Konig Pilsner

Next at the crease is a German Pilsner. Props to them for having a go, as this is fairly different from your average
Pilsner...except it just doesn't hit home with my tastebuds. There's a kind of...herby/floral taste to it and it's
very strong. It just doesn't press the right buttons, but that's purely personal opinion.

It's difficult to review, because it's almost a nice beer that isn't easy to drink. If that makes sense. Every sip
is big and audacious, but doesn't exactly leave you wanting more.

I'm rambling on here... but I'll put it this way. If you like Pilsners with floral tones, try this. You'll probably
love it.

Personally I'd maybe only give it maybe a high 6 but I find that harsh given the overall quality of the beer. Given the scores I gave other Pilsners, that simply wouldn't be fair.

7/10

Broo Lager

This is a lager from Victoria with a bit of a tacky looking bottle. That being said, it's a no nonsense beer
that isn't trying to stand out, which can sometimes be a good thing. There's some funny dialect on their website -

"Broo isn't a special occasion beer, you're allowed to drink it anytime you want and anywhere. It's not infused with

salmon, lemon or peanuts, and you don't even have to stick fruit in it. You can eat whatever you bloody well like with it,

but by all accounts the beer tastes just right on its own. A mouthful of raw squid, and a plate of something that a good

vet could get going doesn't do much for the taste.

We treat our beer like beer, it's what beer was before all the tossers tried to treat it like wine."

Given that I generally prefer ales over lagers, this is not a bad beer at all. It rings true to it's shoot from
the hip approach, and is a nice, clean lager with solid but not overbearing aftertaste. Given that most microbreweries
create full flavoured ales, a nice, straighforward lager is good for a change.

7.5

Henninger

Here we have a German lager from Frankfurt. Now this isn't a GREAT German beer, but it really does go to show that
the overall level of quality that the Germans produce is right up there. I don't know much about it, but it was
reasonably cheap for an imported beer so I'm guessing it doesn't carry a big name?

It has that trademark fruity wash to the beginning of the flavour, and then a bitter aftertaste. It's a familiar
tasting beer I guess, but they've done a decent job of it.

All in all, good drinking though. Drank it with a bag of chilli and lime chips and it was a solid companion.

7.25/10

Stella Artois

Bit of a controversial one this one. I've come across many people along the way who will say "Stella" when asked
their favourite beer/s. Not all the time, but often you see this beer in the hands of wankers trying to look
upmarket at bars. No offence if you're a regular drinker, just sayin.

The truth is this is just camel piss in Europe but certain individuals treat it like a luxury brand here, maybe it's the fancy name. You know how you laugh at
Europeans who think 'Foster's' is an exotic Australian beer? Yeah well this is them laughing back.

I've always thought it to be overrated. That being said, it isn't a bad beer in the whole scheme of things. There
are worse tasting beverages you could be drinking, so I ain't gonna be a straight hater. Perceptions aside, I'm just gonna
drink this like it's any other beer.

At the end of the day, there just isn't a whole lot going on. It's very light on flavour, with a subtle aftertaste
to boot. The carbonation isn't clean (but not as bad as the kronenbourg), it just feels cheap all round. Easy to drink,
but all the more boring for it.

6.5/10

Kronenbourg 1664

This is a Scandinavian sounding French pale lager. It's apparently the no.1 selling lager in France. A lot of the
time this can be a bad thing, as the masses are easily pleased. Given this fact, this is not that bad of a
mainstream lager. It has a clean and subtle beginning like most pale lagers, the only problem is that is muddied
by a rough aftertaste. I'm guessing it isn't naturally carbonated either as it feels overcarbonated and you get
that 'sting' in the tail.

Strangely it probably tasted better in 1664 when it was made with care. You get the feeling it could have been on to
a winner, and then mass production took over.

6/10

Budejovicky Budvar

This is a Czech lager that carries probably the most difficult name to pronounce thus far. It doesn't
exactly roll off the tongue, and neither does the beer.

I'm in a bit of a funk at the moment. There have been plenty of average beers lately. This is a very
non impressive lager. This is at the bottom of the Euro lager barrel. Generic watery taste at the start, followed
by an unbalanced bitter aftertaste.

If I visit the Czech Republic at some point, I'm drinking Scotch.

3.5/10

Halida

Here we have a Vietnamese beer from Hanoi. It also bears the mark of the elephant, at first I thought this to be
a direct diss to Carlsberg. A slap to the face. A throwing down of the proverbial gauntlet.

