Stoke Amber

This is another Kiwi brewer who I've only just discovered. So far I'd probably rate the sheepshaggers' brewing abilities in general, as I've had more good than bad beers from the land of the long white cloud.

There were three beers in the lineup, entitled Gold, Amber and Dark. In hindsight I maybe should have worked my way up or down the chain, but instead I've started right in the middle. Sometimes you need to just be extreme, and live on the edge. Chicks dig rogues.

The marketing speel on the bottle rabbits on about this and that before coming to this interesting claim. The beer is brewed with 14,000 year old 'Paleo™' water. No you are not seeing things... they have actual trademarked this term. Paleo water. No doubt this was a shrewd idea as it firmly blocks out rival antique stores selling Paleo™ Chairs, and has actually rendered the practice of Anthropology illegal.

Fuck me dead. This beer is about as refined as the general conversation each Saturday night on the last train to Frankston. Your are immediately belted black and blue by a two pronged assault of crude malts and bitter hops. There is no structure here, no plan of action, almost like they just grabbed a bag of ingredients and tipped it in a vat and hoped for the best. Give a criminally insane schizophrenic some finger paints and you'll get the picture.

If you squint like George Costanza though... you can start to make some order out of the chaos. There are some sweet toffee flavours in there, reminiscent of an English style Ale, that slowly burn out as the hops invade like a Mongol hoard. It becomes the calm within the storm as you struggle to cling on to it for dear life, before being washed away in a tsunami of malty daggers in a hop hurricane.

It probably needs to grow on me, alas, I only have time for one.

4/10

Moo Brew Pilsner

Believe it or not, this is probably the ballsiest beer from Moo Brew. The Pale and Dark Ales were good beers, but perhaps a little tame compared to the more outlandish ales that have won my attention. They were very well executed beers, but just a little bit on the safe side. Their Pilsner is brandishing a big pair of steel cajones, and proudly.

When you undertake such a challenge like this, you at times have to force your way through a beer. Pilsners were the beer I got sick of first, and as you can imagine by now I am almost well and truly over a watery pilsner.

Thank god then, that Moo Brew have not whipped up another run of the mill, 'clean', 'fresh', 'crisp' piece of Euro trash.
This beer is full of life. There is a fruity burst that is followed by a smashing single hopped bitterness. It's simple, but everything is BIG. Pilsner's can be so restrained in their efforts to be easy to drink, but I can tell you for fact, that this beer is as easy to demolish as WTC Building 7.

I am struggling to write this review because the bottle was empty before I even started paying attention. It disturbs me to say that this may very well be the best of Moo Brew's lineup. A Pilsner. Who would've thought? This is one of those landmark beers that begins to change your opinion about a certain genre. Great work Moo Brew.

8/10

Bright's Hellfire Amber Ale

The aggressive title of this beer rose from a combination of it's appearance, and a place called 'Hellfire Gully' near Bright. While I can't attest to being familiar with the gully, I will say this beer does pour an impressive colour. Burning a blaze of orange and red, the hue seeming to darken from bottom to top. Fantastic looking beer, it's like pouring a glass of napalm.

The body is weighty, but still effortlessly refreshing. The flavours are predominantly malt and caramel, with very light carbonation, that simply aims to kick your tongue to life rather than mercilessly electrocute it. If that place on the Pure Blonde ad is meant to be heaven, then book me a first class ticket to the land of fire and brimstone.

Perhaps not straying as far from the path as their lager, this is another impressive drop from Bright Brewers. I personally prefer this, but I am partial to Amber Ales over Lagers in a general sense. If I was to have another one, I'd pick the Amber, but the lager sits astonishingly close to it's coat tails.

A really good ale is one of those beer experiences. After finishing the Hellfire, there were still embers of flavour smouldering on my tongue. A lingering memory of this great beer. This is one fire that should never be put out.

8/10

Bright's Unfiltered Lager

Despite tasting some tantalising beers from all over the world, when I just 'want a beer' outside having to drink one on this challenge... i do find myself going back to smaller local breweries. We have some hard working enthusiastic brewers in this country, and they all deserve a pat on the back.

