My subjective beer review log. If it's on here, I drank it. If I drank it, it's most likely on here.
At the time of writing (July, 2010) I have about a hundred reviews to transfer onto this blog, so while I’m working my way through the backlog there might be gluts of posts. Sorry if I flood your dashboard, the rate of updates will be substantially slower once I’ve caught up to the present day (some time over the next few weeks).
Baltika Breweries | Russia | Lager | 4.8% ABV | Drank from a bottle
Sweet rice/corn aroma. I’m underwhelmed from the first mouthful. Ricey, cloying, unpleasant. Medium malts almost, but not quite, cover an unpleasant taste on the bottom of the palate. Ultimately there’s very little going on here, and none of it is actually pleasant. I was so reluctant to finish drinking this it got warm, at which point it left me actually retching; literally undrinkable.
5/100
Carlton & United (CUB) | Victoria, Australia | Lager | 4.6% ABV | Drank from a bottle
It having been a long while since I last had VB, the first thing I notice is that it’s nowhere near as strong as I remembered it being. As a young beer drinker I found it quite confronting. At this point, it tastes watered down. Big front hit of citrus and a strong malt undertone tied together by bitterness; nothing complex at work here. It’s neither as good (unique) nor as bad (overpowering) as I remember.
These are the kind of experiences that show you how much you’ve changed. Either that or the beer has.
57/100
Independent Distillers (Aust) | Victoria, Australia | Lager (radler) | 4% ABV | Drank from a bottle
Creamy, grainy blonde lager aroma with some sweet notes. Sweet and dry, like a dessert wine. The passionfruit taste comes through clearly as actual passionfruit (i.e. not just sugars), paired with a simple dry blonde lager.
Passionfruit isn’t a dreadfully unusual taste to find in a beer anyway, so in that regard the marriage of flavours isn’t terrible. On the other hand adding it artificially like this adds more sweetness than a beer really warrants.
The bottles are too small and, like most people I think, I would prefer a beer to a ‘beer drink’. I’m sure this beer could find an audience, but it’s not me.
36/100
Obolon Brewery | Ukraine | Lager | 5.2% ABV | Drank from a bottle
Skunky. High effervescence. Hoppy, bitter, a little bit spicy.
53/100
Švyturio Beer Brewery | Lithuania | Lager | 5.2% ABV | Drank from a bottle
Hoppy aroma. Taste I would reluctantly describe as malt, but there’s not much of anything there. Too under. Its biggest problem is the rice flavours that occasionally bob to the surface.
44/100
Żywiec | Poland | Lager | 5.6% ABV | Drank from a bottle
A bit flat. A bit malty. Not particularly pleasant. Underwhelmingly ordinary.
53/100
Harviestoun | Scotland | Porter | 6% ABV | Drank from a bottle
Light coffee tones. Definite roastiness. Lovely taste lingering on the palate. Smooth. Mocha. Sweet without being cloying. A pleasing and competent porter.
83/100
East African Breweries | Kenya | Lager | 4.2% ABV | Drank from a bottle
Typical lager aroma. Typical lager taste. It’s pleasantly thin; after a few cheap syrupy lagers thickened with rice I really appreciate this. This is an entirely drinkable ordinary lager. Nothing special, but nothing really bad either. Malty, not citrusy.
57/100
Quilmes | Argentina | Lager | 4.9% ABV | Drank from a bottle
Skunky. Sweet. A little malt. A lot of boring.
50/100
Little Creatures | Western Australia, Australia | (Australian) Brown Ale | 5.4% ABV | Drank from a bottle
Quite hoppy for a brown ale. Still, it has its malts and they strengthen as it warms. The signature Little Creatures taste is present, but less than in their other styles. Light caramel. Pleasant tones. Good to the last drop; even the oft unpleasant dregs at the bottom.
74/100