Until I read 'under the supervision of Carlsberg' on the bottle.

Life is less interesting in the corporate dominated world isn't it?

It's a bit of a strange one really, I can't exactly put my finger on some of the flavours. It has a subtle, but
distinct taste to it. Maybe it's the malt or hops, maybe it's the water. I can't even explain it really you'd
have to drink one yourself.

It's not mind blowing, but it's definitely a drinkable beer. Not great, but decent.

6.25/10

Efes

Continuing the current run of boring beers, up next is a Turkish Pilsner named Efes. If I'm not mistaken this is
the first Turkish beer I've drunk. From the land that brought us the most awesome beer food on the planet, kebabs,
I was hoping to find a tasty companion in this beverage.

Not to be.

It's quite a non impressive Pilsner really. I've never really been blown away by Pilsners as they are by nature
tame and watery beers, but Efes doesn't really bring any good flavours to the table at all.

It has that typical clean opening, then when the Pilsner hoppyness came in the middle, it was pretty meh.

Pass.

Given I'm now well into the 100+ mark, it's getting harder to impress me and the scoring might start reflecting that,
I guess the earlier beers got a good run in that regard.

4.5/10

Carlsberg Elephant

Here is a strong Pilsner from Carlsberg, named after one of the raddest animals in the world - the humble
and destructive Elephant. An animal that picks shit up with its own nose like a boss.

At 7.2% alcohol it's a bit of a brave beer from a a mainstream brewery. The story goes that it was
brewed in the 50s and was shipped to the work fields of Africa where it began its popularity. In 1950s
Africa I probably would have been stoked to down one of these. In 2011 Australia, it somehow doesn't carry
the same weight.

It's kind of like a normal Carlsberg in that it starts off crisp, but that is very short lived. You get a pinch
of that traditional Pilsner taste before a very strong aftertaste takes over. It's reasonably easy to drink
given the elevated alcohol content, but... there just isn't really anything exciting about it. I deem it not worthy
to wear the mantle of the Elephant.

I guess... it's just a Carlsberg... that'll get you pissed sooner?

5.5/10

Bare Cove Radler

See the review on the Monteith's Radler. This one is lemon and lime. I ain't down.

3/10

Monteiths Radler Bier

Yeah... Nah. Not even Monteith's can make this work. Beers are not sweet fruit flavoured drinks.
I can maybe see a subtle lemon or lime tone to a beer being alright, but completely overpowering it
to the point where it could almost be a UDL is out of control.

I can't really say I enjoyed this. It's a cleanish beer with a big lemon punch to it. It's too much,
I kinda just forced it down in the end.

If you like beer, don't drink these.

4/10

Menabrea

That 'hayfever' turned out to be a virus so I've been out of action for a few days.

This is a very regal looking Italian lager. This is the beer Berlusconi drinks at parties with underage prostitutes.
It kind of reminds me of the Birra Moretti. It's along the lines of a bitter lager but a
bit more subtle than an Aussie style lager. It's more refined though and probly a tad easier to drink.
I don't mind it, it's a good all rounder. It's a beer you could drink in a session or just on its own.
If you're a lager drinker, give it a whirl for kicks.

7/10

Holgate Extra Special Bitter

It was a bit of a struggle to review this beer as I have a blocked nose, which I'm hoping is just
hayfever. I used a nasal spray to try and aleviate the situation but only got marginal improvement.

These guys blew me away with their Mt. Macedon Ale, so I was hoping for big things with this one.

It's a full bodied red ale with strong malts and a very bitter aftertaste. It all works together though,
I've had red ales before that were just a bit too much, whereas this one is a touch more balanced.
They aren't exactly my cup of tea, but this was enjoyable. It was good with food and on it's own.
In fact I'd probably say that is what it's best suited to, it's a dinner beer.

7.75/10

Mac's Brewery Spring Tide

In this photo I am not aiming to look sinister, it has just been a long ass day and this is about as excited as I am going to get right now.

This is one of those 'low carb' beers, which seems to be a bit of a craze at the moment. I've never really been a fan of 'diet' this and 'lite' that. It's always a massive compromise that damages the quality of the item. Having something in its natural form in moderation is always going to beat overdosing on a watered down version. At least this isn't just full of chemical replacements for natural ingredients though.

It's nothing exciting, a fairly standard dry, bitter lager. It is still better than most mass produced lagers, but it is still lacking in punch.