Australian drinkers, in general, still very much make this a 'lager' country. I feel like it is going to take a bulls eye boutique lager to shift their attention, as a lot of of folk still don't know what the hell an ale even is. 'Broo' made a push with all the big outlets, but it wasn't quite bold enough to really make an impact. Sometimes watching another bloke select his beer is painful...hovering over a slab of Melbournes or pondering whether to 'lash out' on some Stella. Blindly meandering about, perhaps reverting back to behaviour last seen during their first date at the back row of Cinema 3 in high school.

These blokes have had a red hot crack at it though. This beer pours unlike many a lager you will have set eyes upon before, with a cloudy golden body and Cooper like particles trailing around the liquid. It looks almost like a witbier in some aspects. There are sweet flavours of apple and honey, before an abnormally bitter hopped finish (for a lager).

"So drinkable, its dangerous", the label proclaims. They are damn right as well. Once opened, this left field lager will disappear faster than small children during Madonna's last African tour. This beer would suit an Australian summer to a tea. Light enough to smash, but heavy enough to satisfy.

Victorian microbreweries showing them how it's done, again.

7.5/10

Newcastle Brown Ale

I haven't been to the UK but this seems to be a fairly well known drop with the Poms. It is generously housed in a large 500ml can, and at a price most reasonable for such a sizable offering in a single beer.

It pours a very cola looking colour, without much of a head. It looks interesting, but quite clear for a darker ale. Then again, most mass produced beers have this kind of transparent look about them. So it's dark, but not entirely black, presenting itself well at first before turning completely see through. I am about to drink Barack Obama.

Newcastle Brown Ale is a very smooth customer, smoother than your typical Geordie, especially so given it's a darker ale.

It isn't cloudy and heavy at all. The flavours are predominantly sweet malts and fruits*

*and may contain some traces of nuts.

I quite enjoyed this beer, and wish that some of our larger brewers would crop up something like this. I'd much rather this on tap than a Draught that's for sure. Far from reaching the stratospheres of some of the dark craft ales I've had, this Brown Ale is respectable in every sense.

6.5/10

Moo Brew Hefeweizen

I'm going to admit that I haven't given Moo Brew the credit they deserve so far. They are an impressively consistent brewery. None of their beers have really knocked my socks off, but they are all equally as solid as each other. I haven't found a weak spot in their roster yet.

Hefeweizens are great summer beers. They do however often employ feint streaks of banana in their flavour which doesn't work with me. There needs to be some other tools in the chest to win me over.

The body of this Hef is chunkier than Les Claypool's basslines. Many hefeweizens are light and sharp, and come at your tastebuds like a tazer. But sometimes you just feel like yelling, "Don't taze me bro!". Moo Brew heard our cries and whipped up this version... in a cement mixer.

Hefeweizen's have hardened the fuck up. It pours deep and cloudy. The flavours are rich, but cleansing at the same time. The aftertaste is hopped and lingers, it doesn't just fizzle away like a dodgy firework from Vic Market.

A very good interpretation. Wheat beers in general will never be my favourite but this is as good as they get.

7.5/10

Trumer Pils

It really is amazing how subtle efforts can completely revolutionise a beer. The last beer I downed was the Tuborg Green, which was really just a soft, watery, euro Pilsner.

This is, in a sense, a soft, watery Euro Pilsner.

The Tuborg was shit, whereas the Trumer is great. Let me try and explain why.

The body of the Trumer Pils has just that little bit more depth to it. The Tuborg was like a 3 piece band with only a guitarist. The Trumer has a bassist.

The flavours in the Tuborg were extremely feint, and tasted forced. The Trumer has layers of malt and hops and citrus that pop in at different intervals. It feels more natural and organic. The Tuborg is an mp3. The Trumer is vinyl.

This is a great example of an easy to drink beer, with just enough grunt. Pilsners don't need to be a beverage version of Dark Side of the Moon. Keep it simple, but don't disrespect the person who'll be cracking the bottle cap off at the other end either.

