Natural Ice: Appearance
Standard fizzy yellow beer complexion. Perhaps a dark gold hue. Carbonation dies down quickly. Forms a small, bright white, soapy head which fizzles away quickly and leaves no lacing.
Natural Ice: Smell
Surprisingly mild for the type. Doesn’t have the generic “beer smell,” but the scent it does have is not exactly appealing, either.
Natural Ice: Taste
I’ve been saying for a while now that I’ve been building up a tolerance to “economy” adjunct macro lagers. I figured Natural Ice was a good test to see just how strong my palate’s defenses against bad beer is. I’m happy to report my tongue seems to have passed the taste. I could taste this beer in all cheap glory, and while it wasn’t aggressively off-putting, there certainly weren’t any redeeming qualities.
When drank cold, right out of the fridge, the first sensation I get is that this doesn’t taste like typical fizzy yellow beer. I suppose you could consider this a malt liquor and not just an adjunct lager. There is definitely a corn-forward flavor, followed by a significant starchy taste and a metallic finish. It reminds me of sucking on a very old ice cube from the back of the freezer. After a while, the off-flavors seem to homogenize, then fade – which means this beer actually tastes a little better the more you drink it. There’s perhaps a hint of sweetness from the corn, but it’s nothing special and certainly not enough to save Natural Ice from itself. Yeah it’s a pretty bad brew, but I can handle it.
Natural Ice: Drinkability
This isn’t the kind of beer where drinkability plays any factor in your decision to buy and consume it. Though if you choose to do so you’ll likely find it to not be much of a challenge. Sure, it’s awfully fizzy at first, and even stings the tongue with its effervescence, but then calms down to a watery tepidness. The mouthfeel is thin and crisp, though I wouldn’t consider it refreshing even when cold. At 5.9% ABV it seems to be in a weird void. What’s the point in drinking Natural Ice if your sole aim is intoxication, since you could drink something stronger and reach that goal much more quickly? It’s also too heavy to consume casually.
