Tiger Crystal Ultra is not a craft-positioned beer. Even the name sounds like something I would come up with if I was to satirise a low carb beer brand… But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be good. Lager, for as hugely common a style as it may be, is actually quite unique in how it’s judged. Whereas other styles jostle for attention by displaying their strong individual character, the best lager keeps its head down. As I’ve described before, the (traditional) lager style is almost all about its balance; a race to the exact middle of a flavour spectrum and the ability to stay focused there from start to finish. Tiger’s Crystal Ultra knows exactly how to be a great lager. Writing tasting notes in detail would be excruciating, as the malt and hops, the crisp texture and even the carbonation all lock together into such a precisely tight assembly — and that’s the beauty of this beer. The low carb is a plus of course, as is the (similarly ultra-low) price tag, but I think this is a great lager purely on its intrinsic merits.
