Burleigh Brewing Co HEF

This cloudy golden Hefeweizen is from BBC, whose Pale Ale recently knocked my socks off. Wheat beers sit about mid range

for me, don't love them, don't hate them - so was definitely curious as to how this would go. They are generally light but fragrant and flavourful affairs, that sometimes go a bit too far and end up off balance.

This gem however has the balance of a tight rope walker. Vibrant citrusy/fruit flavours with just a touch of bitterness and crispness. It's just too easy. It's dangerously smooth.

While fruity beers will never sit right atop my pyramid of brews, this is as close as they are ever going to get. This is one of the best wheat beers I've drunk. It has the same base elements but still leaves an original groove. Good drinking. Definitely swung above it's weight, like Hef himself.

The next time I'm up on the Gold Coast I'll be picking up some more of BBC's beers.

8/10

Brooklyn Lager

Given the limpness of some of the American beers you come across, I was hoping this (being from Brooklyn) would have a bit more of an edge to it.

It's a good looking lager and has a dark golden amber colour to it, and not that piss yellow you get from a lot of other lagers.

So, off to a good start.

The flavour is malt driven but has brought hops along for the ride, and trails out with that typical lager bitterness to it. It's very basic, but effective. There's nothing ingenious going on here, but at least some originality. It's kind of like they took the pale ale approach, but to a bottom fermenting beer.

I like it, not everything can be fruity or floral or out there, this is just a good example of a basic lager that was brewed with care.

This is a pub style beer, a slightly dry and heavy lager that you could knock back all night.

6.5/10

Redoak Organic Pale Ale

According to the bottle Redoak is Australia's Most Awarded Brewery'. I've heard that claim before... so I'm not really giving it much weight to be honest. This beer casually positions itself as an 'Organic Pale Ale'. I've had many pale ales, and many labelled as organic, so had a fair idea in mind as to what I was about to experience.

So do you as well most likely. But just for a minute, take that assumption you have and burn it.

Because whatever you are imagining is far from what you get with this beer.

It took me till about half way through the bottle to get my head around what is going on here. It has a very fruity, hoppy burst that is taken over but what tastes a bit like grapes, followed by a refreshing but bitter aftertaste. What should be noted is that it is not a dry bitterness, the flavour is still popping well into this phase.

This is very difficult to rate because I can't see myself drinking a few in succession, as it's... not a 'beery' type of beer, it is very boutique. It's daring, unique and refreshing... but left field from what I'd generally look for in a brew.

A solid 7 is probably fair.

7/10

Fish Rock Brewery Red Emperor Amber Ale

All hail the Emperor. Making it's name in the craft beer dynasty is this amber ale from Fish Rock Brewery in NSW. Like most empires this beer starts off strong and reaches a peak before a bitter spiral into descent. Rather than using caramel/toffee streaks like some other ambers, this beer uses some lighter fruit flavours mixed in with the deeper malt tones.

It still has a lot of depth, and a strong, lingering aftertaste. Drank it with some home made thai satay burgers and it was a pretty reliable ally. This emperor seems to have been beheaded though, without much sitting upon it's shoulders.

At the very least it forges it's own path instead of trailing in the shadows of predecessors, somewhat of an upstart bucking the family trend and ruling with it's own fist.

A strong enough legacy to be remembered in the annals of beer history.

7.75/10

Pike's Oakbank Pilsner

Hmmm... green bottle...clear looking watery Pilsner... I've seen this before somewhere. I can't really say I was brimming with excitement when this was the bottle I plucked out of the fridge.

It's pretty clean and sharp, but maybe a bit rougher than your average Pilsner. Imagine Pierce Brosnan, in a tux, but unshaven for 3 days.

The fallout for me with these beers is always around the flavour, or lack thereof. It just seems to be this battle as to who can make the cleanest, crispest beer as opposed to who can make the most creative, flavourful beer. I'm just at this stage now where I don't see the point with some of these Pilsners. They are all pretty much the exact same framework, with some minute differences in delivery. Like banks. And telcos. And insurance companies. You catch my drift.

I am officially jaded with Pilsners.

This is easy to knock back, but just really, really boring.

5/10

Barossa Valley Brewing Bee Sting

To make things difficult, I think a label has come off this beer? It just says Barossa Valley Brewing on it... it's not the organic ale I had earlier that's for sure. After checking the bottle it says it has Orange Blossom honey in it and on
their website their other beer is labelled 'Bee Sting'... so through an ingenious method of deduction I have concluded that this is indeed the beer I am drinking.

