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)