Probly one of the best Pilsners around this one.


7/10

Tuborg Green

'Open For Fun' the back of this bottle says.

Yeah... well... this beer is about as fun as Pythagoras' theorem.

It really is the definition of a watery European beer. There is nothing going on here. At all. If it were a movie, it would boast the plot line of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, the casting of Burlesque, the special effects of Escape from LA and the budget management of Waterworld.

It's basically fizzy malt water. That's it. It's pretty easy to drink but I really do have to ask myself why am I drinking it?

I ended up drinking it as fast as possible just so I wouldn't have to keep drinking it... if that makes any sense. And this is a beer.

I guess the only saving grace is that by employing no taste, it doesn't exactly taste 'bad'.

3/10

BerlinerKindl Weiss

Lemonade was a popular drink, and it still is.

I'm assuming this was the mantra that these guys ran with when they sat down to plan this beer out.

I have no idea what is going on right now. This is the tartest, most sour beer I have ever tasted. This is the liquid equivalent of a lemon warhead. There were seriously moments when I screwed my face up and shook my head.

Apparently this is a bit of a genre, and not one I am very familiar with. It's not at all what I really want out of a beer. There is some sort of a strange refreshing quality to it, like a good tart lemonade, but it's too far removed from what I'm after in a beer. I'm sure there are some other flavours going on in there but the sour onslaught is all I could really focus on.



3/10

Belhaven St. Andrews Ale

Golf. Undoubtedly one of the shittest sports on the planet. Haters gonna hate I know... "You just don't understand it", "It's an intellectuals game"... yeah yeah. It's for the most part a bunch of fat middle aged dudes hitting a ball into a hole. I have played it, it was boring, unless there was beer involved. But you can say that about anything. A calculus exam would probably be moderately exciting with beer involved.

This ale pays homage to 'the home of golf', St. Andrews in Scotland. The story goes that the first ever game of golf was played there. It must have been a truly historical moment when a bloke holding a stick, saw a rock on the ground, and a hole a few hundred yards away, and decided to hit the rock towards the hole with the stick. Little did he know that his future self would be jet setting around the world banging the shit out of porn stars.

Let's forget about golf for a minute though and focus on this almost whiskey coloured beer. It does look great I have to say, far more attractive than John Daly bending over to mark his ball anyway. This is a stupid beer to dedicate to Golf though. Why? Because there is so much going on! There's sweet smokey malts, that have been drizzled in caramel and toffee, and garnished with hops. The carbonation is perfect. Very light, but with just enough buzz. The body feel is moderate, but you wouldn't want it any different.

A complex beer, that is far more entertaining than the game it salutes. Top drop. Would happily tee off for another round.

8/10

Hofbrau Original

This German lager appears to be a tribute to one of Venice Beach's most notorious ladykillers. David Hasselhoff's eyebrows. I only did German briefly in high school but I'm fairly sure that 'Hofbrau' is a direct translation for 'Hoff's brow'.

Like the Hoff himself, this beer appeared to be visibly shallow. It's one of those 'fizzy yellow lagers'. After a sip or two, I wasn't overly impressed. Was I really paying attention though? Sometimes you need to focus a little more. Beneath the veil of this 'crisp and refreshing lager', there was a bit more going on. Sweet malts, and biscuit/bread flavours are balanced well, before being capped with a slightly hopped finish. If you just smash it down you'll miss out, this is a pale lager that you can take a little more time with.

Let's face it, these beers are never going to get the pulse going like a 30 second Pamela Anderson slo-mo run down the beach. What it is though, is a pretty solid summer beer. Very easy to drink, refreshing, and with just enough flavour to make it an enjoyable beer rather than just an after work formality. A good pale lager, and a victory given that it's from a big brewer.

6.5/10

Moo Brew Dark Ale

Up next was the slightly more expensive 'Dark Ale' from Moo Brew. The Pale was solid, but maybe a touch underwhelming given what else I could have bought for the money. This one pours chocolatey brown, and dark, but not enough to stop light poking through it. The nose also cops a whiff of cocoa as you go in for a gander.