So...a honey beer...meh.

I really don't see why so many breweries persist with this. It just doesn't work. I don't find that honey blends properly with the hops and yeast and malt etc...to make a nice drink. Beer is not sweet, it is savoury. I actually find that the honey muddies the other flavours that really make a beer a beer.

To summarise, 'Bee Sting' beers are about as exciting as bee sting tits.

5/10

Burleigh Brewing Co 28 '70s Style Pale Ale'

Get out your bellbottoms and roll up a fat one, we're taking a trip back in time with this 70s style Pale Ale from Burleigh Brewing Co in Queensland. Really though, I have no idea what a 70s style Pale Ale means...so lets dig in.

Man I was not around in the 70s to drink their beers but I'm starting to wish I was! I was really in the mood for a good pale ale so I don't know if that's adding to the effect, but this is an absolute bullseye. The journey down the rabbit hole is crisp and lightly hopped, with a malty caramel streak through it. Everything is fairly well balanced, and it's one of those beers that leaves you still wanting more when you hit the bottom of the bottle.

It's both big and subtle in the right areas, would be a killer summer drop and I'll definitely revisit this at some point.

Far out man.

8.75/10

Feral Hop Hog IPA

Boom! You almost the need the bomb squad to defuse this beer. This is an explosive hop fuelled IPA from Feral in WA.

This has completely thrown me for a loop because it's possible this is Feral's best beer so far. I wouldn't have picked it to be the IPA.

It's an overhopped, lively IPA with a sharp bitter aftertaste... but is still very refreshing. The balance is faultless

for an elevated alcohol beer, I tend to find them often off kilter whereas this is like a Matthew Hayden drive, straight down the middle.

It's a deep yellow colour, without much cloudiness, so once you taste it you are taken by surprise. Like Andy Lee's last fling, this fellow ends up swinging well above it's weight.

Great IPA, one of the best I've ever had. Props.

8.25/10

Matilda Bay Redback

I have to give props to the Matilda Bay Brewery for brewing such a variety of different beers. While they might not reach the heights of Little Creatures or James Squire, their beers are all individuals with their own character.

This is their take on a wheat beer, and the flavour is deep. Most good wheat beers are, but this one would even raise an eyebrow or two in Belgium. You do have to be in the mood for such a beer, and it didn't exactly meld with my home cooked flathead, but I still respect it.

It's probably not a session beer, but it's a big flavoured wheat beer that is great on a summers day. I normally prefer it in a different environment than tonight, but won't let that deteriorate the score. Wheat beers aren't always my thing but
this is a good one.

7.5/10

Sleeping Giant IPA

To change the pace up I grabbed this IPA as I hadn't had one in a little while. I'll be honest though, IPAs are definitely

not high on my list, they generally sit at the back of the pack with Pilsners.

This one however, is a beauty. It has far more variance to it's flavour than your stock IPA. It's like a normal bitter

style pale ale with a touch more bite due to the elevated alcohol content. It still retains enough smoothness however to

make it easy to drink. Big flavour, but with purpose.

Good work lads, I tip my hat, as I do dislike more IPA's than I like. It still isn't a world beater for me, but if you are

an IPA head then give this one a burner.

7/10

Lord Nelson Brewery Three Sheets Pale Ale

After a few average numbers I was hoping for a good 'natural' flavourful ale. So I reached for this guy. Apparently Lord Nelson Brewery is 'Sydney's First Boutique Brewery', so I was hoping that by now they had developed some mad skills. The
bottle has a very regal feel to it with a large crest with lions and unicorns on it.

The beer is a very cloudy caramel coloured ale, the flavours however are fairly subtle. There's not a lot going on, it's a bit of a letdown.

So yeah... was expecting more from this. It's not a bad beer, but just a little soft on the flavours and a bit unbalanced.



6/10

Cricketers Arms Lager

This whole challenge is really turning me into a beer snob. I'll readily admit it. Small things that used to not be a big deal, now suddenly are.

One is carbonation. Forced carbonation rather than natural carbonation can straight ruin a beer. It's like those cheapo soft drinks that burn your tongue with their crude carbonation. The same thing applies to beers.

This is actually a decent lager, it's better than a mainstream brew. But it doesn't have much of a head and has stinging bubbles. It definitely costs it some points in my book.

Flavour wise, this lager is quite interesting as it has some lighter flavours mixed in with the malts and is quite smooth... till the zing comes in.

Decent effort, but could've been so much better.

