Landshark Lager: Like a Big Fish Without Teeth
Apr 05 '08
The Bottom Line Landshark Lager is overpriced for the quality.
I’m always on the lookout for new beer products to try and this is especially true when I’m vacationing far from home. Most large cities can be counted on to offer some beer products I have never heard about before and even if the products do not appear promising, I am still likely to give them a try. My latest vacation took me to Orlando, Florida and while shopping at a local grocery store, I happened upon a new beer, Landshark Premium Lager, a product of the Margaritaville Brewery in Jacksonville, Florida.
Basic Characteristics of This Beer:
Landshark Lager pours to a yellowish color with a crystal clear body. This beer is very fizzy and a good pour products a large mass of white foam. The foam settles down quickly, emitting a scent that reminds me of wet corn meal.
Landshark Lager offers the smooth taste of light, pale malt. There is a faint, generic spiciness in the finish, so that the drinker realizes that there are hops used in the brewing process. A distinctly adjunctive flavor exists- a combination of corn and possibly rice. Sweet, light malts prevail all the way through.
Margaritaville Brewing makes this beer with the basic ingredients. The alcohol level of this beer is average for the style, weighing in at 4.7 percent by volume.
Food Compatibility:
Landshark Lager is your standard pizza and appetizer beer. This light bodied lager would be okay to wash down pizza and would make a decent beverage for any salty snack, from French fries to potato chips.
Final Thoughts:
Landshark Lager is a beer with a big name but little or no bite. Brewed for mass consumption, this product is very similar to other mass produced lagers in appearance and taste. Its packaging sets it apart as a party brew, along the same lines as Corona and with a similar flavor.
I was familiar with the Landshark Lager name but I did not get the chance to sample this beer for the first time until I found myself in the great state of Florida for one of my semi- annual vacations. The beer grabbed my attention immediately- like all new products do- and I immediately purchased my six- pack and headed back to my resort for an afternoon of poolside relaxation and evaluation. I expectations weren’t high, but I did like the packaging and remained optimistic that the beer would be likeable.
Once I found out this beer was brewed by Margaritaville Brewing, I immediately became curious and went to the internet to seek out some answers. With a name like Margaritaville, I knew this beer had to be owned by pop music star Jimmy Buffett. And a little bit of internet surfing proved my suspicions. Buffett does, indeed, own the rights to Landshark Lager and this beer fits right in with Buffett’s image. From its name to the package to the party- like personality, this beer has Buffett written all over it.
One other thing I discovered about Landshark Lager is that it is actually manufactured by brewing giant Anheuser- Busch and that the “Margaritaville” Brewing is nothing more than a made- up name to help sell the product. Once I knew A-B was behind Landshark Lager, its plain, boring taste began to make sense. And this is most certainly an unexciting beer. It isn’t a horrible beer by any standard. But it is very mediocre and very typical of a mass- produced American style lager. The overall taste emphasizes sweet malt with a smooth body and almost no hop flavor at all.
One pleasant surprise with Landshark Lager is that it contains no hint of skunkiness. When I saw the product on the store shelves, one of my concerns is that it would be skunky in both aroma and taste. But it isn’t like that. I don’t know if my six- pack was exceptionally fresh, or if the beer is brewed in a special way that helps minimize the negative effects common to bottling in clear glass. Whatever the reason, this was a pleasant surprise and it made the overall tasting experience a little more tolerable.
My bottom line on Landshark Lager is that it offers a passable taste, but is too costly for what you get. Yes, the bottle does look cool and it has a certain adventurous look and appeal that anyone who travels in the warmer climates will appreciate. Jimmy Buffett fans will love it regardless, but with the plain taste and the high $7.50 price, I can only give Landshark Lager a rating of 2.5 stars out of 5. It’s like Miller High Life for twice the price.
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