My Guilty Pleasure: Foster’s Lager

Australia is actually known to produce some very nice beers. Whether Foster’s is one of them is very disputable. If you ask the locals, the answer is almost sure to be “No“. If you ask the foreigners, the answer is more likely to be “No” but you may also hear an occasional “Yes“. For me, this beer is a guilty pleasure. I know a lot of people don’t consider it a top quality beer, but I can’t help myself not to love it. It’s one of my favourite lager out there, definitely among the top 3. I can’t really say why this is so, but it just is.

• Name: Foster’s Lager
• Brewery: Fosters Brewing (CUB)
• City: Southbank
• Country: Australia

This Australian beer pour with a typical lager looks. It has a clear and golden color, the body is decently carbonated, and the head is medium in size, foamy and white. The aroma is predominantly grainy and slightly malty, so it smells like a regular lager. The taste is sweet and malty ar first, followed by a grainy and slightly hoppy body, finishing with a nice and bittery finish.

Foster’s runs down your throat extremelly smooth, with the carbonation and hoppy taste giving you the necessary refreshment. The taste is light but not really watery, although it is true you could have a bunch of these in a row, especially when the day and the setting is right. I can’t really tell you what makes this beer so special for me, but it just tastes great. Simple as that.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 4,9%
• Ingredients: water, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 4 / 5
• Smell: 4 / 5
• Taste: 4,5 / 5
• Overall: 4,5 / 5

• Botlle: 3.5 / 5

The Tasmanian Devil: James Boag’s Premium Lager

Tasmania… the home of the crazy Tasmanian Devil (do you remember Looney Tunes), but also the home of this, to me so far unfamiliar, beer.

• Name: James Boag’s Premium Lager
• Brewery: J. Boag & Son Brewing
• City: Launceston
• Country: Australia

Boag’s is an Australian lager which has all the characteristics of a typical lager. It has a golden color and a finger of white foamy head. The nose picks up a slighty malty smell together with a great amount of grainy aroma. The taste is expected as well. Light, sweet, malty and slightly grainy. The finish is mildly bitter and hoppy.

It’s a very drinkable and refreshing lager. Nothing amazing about it, but also nothing terrible about it. Basically, a lager nothing out of the ordinary. Expect that it’s Tasmania’s finest.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 5%
• Ingredients: water, hops, yeast, barley malt

RATINGS

• Appearance: 4 / 5
• Smell: 3 / 5
• Taste: 3 / 5
• Overall: 3 / 5

The Australian Stag: Tooheys New

I know Australians love to drink beer, and I know Australians know how to make good beer, which will help you deal with the Australian heat. Yep, another destination on my wish list.

• Name: Tooheys New
• Brewery: Tooheys (Lion Nathan Co.)
• City: Lidcombe
• Country: Australia

Tooheys is basically a typical refreshing and easy to drink lager. It pours out exactly as you expect – with a clear, golden color, and with a decent white head. The aroma is malty and slightly grainy, and the taste just follows the nose. It’s sweet and watery (perhaps also some grainy taste), and it finishes with a nice and slightly bitter aftertaste.

In truth, Tooheys is just another average lager. When in need of a refreshment, have a couple of these. But if you’re looking for a great taste, perhaps you’re better off with some other lager.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 4,6%
• Ingredients: water, yeast, barley malt, hops

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3,5 / 5
• Smell: 3 / 5
• Taste: 3 / 5
• Overall: 3 / 5

XXXX: Castlemaine XXXX Bitter

This beer’s coming from the land Down Under, where they sure love their beers. Pronounced also fourex, it is only one X away from something completely different, so watch out when looking for this one.

• Name: Castlemaine XXXX Bitter
• Brewery: Castlemaine Perkins (Lion Nathan Co.)
• City: Milton
• Country: Australia

There is nothing special about the looks of XXXX – it has a typical golden color, and the glass is topped with a small yet bubbly head, which settles adown and disappears quite fast. The smell is very neutral and weak, and it’s difficult to point out any specific aroma, perhaps only a slight presence of grains. Similarly, there isn’t much taste either – only some initial sweetness, with a very minimal additions of grains and hops. The expected bittery aftertaste is also not quite there.

All in all, XXXX is refreshing and very easy to drink, mostly due to the lack of bitterness (or any taste at all), and thanks to its watery feel. Definitely not the best one, but also far from being the worst one I have ever had.

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 4,8%
• Ingredients: water, malted grains, yeast, cane sugar, hops

• Slogan: “Australians Wouldn’t Give a XXXX for Anything Else!”

RATINGS

• Appearance: 3 / 5
• Smell: 2 / 5
• Taste: 2,5 / 5
• Overall: 2,5 / 5