Double Standard Lager is the newest release by Winnipeg's Half Pints Brewing. If you're familiar with beer in Winnipeg, you'll probably chuckle over the name like I did - there's a beer called Standard Lager that has been around for a very, very long time and you know how every region has a cult following to a meh macro beer that every other region would just go "why?!" Standard Lager is it for Winnipeg.
From the label: Double Standard Lager is made from 100% Canadian 2-row Pale malt. Pretty simple, right? Maybe, as a craft brewery, we're not supposed make a simple yellow fizzy. Well, people like this beer. And y'know what else? It's not easy making a good consistent lager; there aren't many places for unwanted flavours to hide. Sure we could go on about a crisp, clean finish. We could throw around terms like premium craft lager and cold-filtered (all beer is filtered cold, btw). We could even show you how high this beer charts on the Crushability Index.™ But then things start sounding like a commercial. Well consider this our beer commercial. Get together with all your good looking friends at the beach, BBQ, dance party, mystery mansion or wherever. Grab a talking can right from the ice bucket and let the times roll. Standards be damned! 5.0% ABV
Appearance: Pretty much pours like your typical everyday lager with a golden straw hue to it, yet with a ever so slight amount of cloudiness to it - It's not 10000% clear like your dad's favourite beer but prettttty close. Double Standard has a LOT of carbonation going on in the body and it reminds me of my childhood, being at my parents friends place, in a room full of cigarette smoke, a bored Cody and staring at the unassuming beer getting slowly sipped bit by bit by my mom.. and I just want to go home. The head has a white snow appearance to it with a full finger's worth of fluff to it, something that doesn't really go down until I start drinking the beer.
Aroma: The beer certainly smells crisp so it will for sure end up on the Crushability Index.™ There's a pale malt sweetness to it to give off notes of lightly toasted barley, a moderate honey aroma, and a grassy and slightly bitter hop presence at the end. I can still remember the smell of popular beers when I was a child and I still remember there being a very harsh sharpness from the malt (or adjuncts) and this doesn't have it, which I guess is a good thing because that sharp aroma is why I didn't enjoy beer until after I was legal age, I was a Whisky drinker until then.
Taste: Is this a lager? Yep, this is a lager. I've been drinking a lot of lagers in the past couple months thanks to COVID, as well as local LCs and beer vendors not really promoting Manitoban beer. The beer is sweet, crisp and a bit grainy. The malt pops out a decent amount to give it a bit of honey and a bit of a sharpness from the grain that I was expecting in the aroma. A bit of a grainy and aftertaste and fairly dry mouthfeel. Quite a smooth beer, definitely would do pretty well on the Crushability Index.™
Overall Thoughts: Well, pretty much your typical crafty lager. It's very smooth on the palate, crisp and easy to drink. It's funny that lagers are a thing with craft breweries but as the label stated, it's not easy to make a good consistent lager, something I've heard from many, many brewers. Lagers are weird, they're a hard beer to make consistently but are the first thing to get overlooked by beer geeks. As for me, I've been drinking a lot more lagers in the past two months than I have in the past decade. This will definitely be a must purchase again and again this summer, and I feel like this would be a beer that will likely end up at music venues around Winnipeg once they re-open one of these days, definitely something I'd drink while watching a live act.
Bonus pic - Lil' Tequila chilling with Double Standard
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