Boooooooooooooooooooooo. I’ll do this one in point form:
- It’s got elderberries and pomengranate in it.
- I took one sip and threw the rest out.
- Look how giant those bubbles are!!
- Boooooo. Sucks to your product quality control.
Rating: 
Got a bee on the front for no reason. Nice alcoholic, malty aroma (surprise, surprise) and kinda dark. A big malty hit up front followed by a slightly burned taste that hangs around for a while. Mmmm mmm…I think they got the balance right for a tripel and it doesn’t taste too alcohol-y. Do it.7.2%
Rating: 
John – has a smell somewhere between mango and celery. I didn’t think celery had a smell, but there you go; this beer has taught me something. Despite this crazy aroma, there’s a BIG blunt (good) roasty taste to it. You know when the weather man tells you about an approaching cold front? The curvy line with the pointy teeth on it? It’s like that – a looming, inescapable carbon-based maltiness that is damn tasty! Not sure I like the burnt aftertaste, but this beer is definitely worth a go.
Rating:
Graham – Big. Bold. Taste. I really like a dark beer that has some hops in it – it’s such a rare find in Australia. I guess what makes this an American Black Ale is the addition of American hops, but I would have to consult the style guide to make sure. It’s not opaque or heavy like a stout. A lingering bitterness on the back palette. Delicious!
Rating:
Interesting one this one. The bottle promises a Scotch Ale, appropriately aged in whiskey barrels. Sweet, with a deep caramel flavour, this beer is 6.7%. As I kept drinking it, I could swear that a scotch-ey taste came through, but it could be the 6.7% part too! Quite a dry finish.
It’s very light on carbonation, and hop bitterness. I enjoyed it very much, but don’t think you’d want more than one in a sitting. Think about drinking it a tad warmer than usual to let all the complex flavours develop.
Rating:
One more day to the election and both potential leaders were photographed in pubs. But what did they drink?
First the Prime Minister:
A schooner of Old! Fantastic. It tastes like wet cardboard, but still, it tastes like something. In this post feminist age it shouldn’t matter, but I can’t help being impressed that our lady PM would order a proper beer like Tooheys Old.
Now the Opposition Leader, at the Manly Wharf Hotel :
It’s hard to see in the photo, but it looks like lemon lime and bitters, doesn’t it?
Here’s a direct quote of what he asked for – ”If I could have a shandy of light with about 60 per cent lemonade, okay?”
Come on dude. Not only are you drinking a (light!) shandy, but you specify that it should 60% lemonade? Why not be more specific? Why not ask for 65%? How very precious. A shandy of light is a “why bother” drink. Just have a glass of water.
Bam. Weighing in a 7.1% comes Raging Bull by Bootleg Brewery. Strong, syrupy and sweet, you could probably only take one of these ones. Glad it is cold outside. I think this could probably use a bit more hops.
Rating:
Nice beer this one. Won’t blow your socks off, but a great autumn brew. Mildly hopped, well balanced . A deep orange colour, lightly carbonated.
The Bright brewery is from the town of Bright in Victoria – would love to go there one day.
Rating:
Ka-blammo!
This is the best label – it looks like it’s inspired by old school Phantom cartoons. There’s not a whole heap of hop aroma, but it makes up for it with a strong bitter hop taste. Although highly hopped, it’s well balanced with 7.0% alcohol and a strong malty flavour. A great beer. Visit Jamieson’s site here.
Rating:
From Garrison Brewery in Nova Scotia comes Hop Yard Pale, weighing in at 5.3% in a 341 mL bottle. It’s a pretty robust, floral pale ale with perfect carbonation and just the right amount of hops. And I don’t think I’ve seen a brew with better head retention in my beer glasses! Maybe I just picked the one I don’t drink milk out of (’cause a hard earned thirst deserves a big cold milk). Wish I could say more but I’m writing this about a month after the fact, going from some pretty minimal drunken scribbles on a post-it note. Which is a shame because later on I found out it came first in some massive beer festival in the U.S. So…it’s really good!
Sorry no photo!
Rating:
Taverner’s Tasmanian Brewery. Packs an 8.0% alcohol punch.
Graham: Interesting, but not good.
We’re brewing this honey beer today with some honey I picked up in a farmers market in Mudgee. So when we cracked open the micro brew club 12 pack for last month and found a honey beer in it, it seemed like a perfect place to get some inspiration. On to the beer!
Really light in colour and body. I don’t know how this is an ale, it could be a mead – it looks like one anyway. Has a nice honey aftertaste, most of the honey beer I’ve brewed and tasted (I’m looking at you Beez Neez) . It’s really dry though, and the high alcohol content with little body seems unbalanced. While it is interesting, it’s not a beer I would search out again.
Rating:
John: Tastes like shit champagne.
Smells like champagne! Random! Goes down like champagne too…the dude on the back of the label reckons it’s cloudy because the yeast is kept in the bottle to keep it fermenting, giving it more bubble (sound like champagne anyone?). Funnily enough he doesn’t mention anything about the honey it, so why should I? Altough I think I got a bee’s wing in mine…
Rating:
Check out their website: www.ozhoney.com.au