5.5/10

Matilda Bay Dogbolter Dark Lager

Jeeeeeesus. This is like a dessert beer. I've had beers with chocolate/caramel/toffee tones to them but this is in a whole other league. There's far less 'beer' to it, it's mainly a deep bitter chocolate carbonated drink.

Weird.

It's very hard to judge, because I can't imagine that brewing a beer like this is an easy task. This is really out of my comfort zone. I think they've done a good job, but this is far from what I'm after when reaching for a beer. I'm going to give it a 5, because I imagine that this could of gone horribly wrong, but it isn't so bad.

5/10

Wahoo Premium Ale

'Premium' in the beer world has become like the word 'star' or 'elite' in football, it is being thrown around with reckless abandon and watering down the value of the term. Speaking of watered down, here we have a 'Premium Ale' called Wahoo.

There is nothing premium about this beer. It even looks unimpressive, it's a very light bright yellow colour with no depth or head. The carbonation is fizzy and doesn't feel natural. The flavour is cheap and tacky. Don't like this at all.

I hereby ban Wahoo from using the term Premium to describe this beverage, I find it offensive.

3/10

Hawthorn Brewing Co Premium Pale Ale

Based on the blurb on the bottle these guys are acting like they are world famous international beer merchants sailing from port to port discovering the flavours and spices of the new world, and thus have developed this astonishing beverage. It states numerous times that it is 'imported from Hawthorn'.

I live in Elsternwick so the wonder is lost on me a bit.

I prefer brewers to have a bit of fun with their labelling rather than chest beating, but in the end it's all irrelevant, let's just drink the beer inside.

These guys have come up with a decent Pale Ale. It has a smooth texture to it's flavour that also carries a fairly bitter aftertaste. It claims to be a 'unique pale ale', I wouldn't go too far as to say it's unique, it is similar to a lot of other Victorian Pale Ales but it does a very good job of it.

Better in a glass than a bottle, it's close to an 8 but it's not as bursting with flavour as some others around that mark so it just falls short. Solid effort though.

7.5/10

Piss

Sometimes low expectations can garner you the best results because there is no build up. This beer was $2.50 on a shelf of $4-5 beers, eloquently titled 'Piss', so given this fact I wasn't swinging for the fences and thought I might be in for a surprise.

I wasn't.

It's really similar to a mainstream lager like a Draught etc...

I'm not quite sure what the point of this beer is. I only found it in a boutique style bottle shop, it was very cheap, and tasted more like a large batch big brewery concoction than a micro.

Meh.

4/10

Red Seal Ale

Today I'm bustin a cap off another red ale. There's some East Coast West Coast shit going on up in here. After yesterady's red ale from New York, we have a red ale from California to line it up against.

It's another handcrafted microbrewery, so the heritage is similar.

I always like to see a winner in a contest, a draw is always such an empty feeling, but I can't split these two. They are both very solid red ales. The Red Seal Ale is maybe slightly heavier, but just as good in it's own way.

I think it's horses for courses, the Wicked Ale was a touch smoother whereas the Red Seal is deeper and slightly more bitter. So depending on your tastes, certain people might sway different ways. I like them both, so it's another 8.

8/10

Pete's Wicked Ale

To change the pace up a bit, we have a red ale from New York up next. The marketing garb is a bit of a wank on the bottle and insists it will 'stir up an urge to let loose'. Most American beers I've tried seem to hold back a fair bit, but Pete clearly does not fall in to that category.

I've never been that big on Red Ales I'll admit, but this is definately one of the better ones I've come across. It has a deep malty flavour with a hoppy, bitter aftertaste. I'd say it's smoother and better balanced than the odd red ale I've had in the past, that being said though I haven't had a lot of them.

You can also have two experiences with this beer, if you wash it down quickly it's a very smooth drink, if you let it sit briefly then get a deeper, heavier flavour. Pretty solid, probably the best red ale I've had to date.

8/10

Brewers' Pure Malt Ale

You have to like the sound of this don't you?

BREWER'S PURE MALT ALE. There isn't a word amongst that title that could put you off this beer.

It also bears a 2010 Gold Medal from the Australian International Beer Awards.

And you can see why, she's an individual. The opening flavour is dangerously smooth and unique, which then fades into a malty bitterness. It's not a 'big' floral burst like a Little Creatures etc, it's a softer vanilla like flavour.

Pretty well balanced, hard to fault it really. I'm not sure if I personally rate it as 'better' than some of the other beers I've given a 9 to but in terms of a quality product, it is up there.

