Landshark beer is the housebrew for Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville and Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chains.
Don’t be fooled by the “Margaritaville Brewing Co.” indica on the bottle, this beer is brewed by Anheuser-Busch. Does what does Landshark Beer taste like?
Our beer judge Carla Lauter finds that while it is not a beer that will please purists, this Corona-like adjunct lager is not a bad drop for a hot day at the beach.
Landshark Beer: Appearance
Typical adjunct lager straw yellow with much carbonation present. Forms a bright white, soapy head which evaporates completely, but does leave a small amount of lacing on the glass (interesting).
Land shark Lager: Smell
Since it comes in a clear bottle it’s no surprise this island style lager is skunky. It’s not quite as bad as Heineken and those other green bottle Eurotrash pilsners, but it’s quite strong. Otherwise there’s a generic fizzy yellow beer smell with some grain and corn.
Landshark Beer: Taste
The first swig is the test to see if you can get past this beer. The sourness from the skunk hits you in the finish like a ton of bricks.
But what’s interesting is that only the first swig is so Heineken-like, and after that it’s more like a generic pale lager.
There’s some malty sweetness, noticeable toasted corn and perhaps some rice to impart a subtle sweetness. Otherwise it’s by-the-book macro fizzy yellow lager “taste” all the way.
I use “taste” lightly because this beer is much more bland than it is bad-tasting.
There’s noticeable wateriness to the palate. I could see drinking this straight from the bottle with a lime wedge like Corona – which is exactly how I think this beer is intended to be drank.
Landshark Lager: Drinkability
If you can get past the skunkiness you can drink Landshark beer. It’s fairly clean in the finish with little residual sour aftertaste.
It’s crisp and bubbly in the mouth, but not obnoxiously so. A light-bodied beer with 4.6% ABV – it’s easy to envision sucking down a six-pack of these on the beach or around the pool on a hot summer’s day. For that kind of occasion it is a great beer.
What Do Other People Think About Land Shark Lager
| Site | Score |
|---|---|
| Beer Advocate | 63 out of 100 (poor) |
| Untappd | 3.23 out of 5 |
| Rate Beer | 1.87 out of 5 |
| Influenster | 4.51 out of 5 |
| Average | 3.19 out of 5 |
This review from GreesyFizeek on Beer Advocate, which scored the beer 2.94 out of 5 is fairly representative of what average drinkers made of it:
“This one pours a clear golden yellow color, with a small head, and not much lacing. This smells like slightly sweet malt, and a bit of sweet graininess.
“As expected, there’s basically nothing to this. It’s just sweet and slightly crisp, grainy and maybe a little corn-like. On the beach when it’s hot, it’s acceptable, but you’re not gonna give it a second thought.
“This is light bodied, very drinkable, and relatively smooth on the back end. This isn’t really meant to be dissected. It’s not that good, but that also doesn’t really matter in the end.”
Landshark Beer: Final Thoughts
Overall, Landshark Lager is not a horrible beer, just a lame one. For people who aren’t looking to be challenged by their beer and just want an uncomplicated “refreshing taste” in an average beer, this might be an ideal alternative to Corona or Sol.
It might actually be a hidden gem among the “economy beer” selection at gas stations and supermarkets everywhere as I have drank many beers worse than this that cost more.
For the purists, though, it is just an average beer and unless you’re a huge Jimmy Buffet fan there’s no reason to drink Landshark Lager.
