Brewery: Brutal Brewing
Country: Sweden
Size: 33cl
ABV: 5.1%
Price: 14kr
Systembolaget: 1361
Brutal Brewing is part of the larger Spendrups brewing family and has been running since 2011. It actually started up under the initiative of Spendrups own employees and is run by workers who share a mutual love of beer. They have a number of beers in their range, including the limited edition Raw Law series. They also produce the “rotating tap” series of beers, where a new one is created and sent out to select pubs every 10 weeks. One of the mainstays of their range though is the Cirrus cloudy lager and I thought it would be a great way to open up the summer beer tasting. I could have picked a beer that was lighter and less hoppy, but I wanted to show that even the lagers with a slightly higher hop profile suit the hot weather well.
It was cloudy golden and I could see the small particles in suspension within. It has quite low carbonation and the head was fluffy and white but faded quickly. It had a light, fresh, traditional lager smell with small citrus peel and slight marmalade tones. Light malts and grass pulled through in the tasting along with the hops which crept through the mouth slowly. The bitterness built in the aftertaste along with a dusty quality as it was quite crisp and drying on the palate.
I find a lot of lagers haven’t got much to say but at least this one has a few words to speak. It’s slightly more robust and the hops gave it a bit of a fuller body. It was better when it was ice cold (as most lagers age) as it became gradually more stale the warmer it became. In truth it was not bad but it was just not great either. The rather low price does help its cause though. If I was handed this at a party I wouldn’t mind drinking it but I doubt I would choose this in the pub over a lot of other more well known lagers.