I'm not gonna go and buy a sixer, but if you're after a 'low carb beer' this is one of the better ones.

7/10

Gosser

Had never heard of this one before tonight. It's an Austrian Lager that comes in 500ml cans. It's basically a Germanic style lager with fruity tones through it and a clean finish. It kinda tastes like something else I've had before but couldn't put my finger on it. I guess it's just that familiar German style lager. It's not as heavy handed as some other German beers, but also not as soft as some of the mainstream ones. This sits somewhere in the middle.

I've never been huge on the general fruity euro lager style, but this is drinkable.

7.25/10

Tsingtao

Tsingtao

It's all good and well to drink 365 beers in a year and glorify alcoholic beverages, but at the end of the day the important message is to drink responsibly. This is the message I am trying to portray in this photo. By drinking a beer holding a new born baby.

Shout outs Lock and Sophie and baby Eevie.

This is probably the most famous Chinese beer. They have some real shit ones, but this is all class. It's a very clean lager with well balanced flavours. Very easy to drink, good in summer or winter, good with food. It doesn't blow you away with anything new or exciting, but it just absolutely nails what a clean lager should taste like.

8.25/10

Kooinda Pale Ale

I don't remember ever seeing this beer in the fridge at my bottleo but it appeared out of nowhere this evening
in a nook at the side of one of the fridges. If it has been there the whole time, it has done so with the stealth
of a ninja.

This is a Victorian Pale Ale with a strange name. It's not a bad beer, but I have had plenty better Pale Ales.
It's that clean type of refreshing ale initially, but then it has a sudden bitter punch that hangs around for
awhile afterwards. It's not over the top but it's borderline. I'd say it nudges the balance a little off, but
not majorly to its detriment.

Can't really recommend it. There are better boutique beers out there, but if you come across it and the price is right
it is a good enough beer.

7/10

3 Ravens Dark Smoke Ale

Wow, this is a little out of the ordinary. This is a very full flavoured dark ale, the most intense offering from
3 Ravens to date. Normally they are a bit soft in my books, not here. This has a rich, deep, dark flavour
with a prominent smokey streak through it. You wouldn't drink a sixer, but one on its own is great. The smoke comes
in about half way through and then trails into the aftertaste.

This is a proper dark ale, it's a top beer. Wouldn't recommend it for lager drinkers, but if you like a dark ale
this is one to try.


8/10

Mountain Goat Hightail Ale

So along the run of stronger, dark ales we come to the offering from Mountain Goat. I liked their Steam Ale so had high
hopes for this one. It's much cleaner than the previous few I've had. It has a rich amber ale flavour with a toffee
tinge through it.

Good drinking. It's a nice winter beer on this chilly night. It doesn't match a Squire's Amber Ale but it does
a good job of it.

The aftertaste is bitter but not overbearing and well balanced. It is a good upgrade on the 3 Ravens dark ale
I just sampled. This is more of a well rounded version.

8/10

3 Ravens American Pale Ale

This is an interesting beast. I'll be honest and say I'm not really sure what constitutes an 'American Ale' as most
yank beers are pissweak lagers. So I guess I was expecting... a pissweak ale?

Not so.

It's a mix n mash flavour overload. It has five different hops, mixed with barley, corn, wheat oats and rye according
to the bottle. There's no way you can individually pick out all of these ingredients though, the overall flavour is
just a wall of... beer.

It is now starting dawn on me as to why it's an American Pale Ale. Rather than a fine precision, well planned attack they've just decided to carpet bomb the fuck out the village. Including some friendly fire. What Americans do best.

It's not a bad beer, It's maybe a touch better than the English Ale but not by much.

7.25/10

3 Ravens English Ale

This is a darker ale. It has some depth to it, but relies a lot on the base ingredients to hold it together. Often
a good dark ale will have something like, for example, a toffee/caramel tinge through it to give it a kick. This is all just hops, malt and barley.

It's by no way my favourite darker ale, but it's alright. It's pretty basic, they haven't really done much to make it
stand out. I guess if you want to to try a darker beer if you hadn't before this might be a safe introduction, but if
you're looking for something new and exciting you won't find it here.

7/10

3 Ravens White - Beer 100!

The ton is up! This is the 100th beer!

