Life is Too Short to Drink Cheap Beer

So on my latest trip to the liquor store, I picked up a six-pack of Warsteiner Premium Verum purely for nostalgic reasons. See, back when I was just a wee beer b1tch of 22, I worked a brief stint as a waitress in a German restaurant. The food wasn't particularly good, but the owners made it a point to stock a large variety of Bavarian beers. In this particular little suburb of Washington DC, we probably boasted the best beer list in a good 10 mile radius. And of course, the clientele, who were mainly a Bud Light kind of crowd, had a lot of questions about all the different choices.

Although the overall work experience at this restaurant was one of the worst of my life, I will credit them with being the first to inspire in me a real interest in beer. It was there that I learned the difference between ales and lagers, and I could even explain the difference in flavors between a Pilsner, a Dunkel, a Marzen and a Weizen (we always had one of each on tap, though the specific brands rotated).

I still have the pin that I wore on my apron, given to me by the distributor from Warsteiner: Life is too short to drink cheap beer. I thought it was an awesome slogan. Still do. So that's what I was thinking when I picked up that six-pack on Saturday. Warsteiner definitely lives up to it's claim of not being cheap (over 9 dollars for 6 beers), though I don't believe it's the beer I'd choose for my last meal.

So, without further ado, here is my review of Warsteiner Premium Verum:

Appearance: Clear and golden. Nice two-finger head of pure white, and it stuck around for a little while.

Smell: The first thing I thought was "this is what beer smells like," by which I mean, "this is what mass-marketed American light beers smell like." It had a bready smell that I assume came from yeast, and some hoppiness to it. Otherwise it's pretty generic. To keep with the nostalgia theme, it will bring you back to frat parties and family reunions.

Taste: A little sweet, almost no bitterness. There's a floral flavor that sets it apart from other pilsners.

Mouthfeel: Very carbonated, which I like. Light and crisp, but with very little bite and almost no aftertaste.

Drinkability: Very. It's got a very low alcohol content, and the general flavor of the kind of beer you drink by the case. If you're trying to wean yourself off the aforementioned mass market American lagers, this is a good place to start. If you can't stand the mass market American lagers, you'll probably want to stay far away from this. I'll put it this way. You probably don't want to serve this at your next cocktail party, but if you've got the cash you can easily replace your Bud Light with this at your next beer-pong tournament. Your players still won't puke and you can feel all nice and beer-snobby.