A definite one to try if you spot it on the shelf.

9/10

Kooinda Belgian Witbier

Pow! This is like a quick, stiff jab to the chin. The combination of the orange peel, coriander and carbonation gives this wheat beer some real punch.

It almost seems over carbonated though, it has a real sting in it's tail that is just a little bit overdone. The flavours that you briefly get at the start are good, but its soon zapped by a sharp fizz and citrus bite. Maybe that's the appeal but personally I'd rather enjoy the ingredients used to brew the beer.

It's a niche beer, and their Pale Ale was similar from memory, it doesn't push my buttons but I'm sure others would disagree.

6.5/10

Anchor Steam Beer

This little ditty is from San Francisco. It claims to be 'virtually handmade' on the label. I'm always sceptical of terms like 'virtually' being thrown around by Americans. Diet soda is 'virtually' a healthy option! (apart from cancer causing chemical additives). Pharmaceutical drugs are virtually harmless and free of side effects(apart from suicidal thoughts), feed them to your children!

Enough of the pessimist in me, let's get to the beer. It's a dark amber ale with a creamy head and some good depth, but the flavour isn't overbearing. It's not a bad introduction to darker beers if you haven't ventured there before. I'd say on the overall scale, it's a soft/lighter dark ale, but I don't mind it. It's fairly well balanced.

It would probly sit around an 8, but just because it lacks that little bit of oomph I'll slightly scale it back a bit. I'd recommend it though, so the next time you're driving your Prius around the bay to the local hipster bar, skip the organic free range grain fed salad and rock filtered mineral water and try one of these.

7.75/10

Feral Golden Ace

Swan Valley's 'Feral' gave us a decent wheat beer, and up next we have their version of a Golden Ale. Generally speaking Golden Ales are a favourite of mine so we'll find out how they measure up with the 'Golden Ace'.

It's a touch drier then your normal golden ale and it has a lemon zest to it aswell, it isn't so strong that you get socked in the face with it but enough to sit up and notice. At first I was tolerant, but the more I drank the beer the less I favoured this approach.

The dryness and crispness is fine, the bitter lemon throws it a bit out. Only slightly, but for my tastes it's costing them a few points.

My review might be a bit slanted, because I don't mind the beer, but in comparison with a lot of other Golden Ales it doesn't exactly capture my tastebuds. This is of course personal opinion.

6/10

Schofferhofer Kristalweizen

These guys are just a straight up fail altogether.

This is a crap wheat beer. Drank it with a great lamb soup and it was still shit. Sometimes tasted like it had a strange metallic hue to it. It's fairly similar to that other orange label one I had earlier but this one was worse. Barely drinkable, didn't really enjoy it, steer clear.

3/10

Holgate Pilsner

Here's a bit of a challenge. Holgate have some very impressive beers, but Pilsners almost never blow me away. I find they have a ceiling on how good they can be, whereas I'm always coming across an ale that redefines what you can do with a beer. Holgate have brewed a couple of wow factor beers so lets see what they can do with a Pilsner.

They've come damn close. It's a very good pilsner. It's clean, fresh, malty and floral - all the trademarks of a Pilsner, but it's just a step above what you normally get. It blows all of those samey-same Euro Pilsners out of water.

I'd still rather a good ale, but as far as lagers go this very good.

8/10

Baltika

Here we have 'The Famous Beer of Russia'.

Stick to the vodka guys. This is an average strength beer but has this alcoholic bite to it, which almost feels like they poured a bottle of vodka in while they were brewing it. The Russians rarely do anything softly, and this is par for the course. Despite these harsh attributes it is still a drinkable beer, and like the other Russian speciality, best enjoyed ice cold.

It's rough, burly and puts hair on your chest.

This is Zangief.

4.5/10

Sol

See : Corona

Let's be honest, this is really just a knock off of Corona. Given it's normally cheaper I suppose it's an acceptable replacement but it doesn't really earn itself any points in the originality stakes.

I can't really pad this out any further, it's a watery Mexican beer that requires a piece of lime to be placed in it to give it some life. They're easy to drink and decent with food, but that's about it.

5/10

Sunshine Coast Brewery Chilli Beer

Let me get this on record first, I love chilli. I put it on everything, to the point where I have actually been told by medical professionals that I need to cut down on my consumption of it.

This being said, I still wasn't really that excited about this beer. Why?

Because it's a beer.