This is 3 Raven's attempt at a wheat beer. I find, personally, with 3 Raven's beers that they are on to a good thing
but they pull their punches. They have a lot of familiar ale styles, and some good flavour, but they're just limp
wristed. Maybe it's an attempt to appeal to a wider market... but as a micro brewery style beer it's a bit of
a contradiction.

This is a decent wheat beer. It's just not as exciting as say a Hoegaarden. It has that slight sweetness and citrus
tinge but you have to search for it rather than let it come to you.

I guess on the other hand it is easy to drink, before I knew it this beer was gone. You can knock them back
without much effort.

I'll be diplomatic, because in the end it is a good beer. They've gotten it right, but for me I'm left wondering
what could have been?

7.5/10

Crown Lager & Corona

Last night was my 10 year high school reunion. Apart from feeling old as fuck, it was a great night. I didn't really plan to stay out that long as I'm just getting over being crook but it ended up being a big night and I was left pretty useless today. For some reason this photo has a 'vaseline on the lense' look about it which makes me look like I'm on the set of Days Of Our Lives. Either that or an 80's porno.

These two beers are obviously very well known, I'd been avoiding a lot of the mainstream beers as they are easy to find but I had to get to them at some point.

Crown Lager

I'll start with the 'Crownie'. The beer of choice at functions around the nation. The beer that appears 'fancy' and upper class, but really when it comes down to it, is pretty much a glorified Draughtie. I really see it as the uneducated beer drinker's idea of quality. But hey, the marketing ploy works well as whenever I'm at some kind of meeting, or do, or function, they are guaranteed to be the beer on offer.

But to the point, it's a smoother, easy to drink lager than all the other CUB offerings. I still find it boring when lined up against some of the others I've rated highly. I don't actually think I've ever paid for a Crownie, I just drink them at these type of things!

6/10

Corona

This is going to be polarising. Some people LOVE Coronas, and it is a hugely popular summer beer. This is a very difficult beer to score, especially when pegging it against some of the flavour driven unique beers I've sampled thus far. Because let's be honest. It is bland and unoriginal. Any beer that requires lime in it is not really doing it's job. But at the same time, I have enjoyed many a lime wedged Corona on a summers day at the beach or over a BBQ. Or with some great Mexican food.

It's really horses for courses with this one. As I've developed a wider palette for beers over the years, I've become less interested in Corona. But early on, I thought it was great. It might seem harsh but at the end of day, it's a pretty soft, watery beer.

6.5/10

Holgate Mount Macedon Ale

After recovering from the infamous Bali Belly and returning to the land of the living, I am back on board the beer train! Full steam ahead!
After drinking Balinese lagers I felt like I needed something closer to my heart, an Aussie ale. So on the menu tonight
we have Holgate's Mount Macedon Ale. This is my first beer from this brewery, and given the price tag on the beer
I had simlarly high expectations.

They were met.

This is a malt based ale with a pleasant caramel like flavour to it that then lightens into a bitter aftertaste. It's
all good. It is well balanced, unique and just an all round nice beer to drink.

There a few others from these guys at my bottleo, but at about 5 bucks a pop they're a hard sell. After this one though
I'll have to peruse their other offerings.

8.75/10

San Miguel

Meh. Nothing special here. This is a run of the mill pale lager. I will admit I drank this very quickly before heading to the airport because I forgot I even bought it. I didn't really give it the time of day, maybe that effected the review but I won't lose sleep if I never drink another one

5/10

Bali travel tip #7

When at the markets and stalls, barter like a bowss. The Balinese are epic highballers and will throw out some outrage prices in the face of what they really would sell their wares for. I found on average you should probably pay somewhere between 25 - 50% max from the initial price they quote you.

They enjoy the bartering and it's good to add some theatrics to it and play it up, if you start to walk away they'll grab you and try to keep it going.

For example I bought a bunch of basketball jerseys and the guy wanted over 2 million rupiah for them! In the end I got them for 400,000.

Bali Hai

This is similar to Anker, but better. It's a more smoother, refined lager. It has more weight on the malt side of the flavour and has a balanced, clean after taste. It's pretty easy drinking. I'd say if you just want a normal beer, and not one of the more interesting Storm ales, then Bali Hai and Bintang are the way to go.

7.25/10

Bali travel tip #6

Try and venture out of your comfort zone. I cringed at seeing (often obese) white tourists walking around with Starbucks and Burger King. You're in Indonesia for christ's sake try the local fare. You can sometimes roll the dice, and I did end up with Bali belly when I arrived home but still don't regret it. Eat the local food, with the local people and live a little. The best food I had was at a place called Mai Mai's in Nusa Dua, Ganesha in Jimbaran Bay and from carts on the side of the road.