The impression I get from this beer is that it is paying homage to two of the elements of this country we subconsciously choose to forget at times. Bush fires and desert. The roasted malts have been scorched to oblivion, and the feel of the beer is drier than a stale piece of toast that's been run over by a belt sander. The flavours hold some weight, but the long dry finish doesn't exactly make it refreshing. Maybe it isn't meant to be, but I have had deep dark ales that can still quench a thirst.

If you don't like beer but want to experience what I have just experienced, the next time you are having a fondu party instead of marshmallows and strawberries try dipping charcoal briquettes.

You could probably pair this up with some good food, and make it work, but as just a beer on it's own it isn't amongst my favourite dark ales.


7/10

Moo Brew Pale Ale

First off I have to say, these beers carry a fairly nasty price tag for a locally brewed beer, Tasmanian to be exact.

They all float around the 5-6 dollar mark and are housed in very fancy looking bottles that appear as if they belong in a wine cellar, as opposed to nestled in a cardboard six pack.

Maybe this is because the brewers are traditionally winemakers. A lot of the wineries now are branching into craft beer, and while there are some good beers being produced, they seem to often carry over elements of their wine making. I would prefer they didn't. I've even had beers that include wine itself in the brewing process.

This Pale Ale is more of the American variety, dominated by sweet malts with a deep bitter hopped finish. One of the most interesting elements is the quick sting of the carbonation. It's sharp, but very short and sweet. It's a fairly unique attribute. A lot of American style Pale's have some bravado about them, Moo Brew's is more laid back. It's more Arj Barker than Dane Cook. The flavours are there, but attack more like a sniper from the bushes.

Complex, but still sessionable. It's quite hard to give this an individual score, because as a stand alone beer it probably doesn't compete with some of the other Pale Ales I've enjoyed. Could I polish off a six pack? Sure. Would I pay the exorbitant price for that six pack to begin with? Unlikely.

7.5/10

James Squire Porter

Despite my general appreciation for Jimmy Squire's bevy of brews, I've never actually tried their Porter. I wasn't exactly in the mood for it either to be honest, but it was between this and some random European Pilsner sitting in the fridge...so it was a fairly easy decision at the end of the day.

The beer pours darker than Kamal. Seriously, this Porter would make a Coca Cola look like an albino. It also has a heady aroma that jabs you on the nose as you raise it to your lips. It's not particularly nice either, but I'm not one of those dudes who sits around smelling his drinks and deducting points. It's a beer not a flower, you meant to drink it not smell it. If it tastes great it can smell like a hobo for all I care.

The flavours are dominated by malt and chocolate, with some feint earthy coffee tones. The feel is much lighter than your average porter, with slightly more carbonation. It loses out here I think, because if you're going to do a porter... do a porter. The flavours are strong, but not robust enough. The feel is far from bricks and mortar and more like a house of cards.

It's an ok beer. If you want an easy to drink, reasonably priced Porter then this would probably fit the bill. Still though, if this is your battlefield I'm guessing you'd rather roll in a tank than a jeep.

6/10

Cascade Blonde

It's hard to know whether to roll my eyes or salute Cascade for their attempts to break away from your standard Aussie lager fare. I tried their First Harvest, Pale Ale and All Malt Lager previously on this challenge, and while far from groundbreaking, they were beyond acceptable beers. While a far stretch from a good craft beer, they relentlessly beat and tortured your standard mainstream brews. So I guess salutations are in order.

I didn't expect much from this one though, as wheat beers can be fairly samey samey and I just imagined this would be a soft, fizzy version, much in the mold of the Hahn and Pure Blonde versions of a wheat beer. So with a reluctant sigh I cracked the bottle, and baited Cascade to prove me wrong...

Challenge Accepted.

This is one of the most well balanced beers I think I've ever had from a heavyweight Aussie brewery. Sweet, wheaty, grainy... it's like liquid honey smacks. The finish is bitter enough to suggest it has been late hopped. It's 28 today and sunny, and this number went down quite nicely out on the balcony.

