5/12/2010 Standard Local Beers

This week we thought we would sample a bunch of standard, everyday local beers. We ended up with VB, Melbourne Bitter, Boags Draught and Tooheys Extra Dry as a slightly different style of beer. We started with the Tooheys, which spit opinions. Half liked the mild taste while others thought it was a bit boring. Second was VB, which was more bitter than the Tooheys but was still thought to lack a bit of taste. Next came the surprise of the evening, the Melbourne Bitter. It was certainly the strongest tasting beer and was the most bitter, but this was preferred by those that didn't like the Tooheys. Finally Boags Draught was judged as weak which was surprising considering its popularity and widespread availability.

Detailed tasting notes:

Tooheys Extra Dry:

- Smooth

- Mild

- Easy to drink

- No aftertaste, not bitter

- Boring

VB:

- More bitter

- Not a lot of taste

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Melbourne Bitter:

- Most bitter

- Strong

- Full taste

Boags Draught:

- A bit weak

Gold standard to date:

- Coopers Pale

- Bitburger

- Stella

- Singha

Best in class:

- Monteiths (Stout)

- Melbourne Bitter (Bitter)

27/11/10 Stouts

With winter seeming to never end, this week we decided to compare some stouts. We had Coopers extra stout, Monterths, Tooheys Old and Guinness. In the tasting the Coopers was thought to be too strong and the Tootheys old far too weak. We thought the Guinness was OK but the real standout was the Monteiths black beer which we thought had a bit of finish and was an everyday stout.

Full tasting notes:


Coopers Extra Stout:
- Thick
- Chocolatey
- Plenty of Taste
- Not a lot of aftertaste


Tooheys Old:
- Much more mild
-Verging on dark coloured beer


Guinness:
- Stays on the pallet
- Stout style
- Better than the Coopers


Monteiths:
- Everyday stout
- Bit of finish
- Would buy again

Gold standard to date:
- Coopers Pale
- Bitburger
- Stella
- Singha

Best in class:
- Monteiths (Stout)

14/11/10 International Taste-off

This week we had some international beers to go head to head with Carlton Draught. We unanimously liked the Singha, especially with summer approaching. Corona was also thought to be a solid drinking beer. In the blind test, we had condemned one of the beers as being watery and bland. We were especially pleased when we found out that it was the Budweiser that we disliked so much. Finally we picked the Carlton as Carlton and moved on. The main result of the week was that Singha was added to the gold standard of beers. A welcome addition to a growing list.

More detailed tasting notes below:

Singha:

-Light

-Summer beer

-Liked all round

Corona:

- Slightly fuller

-Non-offensive

Bud:

-Watery

-Bland

-Pale

-BAD

Carlton:

-Full taste

-Bitter

-Drinkable

-Non-offensive

Gold standard to date:

-Coopers

-Bitburger

-Stella

-Singha

7/11/10 Belgian Beer

This week we decided to test three Belgian beers. There were some very surprising results and our master of tasting James left us completely stumped. During the blind test we rubbished two of the beers, and liked two. The rubbished beers turned out to be the Carlton and the Leffe. This led us to drop Carlton from the gold standard list. The Stella on the other hand, was unanimously voted the best drinking beer and will be a strong contender for the boat trip. The Grimbergen was a very different style beer and although it was nice to drink, we were unsure if it offered more than a standard style beer.

More in depth tasting notes below:

Carlton:

- Not much on the palette

- Slightly bitter after taste

- Very bland

Leffe:

- Frothy

- Honey

- Full taste

- Strong nose

- Medicinal after taste

Stella:

- Pleasant

- Light, good summer drinking

- Balanced

Grimbergen:

- Very dark
- Strong nose
- Very sweet
- Not sure when you would want to drink it


Gold standard to date:
Coopers
Bitburger
Stella

31/10/10 The Germans

Tonight we tested three Germans against the Carlton. They were:

Becks

Lowenbrau

Bitburger

Unanimously, the Bitburger was loved while the other two were thought to be a bit weak. They were both possibilities as refreshing beverages after a day out in the sun, but not much more than that.

Gold standard to date:

Coopers

Bitburger

Carlton

Tasting to date

We have been going for a number of weeks, testing themes based on microbreweries, premium Australian brews, natural brews and even lights. In a nutshell, we liked Coopers Green a lot and didn't bite at much else.

Added to the gold standard.

Introducing the Mary-Moore Beer Blog

In a world of increasingly boutique beers, the choice seems endless. With that in mind we have set out to find a set of beers to rule them all. Gold standards that we would happily drink every night. Blind tests are done every Sunday night against a standard of Carlton Draught in a fight for fridge space. If its got nothing on Carlton, its out.