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