Well played Cascade, well played.

6.5/10

1936 Biere

This rather obscure bottle bears only the number '1936', and the word 'biere'. That's it. As I cannot gather any more information on this mysterious beverage I will instead discuss the year 1936 itself.

For 1936 was a year of marvel and mayhem. The Hoover Dam was completed in 1936, and the first controllable helicopter took flight. The Tasmanian Devil was proclaimed extinct, and the Crystal Palance burned to the ground in London. Most notably the USA won the first olympic basketball tournament against Canada in a ball tearing 19-8 victory. Sounds like an absolute thriller. Keep in mind that in those days a regulation basketball court was 2 miles long and today's famous 'Spalding' brand ball was actually a three and a half kilo turnip.

What the hell are you talking about you ask? Tell me about this bloody beer!

Well the reason I have rambled on about 1936 the year is that it was far more interesting than 1936 the beer. It's a sticky light malt Pilsner. Pours a clear straw colour with no head. The flavours are as shallow as the MTV Channel, and the carbonation feels tacky, even though it is very subtle.

This 1936 contributes about as much good to the world as the Hitler Youth did in the same year. The whole experience is very...well, bland. It isn't daring or adventurous, nor have any lines been crossed. It's all very...neutral.

Oh yeah, and it's made in Switzerland.

3.5/10

Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale

In what was probably a very innocently named beer, the moniker 'Red Rocket' garnished a chuckle inside as I though back to that South Park Episode. If you haven't seen it, then you won't get it!

Bear Republic is a Californian micro brewery who make some bold claims about this brew. It is apparently a 'bastardized Scottish red ale' that 'breaks all style molds'. So the proverbial gauntlet has been thrown into the dirt, by an American kilt-wearing ranga who was born out of wedlock.

Just the pouring of this beer is something to behold. It looks about as heavy as Roseanne Barr riding a water buffalo, with a dark granulated cola coloured body. Trying to see through the glass will give you an idea of what a general day in the life of Stevie Wonder looks like.

The beer is sweet and malty, and hopped off it's tits. The feel is thick and creamy and goes down quite nicely. It's almost like a poor man's Trappist beer. Just lacking that 'special something', but very close to it. In fact 'poor mans' is going too far... lower middle class mans? And at 6.9% the afterburner is well short of an F-16, and keeps it's foot well inside the line of drinkable.

There is no way in hell you'd buy a six pack to watch the footy, but if you're making a mix and match sixer and doing some globetrotting it is worth punching this stamp in your passport.

8.25/10

Murray's Dark Knight

Lurking in the shadows of the darkest corner of my fridge, hanging upside down from the upper shelf, is a caped crusader.

From behind a pierced veil it watches over the fridge, as every day condiments and leftovers go about their business, unaware that they are being protected... by a Dark Knight.

Porters aren't always black and white, like a penguin, and can be a bit two-faced. Some of the chocolate/toffee styles are fantastic, whereas I struggle with the coffee/mocha dominated versions. So what riddle will this one solve? Will I wear a joker like smile, or be stung by poison ivy?

See what I did there? Numerous times? Like a boss.

Cutting right to the chase, this is a great porter. Like the dark knight himself, it is impeccably balanced. The flavours of chocolate and toffee meld together beautifully, unlike Christian Bale and his assistant directors. The aftertaste is bitter like Jack Nicholson, but easy to take due to the overall quality of the production. The body is lighter than you would expect, but this just makes it all the more easy to drink.

While not something I would want to drink regularly, it is a fantastic stand alone beer.



8/10

Desperados

I was making some homemade fish tacos for dinner, and figured why not pair this number up with it. It is well documented that Mexican beers are far from exciting so I was only expecting to add another watery lime-needing cerveza to the list, but upon closer inspection of the bottle... things may not be as boring as I first presumed.

This beer is brewed with tequila! This definitely spiced things up a bit as I don't mind a tequila, even though I rarely get into it. The alcohol volume sits at 5.9% due to this. It also isn't even Mexican, it's French! Strange.

