I’ve come to a decision. I know I always make a point of saying how I’m constantly referencing to the bottle art, and each time I do I have my own internalised conflict about being repetitive, bland, uninteresting, and repetitive. But my revelation has struck, why shy away? Like embracing the no research into beer, I should embrace reviewing the bottle too. Taste is about more than just taste so to speak, if you were drinking a fantastic wine out of a mug, it’d affect your enjoyment. Why should beer be any different?
With this in mind, the Longboard Island Lager is nothing but classic. A brown bottle is nothing new, but as it says in the beerfo (beer info) the Longboard is influenced by the surfing, easy living style of Waikiki beach. The bottle label screams back to the 60s/70s beach boys-esque dream, and the bottle itself has the islands of Hawaii standing out on the glass along with the words “Liquid Aloha”… radical!
This classic feel carries through to the taste. It’s a decent Lager, and enjoyably heavy too. I know in my previous reviews I’ve complained about lagers being so heavy as to be uncomfortable, but as with all things in life, balance is key. The Longboard rides this wave nicely, it’s not light and airy, and not densely over-hoped to the point of chewy. There’s even a pleasing aftertaste, which lingers for a decent time.
As I said, with all things balance is key, so if I was to fault this beer in any way it would be to say that it’s arguably too classic. With pounding down the middle road it hits a generic tone. In being so nice, it limits itself, and it skirts being truly memorable. I’ve nothing against Longboard, but for £2.50 for one small bottle, would you rather have a bottle of something nice and classic, or something truly remarkable?
It’s a solid beer, and I’ll have another bottle, but it’ll take seeing it on the shelf to remind me.
5.5/10
Henry
Beers in the Fridge 