I'm not into novelty chilli. Things like Chilli ice cream and chilli chocolate etc... the first couple of tastes you think "oooh this is different" but the novelty very quickly wears off and you'd rather just have the normal variety.

It's the same with this beer. It's a Pale Ale with a whole birds eye chilli IN THE BOTTLE. So with each swig the chilli sticks in the neck of the bottle as the beer washes through it.

The problem is it sticks out and sometimes jabs into your mouth and the whole experience is a bit uncomfortable and a pain in the ass. A 'spicy' beer also just isn't really what I'm after. I'm eating dinner, and I want refresh my pallette with a sip of beer... I don't really want a chilli firing out of the bottle.

So personally I'm not into it, I want a beer to be refreshing, not hot and uncomfortable.

3/10

Monteith's Single Source Lager

Being a big fan of most of Monteith's other beers I was definitely interested in cracking in to this one. It's not as interesting as their ales, but it's a pretty good lager.

It's clean and refreshing, and pretty straight to the point. While most of their other beers are quite adventurous, this lager is their 'safe' beer.

On the bottle they profess to know exactly where each ingredient comes from, 'right down to the paddock'. Can't argue with that.

So if you like your lagers, you can't go too wrong with this, just don't expect anything out of the ordinary. Ale drinkers will probably shrug their shoulders, but it certainly isn't a beer you would knock back.

7/10

Nova Schin

I was expecting to be boring you all with another 'generic Euro lager' review after picking this one up.

How wrong I was.

Because while the name 'Nova Schin' sounds like another Eastern European watery Pilsner, it is deceptive in nature. Because this beer, is in fact, a Brazilian watery Pilsner that simply sounds like an Eastern European watery Pilsner.

Hooray.

That's about it really, light on flavour, not a lot of depth, pretty boring. It's drinkable, it's not a bad experience, just barely acceptable but really leaves you wanting more. It's a handjob beer.

4/10

Murray's Whale Ale

Well Muzza is on to a winner here, the Nirvana ale was ambitious but just a touch too strange, but this one is right on the money. It's their take on a Belgian wheat beer, and she's a ripper. It describes itself as light, spicy and refreshing and I can guarantee those are three attributes present at work.

It's lighter on the flavour than some other wheat beers, which have a very full body, but it has a bit of a zing to it that livens it up and goes down easier than a $10 hooker.

Would be a killer summer beer, have only seen it at one place but will definately keep it in mind once summer rolls back around again.

8.75/10

Golden Paw Beard and Brau

Here we have a Pale Ale from South Australia sporting a pair of scotty dogs' heads on the label. It's looks a bit cheap and dated, and I probably never would have tried it had it not been for this challenge. Which would have been a shame. Golden Paw is also taking a 'hybrid' style approach to its brewing process. It's an American Style golden ale, that is fermented with Lager yeast. And you can definately tell.

It has a thick, heavy hoppy flavour to it with a dry, bitter finish. It's almost like a meal this beer, it's a cloudy, heavy, full flavoured affair. It's great going back to beers like this after having to fumble around with some of the mainstream beers earlier to bulk up the numbers. This isn't a world beating beer, but it's just more towards how a beer should be brewed in my eyes. Keeping its roots in tradition, but modernising itself with a creative approach.

While it's not as polished as some others, I do like the cut of it's jib.

8/10

Murray's Nirvana Pale Ale

Wow this is one spicy meatball! I started drinking it before I read the label and was quite thrown off. It's a mildly bitter pale ale that has this spicy bite to it which can catch you unaware.

It describes itself as a hybrid american/english ale with a spicy/citrusy aroma, and claims it is 'divine with spicy food'. I don't know if it was the bottle I opened but it seemed extremely highly carbonated, it overflowed a bit when I opened it and each mouthful has like an explosion of gas in your mouth. I'm assuming it got shaken up a bit in the car perhaps? But I did buy it on Sunday which seems a bit strange.

It's kinda like some Willy Wonka shit going on here, what a strange beer.

Flavour wise, it's quite interesting. You get the citrusy kick with a bit of a toffee style flavour through it aswell. The American/English mix makes sense, it's just strange when through the bitterness and chilli-like spice effect on top.

I guess I applaud the audacity and originality, but it's hard to see a reason to buy a six pack of these and knock them back. If you're a beer geek though it's probably one to try.

7/10

Red Stripe

I'm not entirely sure why but I didn't have the highest hopes for this. I've heard of Red Stripe before, and knew it was a reasonably famous Jamaican beer so figured it might be their equivalent to our mainstream lagers.