From the first sip I was thrown back. The beer is very sweet and citric, with a mild tequila burst that lingers on the aftertaste with the citrus. This was too much for my brain to compute. There was definite wow factor.

I kinda liked it. There was more going on than a normal Mexican style beer and the tequila element was interesting. The problem was, as it went on it didn't hold itself together. It's overly sweet. By a country mile and a half. It's almost like an alcoholic soft drink. After a while everything just started feeling tacky, and fake. What started off amusing soon became something I didn't want to experience again.

This desperado is similar to Antonio Banderas' desperado. Explosive, tacky, over the top... but a bit of fun. And you have to treat it similarly and approach it for what it is. It's a novelty act. If you take it seriously, well you simply wont get it.

4/10

Westmalle Trappist Dubbel

It's always exciting trying a Trappist beer as you're always pretty close to being guaranteed a new experience. This one popped up in my local bottleo at a reasonable price, and was swiftly rung through the counter. The Westmalle Abbey was established in 1794 in Belgium, and the current Dubbel has apparently been the same recipe since 1926. How O.G is that?

The beer pours an amazing dark brown, full of depth and swarming particles of goodness. It looks a bit like murky chocolate prune juice... which probably doesn't sound appetising, but all you need to do is remember that this is a beer and all is forgotten. It could easily be mistaken for a coveted after dinner dessert beverage in a nursing home.

The flavour is as sharp as a Ginsu, with sweet fruits dominating at first. Tastes a bit like plum, and spiced fruit biscuits. There is some chocolate and malt in the background as well, which stays around for the aftertaste once the fruit has fallen from the tree. The feel is lighter than say a Chimay, but heavy enough to wear the Trappist mantle proudly.

The finish has an alcoholic burn (7% ), but it is very well balanced with the rest of the beer. It is quite easy to drink, easier than some standard strength numbers.

Now this is difficult to rate because this beer has been brewed in a fantastic manner. The flavours aren't exactly my cup of tea though. I will have to take this into account, but won't let it sit too heavy a burden. If you like Trappist beers give it a go regardless.

7/10

Craft Pilsner

Craft is a Greek microbrewery, whose Red Ale beat me across the face closer to the start of the challenge. While my palette was probably more primative back then, I remember it as a big powerful beer.

How would their Pilsner come across? Generally such a light and nimble customer, would it trade in the dagger to swing an axe like it's Red Ale brethren?

Pilsners are like the token skinny blonde of the beer world. Light and flimsy, and without much depth. This one however, is rocking some badonka-donk. It's thicker in the hips, and the bitter aftertaste is about as chunky as I've come across in a Pilsner.

While this is impressive the flavours don't really match the body. It's a bit all over the place really, it's grassy and malty but nothing is balanced. It doesn't 'hit the spot' like a regular Pilsner, it's trying to do too many things at once and not excelling at anything in the process.

6/10

Erdinger Champ

The champ is here!

Strutting its way to the ring is the audaciously named 'Champ' witbier from Erdinger. I'd had an Erdinger wheat beer before on tap which was quite good, though I'm not exactly sure what particular Erdinger that was.

The body of the Champ is a conundrum. It feels creamy and watery at the same time... which is hard to imagine I know. It has the normal cloudy wheat beer body, but is equally as clean and refreshing as a Pilsner. Can't really question this element of the beer, what you can question though are the flavours.

Subtlety is the word. It's sweet, there's banana and citrus, but everything is very subdued. The carbonation bites a bit if you take a big swig as well, so it's best to drink in smaller sips. This doesn't make for great summer beer action though, being the season for witbiers.

There's no knockout power in it's strike at all, it's more of an endurance fighter. It could probably go the full 12 rounds and last the session, but isn't ever going to land anything significant. You might think...well...Ali didn't boast power, he was an endurance fighter. True, but he backed up his mouth game. This beer is announcing itself as the champ, without achieving anything worthy of the title.

This beer is a bit of a Mundine.

5.5/10

Dab Original

Clean. Clinical. Processed. This German lager is much like German engineering. It was probably brewed very efficiently by highly qualified personnel. It probably passed through quality assurance with flying colours. The batches probably all bear a visible consistency.

