Roasted malt-based amber ruined by murky soft-toned hops and swill grain finish. Just barely beats Bud and Miller in the macrobrew ‘cheapstakes.’ Probably defunct a few months after 2006 imbibing.

Gentle Cascade hop vibrancy lingers through roasted caramel malt pleasantry and faint fruitiness, appealing to mainstream tastes as well as slumming critics. 2010 re-tasting: Phenol vegetal astringency reduces chocolate-cocoa influence and wavering orange-dried apple-candied cherry tartness.

Plain, settling middleweight weaves aromatic sweet malt caress around minimal grain exposure. Smooth buttery finish needs assertion.

Peculiar pale-toned light-medium body turnabout finds initial acrid burnt wood sourness, smoked salami mouthfeel, and malted maize sharpness overtaken by increasing herbal-spiced pepper-hopped lemon tartness.

Up-front barley-oats graining softens soda pop flow as cloying corn syrup dredge overrides flagging hops. Starch-y butterscotch permanence creases wheat-honeyed finish.

Under the supposed supervision of Carlsberg brewers in Denmark, amber-reddish 5.6% alcohol-laden lager has indistinct grained malt presence unsophisticated blue collar drinkers and certain neophytes may find appealing.

Simple grain mesh and hop-fueled carbonation hide honey tones of jaundiced lager. Too plain, undefined, and second rate compared to J.W. Dundee’s Honey Brown.

Cloy corn sugar must, pithy wheat grass strand, and phenol metallic hop acridity augment buttered popcorn stridency of soapy clear straw mediocrity. Mildly bitter lemon complacency lowers barren straw wheat finish by half.

Cork-bottled Frenchie with dry-fizzed sweet wine essence remains strong yet unassuming. Creamy caramel-malted brew goes down smooth but lacks consistency and firm formal finish. Further taste tests reveal sharp-hopped orange-bruised Scotch-candied tartness. Malt liquor labeling is a canard.

Deviating a bit from the pungent malt theme of most Dutch beers, hop-roasted bittering counters corn sugar timidity before fluctuating sweet ‘n’ sour finish adds muted lemon-lime niceties. As generic as its brewery’s name, third string Heineken rip-off finishes like a cheap corn-dredged American malt liquor. Repellent dank malt sourness, flat head, and skunked yeast mustiness worsen raunchy pale-bodied saltine.

Dignified spice-hopped pale-toned old-timer counters cereal grain essence and sugary malt nose with floral wheat souring, though sterile salty fizz inflicts thin corn sugar finish. Cloying ginger ale fizz less slick than Pearl’s vapid Country Club rival.

Soothing buttery yeast flow and soft hop constraint reach short-lived malt finish as hints of berry jump off the tongue sporadically. Better than the usual macrobrewed suspects.