Tap Handle #304: Lion Nathan - Steinlager

This is a nice tap that I couldn't pass up for the price. It is similar to another tap by Dock Street, which also features a knotted rope.

Steinlager was founded in Aukland, New Zealand in 1957 by the Lion Nathan Brewery. The New Zealand Minister of Finance, Arnold Nordmeyer, threatened to cut international beer imports as part of his "black budget" and challenged New Zealand's brewers to "come up with an international-style lager beer". Lion Nathan produced a beer the following year named Steinecker, named after the company whose equipment the beer was made in. In 1962, Heineken took the brewers to court, insisting that "Steineker" was too similar to "Heineken". So Lion Breweries changed the name to "Steinlager" and the name has stuck.

In 1977 Steinlager won the Les Amis du Bin Award, the most prestigious beer award in the world. Steinlager followed it up by winning again in 1978 and to really prove it wasn't a fluke, again in 1979 and 1980. The establishment didn't like the fact that this upstart from the bottom of the world had taken out a mortgage on their cup and promptly sent a letter asking that Steinlager didn't enter again. By then Steinlager had won the title of 'The best beer in the world' - so the point was made. In 1985, eight hundred beers competed for the Championship Trophy in the Brewing industry awards held at Burton-on-Trent, England, but Steinlager tops them all, and goes on to win several other competitions. Over the years they sponsered New Zealand rugby teams and also New Zealand's America's Cup team.

Steinlager Classic is the flagship brand, a pale ale with a distinctive grassy note and clean crisp bitterness of green bullet hops. It is balanced with a dry, astringent finish. Weighted average on ratebeer.com is 2.33 out of 5.

Steinlager Official Website

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