This doesn't however make it exciting, or give it any character. I'd rather an Alfa Romeo than a Volkswagen.

It's sterility and lack of adventure plants it firmly in the category of 'boring'. It's a clean and refreshing lager, which is drinkable enough, but there is NOTHING here that grabs you by the short and curlies.

Is it a bad beer? I wouldn't say so, but it doesn't offer anything new.

4.5/10

Big Sky Brewing Co IPA

This is a moderate IPA across the board for the most part. The alcohol content is at 6.2%, not exactly light but not on the heavy side either for the genre. The flavours are biscuity and citric, but sit about middle of the road in terms of oomph. Where this beer makes it's presence felt is in the body and aftertaste.

It's slick and oily in the mouth, and the hopped finish is long and bitter. The after effects of the drawn out finish are harsh, like the morning after an atomic vindaloo curry. You might be thinking that these type of finishes are part and parcel with an IPA, which is true, but considering this is only a 6 percenter it could have been a lot smoother. Think back to Meatloaf's performance on Grand Final day.

All things considered, it is a decent IPA. The texture of the beer is great, the flavours are acceptable (however not amazing), but the tail is something that I endured rather than enjoyed.

6.5/10

Paulaner Original Munich Lager

Ze Germans like to put together a fruity lager, and this offering from the famous Paulaner brewery has been put together in the same ilk. It's citrus based like a witbier, but lighter and cleaner in a lager sense.

It's fairly crisp but does have some weight behind it's body, more than you would expect. So what you get is some sweet and fruity tones, with your typical lager malts.

I actually forgot about this beer with a 1/4 of it left. I know. I was disappointed in myself as well. Then after it had warmed a little, it really struggled to perform. It's definitely one of those 'best served cold' beers. But then again, most beers are.

I reckon I would get a bit sick of it over time to be honest. I prefer the Paulaner Pils. This is a solid lager, much better than most Aussie mainstreamers, but on the world beer scale it's only a step or two past the 'average' line.


6.5/10

Samuel Adams Summer Ale

Samboy over here has given me a couple of interesting beers already, so as I stood there parched in front of the refrigerator the words 'Summer Ale' spoke to me on a big level. I was after something light, fresh and thirst quenching but with some flavour in it's back pocket.

Nail head, meet hammer.

This American style Pale Wheat Ale is criminally easy to drink. The body is light and crisp, with distinct flavours of lemon zest and sweet malts. The bitternes of the zest makes it sadistically refreshing in the same way that homemade lemonade is. Hits the spot, but then bitterly starves you in to wanting more.

It also apparently contains 'grains of paradise'... a rare African pepper first used in the 13th century. Grains of paradise hey? Sounds like something a wealthy relic hunter would try and track down on an action packed adventure across the globe. Indiana Jones and the Grains of Paradise.

I wouldn't put it past George Lucas.

This is by no stretch an amazing beer, but if you are thirsty and the sun is beating down on you it probably does feel like paradise in a bottle. Very basic, but shows what can be done with a straight forward, light, summer beer. There's no excuse to spend your life drinking Coronas while these sort of beers are in existence.

7.5/10

Hawthorn Brewing Co Pilsner

The folks at Hawthron Brewing co have put together a very drinkable Pilsner here. It's fresh, crisp and malty. Very refreshing. The bottle had almost vanished before I even started taking notes.

The problem here is that it's almost too good at being a really basic pilsner. It isn't complex or different, and... just a tad boring.

It's like a perfectly prepared and balanced accounting document...or something. All the boxes are ticked... but who is really going to be interested in reading it?

It's just about faultless in it's execution, but is still only just a 'good' beer. I'd never go out and buy a six pack, but would gladly take one over a macro brew.

It can't all be IPAs and Porters. You can't just rely on throwing knockout blows for the entire fight, or you'll just swing yourself out. Sometimes it's safer to stay with the jab. Keep it tight and clinical. I'm not a huge fan of this beer, but I do respect it.

7/10