How wrong I was, this is a solid beer.

It's a fairly light, clean lager but as opposed to the watery Euro lagers that you might describe in the same manner, this has more of that lager maltiness to it.

It's an accessible lager for people that actually like a beer. Not a lot else to say, as it's fairly simple and straightforward. But effective.

7.5/10

Jamieson Pale Ale

It's strange that my local bottleo has a Jamieson Raspberry Beer, and their strange IPA called Beast that blows your face off...yet they don't have this humble 'Pale Ale' which I found elsewhere.

It's maybe because this is a bit of a let down, and the other two have some novelty appeal. This Pale Ale begins clean as a whistle but juuuust as the flavour is about hit you, you are suddenly bombarded with a wall of bitterness. It's too over the top. You find this attribute with a few Ales here and there, Grand Ridge Brewery to name the obvious, and often I find it detracts from the overall flavour of the beer.

After drinking the Feral White and the Rogers' Beer before this, it is pale in comparison.

Something that promised a lot, but left nothing but a bitter taste in my mouth. This must be what it is like to be a Richmond supporter.

5/10

Little Creatures 'Rogers Beer'

I was a bit surprised to find this one, because I'd never heard of it before, but whoever this Roger is he knows how to brew a beer. There's isn't much descriptive info on the bottle so I'm just going off of instinct here, but it tastes like some kind of light amber ale. It's got some malty/toffee style flavours to it, but also has that hoppy floral aroma that you find with lighter/pale ales.

It's a fantastic combination. The opening flavour is light and vibrant, and the aftertaste is deep. The Little Creatures brewery, based in Fremantle, can't seem to put a foot wrong. All of their beers are top notch. They all have some similarity to then, but the LC style is unique in its own right.

It's almost enough to excuse Fremantle for the Dockers.

Almost.


8.75/10

Feral White

As a marketing idea, when trying to think of the name for my delicious new beverage I'm not sure 'Feral' would've been high on the list but horses for courses I suppose.

Wheat beers can be a bit samey samey, but this is a fairly good interpretation. It's got the typical wheat and barley mix with that citrusy zest in its tail.

If you like Wheat Beers, then it has the normal qualities to it. It doesn't really go to that next level and off the top of my head I'd probly rather an Erdinger or Hoegaarden, but from a micro brewery in WA it's a good effort.

7.75/10

Erdinger Wheat Beer

I'm a sucker for novelty value, so when going for some after work drinks on Friday I saw them serving beer in giant glasses. I had to get in on the action.

Erdinger really is a great beer to boot. It's a very well balanced wheat beer. It packs a lot of flavour, but isn't overbearing. I could smash these down with ease all night, but at $10 a pop I'd be feeling the pain in my back pocket the next day.

These beers are always best on a sunny day outside, but even on this chilly winter night it still hit the spot. Maybe not the best, but it's up there amongst the better wheat beers I've sampled.

8.25/10

Kingfisher Strong

Kingfisher Strong

This is a beer of epic proportions. A giant, 8% bottle of Indian beer. While you might think it's an intimidating customer, I rate the standard Kingfisher fairly well, so wasn't too concerned with the 'strong version'.

For a higher alcohol content beer, it's a pretty smooth customer. Went down well with some beef jerky and UFC 132. Pretty easy to drink, only has a mild sting in its tail. It's a similar malty lager to it's standard brethren, but just has a bit more oomph to it.

If you're grabbing a 40 or longneck from the store, then grab one of these bad boys next time.

7.5/10

Cascade Pale Ale

I was quite interested to see this on the shelves, as you don't often see an ale from one of the big breweries in Australia. I would assume Cascade had Coopers in their cross hairs when they decided to release an ale. I didn't really expect it to bring the house down, but was definately hoping it was a better beer than your normal Cascade Lager.

And it is.

In the whole scheme of things, you would normally consider it a pretty average ale, but it is good to see some of the mass producers straying away from the same old boring bitter Aussie lagers. It has a good body of flavour, and is very easy to drink. It's basic, but that was always what you were going to get.

After reading the label I've just discovered it's been around since 1832... still, this is the first I've seen of it!

6.5/10

Cascade All Malt Lager

I apologise for this review, but I'd already written it and my computer decided to update itself and restart without prompting me, and I hadn't saved the text file. I drank it a few days ago now so it isn't all fresh in my memory.

Basically it's a clean, low carb style lager. Not really my thing, but if you are going to drink these kind of beers then this is one of the better ones.

5.5/10