (cluster?) hop bite. Light bodied and seltzery. Finishes squeaky clean. Not a bad lawnmower beer.

Serving type: can

09-04-2009 23:04:39 | More by biggred1

Tballz420

Minnesota

2.17/5  rDev -27.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

So there is a large mouth bass on this 2003 collector series beer. #5 of 6 in the series. So i give this beer a nice appearance rating on the can, not the beer. Its a standard shitty lager, not worthy of much mention, but sometimes a nice can can really make the beer worth buying.

Serving type: can

08-29-2003 06:56:10 | More by Tballz420

daledeee

Iowa

2.55/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

This is nothing like a good fresh bottle of this American semi-macro. This review is for a can. The smell is weird bordering on bad. I can't describe it. Just not good. The taste was allright. Malt and grain. Appearance was ok with nice gold and a 1" head. The smell affected the taste. I will take a fresh bottle anyday.

Serving type: can

11-10-2003 03:36:50 | More by daledeee

chilidog

Ohio

2.98/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

I thought thisone may make a good stand-by or at least a keeper for cook'n, but perhaps not. Its at a good price in my area, but its not what im quit looking for .

On that note; It pours well. A clear gold with a fair fluffy head that maintained well. Lace was ok, at least it was there.
The body is medium and the mouthfeel is somewhat chewy I think from the body. Carbination is good. No fizz with alittle activity. It says its naturally carbonated, so it is.
The aroma is sweet malts and grass.
The taste is sweet, malty with a metalic background with hints of grass or earth. The mouth is left alittle dry and tin like.

Serving type: can

09-30-2006 12:42:58 | More by chilidog

bluemoonswoon

Illinois

2.83/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12oz can with "Brewed with pure Artesian Water" on the front so you know it has to be good. Poured this one into a nonic pint glass.

A: Quite a bit darker than the Bud I just tried so points for that, also pours a hugly bubbly liquid and head. The head is pure white and bubbles down to a barely there cap. The beer is a very light shade of amber.

S: The smell was a bit of a let down after the pour, this one does not smell too much different that a Bud, sort of a fruit twinge with ceral grains, not impressive so it scores likewise.

T/MF: This one is a bit more malty and a tad more hoppy than the Bud, but has sort of a strange sour fruit taste but finishes quite clean. Light to medium bodied but not much better than the Bud.

D: Again the fruityness sort of turns me off, but for some reason tastes better out of a can (and for some reason fells more natural to keep it in the container it came in) that being said I'd take this one over most other macros, and would make it the second or third choice if I were on a tight beer budget.

Serving type: can

08-21-2007 02:00:40 | More by bluemoonswoon

jackndan

Illinois

2.5/5  rDev -16.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Lacrosse lager, in a collectible 2003 can. The picture is a fish and is titled “double or nothing.” Well that’s the good news, the bad news is what in the hell is this beer doing being ranked above 4?? It’s cheap, yes, but not that cheap. Pale golden color, somewhat of a head, that dissipated fairly quickly. Aroma, clean, but a little soapy/adjunct. The taste is standard American lager, with more than a little adjunct flavor, I’m thinking corn syrup, but it might just be straight corn. Light bodied, easy drinking, but can’t hold a candle to PBR or Stroh’s. I paid only $2.99 a six, and it was priced to perfection.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2003 19:29:54 | More by jackndan