Anker

This is really just a tame version of a Bintang. I didn't really see it around apart from in corner stores. It's not a bad beer, it's not that great either. Almost the most boring beer I drunk on the trip. I can't really pad this one out, it's an average lager.

6.75/10

Bali travel tip #5

Be careful when hailing a taxi. They will literally stop dead right there on a dime in the middle of the road, regardless of who is behind them. This causes much beeping and road rage from those behind you while you frantically climb inside the car.

Bintang

As you can see in this photo I have been working on my tan.

The almighty Bintang. The national beer of Bali. Emblazoned on singlets and shorts of bogans everywhere on the island. Some even go the combo two piece Bintang outfit. You can buy pretty much anything with a Bintang logo on it everywhere you go.

It really is a good beer on a sweltering hot day, unfortunately you struggle to get an ice cold one anywhere but I guess it's understandable given the weather. The fact that you can get a giant bottle like this for 2-3 bucks with lunch or dinner is very enticing.

Maybe at face value the Storm Pale Ale was the better beer, but given the price and widespread availability and domination the Bintang holds, you have to respect it.

7.5/10

Bali Travel Tip #4

Try not to select your place of eating based on the offer of free wi fi. Sometimes it works, but more often than not it is a nostalgic return to the dawn on the internet. Do you remember 14.4k modems?

Storm Tropical Ale

This is fairly similar to the Pale Ale, all the storm beers have a bit of a samey samey theme to them with slight differing touches. Really this is basically a cross between the Pale and the Bronze ale. It was the fruity, tropical taste to it but also a bit more of a bitter aftertaste.

7.25/10

Bali travel tip #3

Don't bother cleaning your sunglasses while inside an air conditioned apartment/building before stepping outside. They will instantly fog up to epic proportions the second you walk outside the door.

Also be carefully when cleaning your sunglasses. With the use of very little pressure I popped the lens out of my authentic pair of Ray Bans I bought at the market. I'm guessing it must be something to do with the heat, or humidity. Or the fact they came in an Oakley case.

Storm Bronze Ale

This is the second beer from the Storm Brewery entitled the 'Bronze Ale'. I was expecting maybe something like an amber ale, but not quite. It's a full flavoured ale with a slight honey flavour amongst the hops, followed by a bitter aftertaste than lingers on your palette for quite a while.

After smashing constant Bintangs I was looking for a change but strangely I kind of felt like another Bintang after this. I've just never been that big on the honey flavoured beers I guess. The balance with this beer seemed a bit off kilter, with too much focus on the aftertaste. It wasn't bad by any stretch, I'm sure lots of people do enjoy it.

7/10

Bali travel tip #2

Everywhere you go people will try and give you a card to 'see if you won a prize'. Do not ever, EVER, get involved with these shenanigans. We went to Kuta for a day to go to the markets and as soon as we got out of the cab we got stuck with this bloke who gave us a card which ended up being a 'Special Star Winner', which he proclaimed I was the 'first winner ever'. We apparently won the choice of a camcorder, accommodation or cash and we just had to 'come with him now' to claim it. After about ten minutes of balking we finally fucked this dude off by telling him we'd go tomorrow, from there on we encountered numerous similar folk along the trip. It's just a bullshit timeshare presentation apparently.

Storm Pale Ale

Here is the first edition of my 6 Beer Bali Special. I'm actually laid up at home now with Bali belly so I'll try and write these as best I can. The first was Storm Pale Ale, which I downed while waiting for our room to be ready. Storm is a local brewery. This was a light, fruity ale with a somewhat floral aftertaste. Sitting around palm trees in 35 degree humidity it was a fitting beverage. Strangely one of the listed ingredients was 'otter'. I have to say it could have been a bit colder, but I was soon to find that you can't really get an ice cold drink ANYWHERE over here. All in all, it was a good tropical summer beer

7.75/10

Bali travel tip #1

If you see white lines painted on the road, which look exactly like what we perceive to be a zebra crossing, you will soon find it not to be so. I have come to the conclusion that these are perhaps some form of indigenous street art that happen to resemble pedestrian zebra crossings. Stepping out on to these white lines does not encourage a vehicle to slow down or stop. They will just keep driving and expect you to get out of the way.