Stories of a short, fat bastard.

Pours a slightly cloudy amber colour with a medium head. There is a small amount of carbonation visible.

First Sip: Mild, bready malt with a little citrus. Hops is medium-strength and fades away very quickly.

This is yet another nice brew from Moa. A little light on taste - it is a lager, after all - but still highly drinkable. I could easily smash down a 6-pack of this at a BBQ, or during a meat-smoking session, or even, since it's a brew from NZ, at a hungi. A yummy brew for a nice summer's day of cook-with-fire.

A yummy beer.

Moa Original Lager
Moa Brewing Company
5.0% alc/vol
330ml bottle



Same again, Sir? Yes!

Pours an opaque black with a tan head of fine bubbles, which fades away slowly. No carbonation visible.

First Sip: Thick, sweetish malts, with a mild black coffee flavour. Very mild hops which lingers for ages after the swallow. The mouth-feel is heavy, with a mild carbonation tingle on the tongue.

Okay. This one is going in my regular brews rotation. It's really yummy. Slightly fizzy and very tasty. A great one for cold winter evenings but a good one for all year. Best drunk cool, not cold - the flavours really come out.

Boatrocker Stout
Boatrocker Brewing Co
6.1% alc/vol
375ml can



Same AgYES!

Pours a slightly cloudy honey colour with a small head and not much carbonation visible.

First Sip: Mild, bready malt with a faint sweet citrus taste. Very mild hops which lingers for quite a long while. Medium mouth-feel with a nce carbonation tingle on the tongue.

This is supposed to be a pale but it's a bit light on ... well, everything. Don't get me wrong! This is a nice beer and is highly drinkable, and goes down easily. Even the beer burp is nice. I could easily go for a six pack at a bbq. Hmm... there's still some yeasty residue in the bottle. It could have been cloudier.


Pointers Pale Ale
Monteith's Brewing Co. New Zealand.
4.2% Alc/Vvol
330ml bottle



Same again, sir? Yes.

Pours a clear amber colour with a small head. A lot of carbonation is visible in the glass.

First Sip: Very mild malt with a taste of citrus. Mild hops which lingers for quite some time. Strong carbonation tingle on the tongue and yet not too fizzy. Mouth-feel is a little thin.

Lagers really aren't my favourite type of beer, and yet this is a very good session lager. It's a great one to knock back a six pack around a BBQ while you watch the Aussie cricket team enjoy thrashing playing against New Zealand. There's not a real lot of flavours going in in the beer, but it's a lager so you don't expect that. On the other hand, it's a very good lager. This one is a ... keeper.

Cricketers Arms
(owned by Asahi)
4.8% alc/vol
330ml bottle



Same again, sir? Yes.

Pours a very dark, almost opaque brown, with a small head. Some carbonation is visible in the glass. Light passing through the ale comes out a deep red-brown.

First sip: Quite a lot of malt flavours, with caramel (mostly) and a little coffee and dark chocolate. There is a small amount of hops bitterness which lingers on the back of the tongue for ages. Medium mouth-feel, with a lot of carbonation tingle.

This ale is highly drinkable and very yummy. I'm not saying that just because the brewery is just down the road from me. But the brewery is just down the road from me. Occasionally the in-house bakery makes a left-over brew malt bread, but I haven't had a chance to try it. In my head I imagine it to be yummy, like this ale. I am really enjoying the lovely warming feeling the ale leaves in my stomach even though it's 44C (111F) outside and I'm under the AC as I write. It would be a great winters-day-by-the-fire ale, but I will be drinking it at any time no matter what the weather. I will never say No to this beer.

Yes, they have an in-house bakery. And an in-house coffee shop where they roast their own beans. And they make their own pizzas. And their food is very nice.

Black Horn Dark Ale
Devil's Elbow Brewery, Dubbo
4.8% alc/vol
375ml can



Same again, Sir? YES! Oh so very yes!

Pours a pale, clear amber with almost no head (maybe a glass fault.) Some carbonation visible in the glass.

First sip: Mild, biscuity malts, with a very mild but long lasting hops on the back of the tongue. Mild carbonation tingle on the tongue.

This is a very mild beer, not outstanding but good enough that I'd never say "No" to a six-pack, and I'm not really a fan of weissebier. This one goes down easily and is very refreshing - the sort of beer you'd want for a BBQ on a Summer's day. Rehydration AND beer! It's not as good as German Weissebier, but I'm drinking it in late Winter and enjoying it.

Australian Weisse
Longstocking Brewery, Pambula, NSW
4.8% alc/vol
330ml bottle



Same again, sir? Yes.

Pours a deep, almost opaque red. Very little carbonation visible and a very small head.

First sip: Strong malt, with chocolate, coffee flavours up front. Very little hops - enough to put a very mild woody bitterness on the swallow. None of the flavours last long. Mild carbonation tingle on the tongue. Quite warming in the belly.

I know it sounds a little insipid, but this is a very drinkable beer. It goes down well, maybe a little too fast, and leaves you wanting another sip as soon as you finish the last. The dark maltiness wants me to linger over the brew, but I find myself halfway through the glass in no time at all. This is a yummy beer which leaves you warm in the belly.

Make that 2/3 of the way through the glass.



Dark Ale
Longstocking Brewery, Pambula, NSW
4.8% alc/vol
330ml bottle

Same again, sir? Yes please! (bugger. Finished this one already.)

Pours a deep, clear amber colour with a medium head. A small amount of carbonation is visible in the class.

First Sip: strong, sweet malts up front, with a little citrus. Initially very little hops, but then it builds to a long-lasting after-taste. Medium mouth-feel with a little foamy carbonation tingle on the tongue.

"First Sip" was immediately followed by First Gulp. This is a very yummy IPA. The lovely malty sweetness is strong but not too overwhelming, and the hops after-taste goes on for DAYS. I'd only bought one bottle; I won't make that mistake again. It's six packs of this from now on. It goes down very easily, and at 5.5% alc/vol it would put the wobbly boots on pretty fast. And I won't care.



Vale American IPA.
McLaren Vale Brewery, SA
5.5%alc/vol
330ml bottle

Same again, sir? Oh yes please!

It's been a while since I've done one of these.



Pours a clear golden colour with some carbonation visible. The head is small and fades away rapidly (This may be a glass problem.)

First sip: Some mild grainy malts almost but not quite obscured by the hops, which fade away rapidly. Mouth-feel is thin, with a foamy tingle on the tongue. There is a faint, lingering hoppy after-taste.

This beer is... okay. It's drinkable, and I wouldn't say "no" if someone bought me one. It would go down well on a hot day, or would do as a six-pack for a BBQ. But... yeah. Maybe. Meh.

Yenda Pale Ale
Australian Beer Co. (Owned by Coca Cola Amatil)
4.5% alc/vol
330ml bottle



Same again, sir? Um... dunno. Yes?

A dapper Brewie.

Pours a very pale, clear* yellow. The head is large and foamy, and fades away to a thick cap rather than lacing.. A lot of carbonation visible in the glass.

First Sip: a lot of mild, biscuity, almost sweet malts, with a brief citrus lemon flavour. Very mild but long lasting hops on the swallow. Mouth-feel is medium and a bit creamy** and slightly astringent, with a nice carbonation tingle.

Badlands claim they follow the German purity laws but I argue that if they did, they wouldn't call this a Kölsch. It wasn't brewed in Cologne, so it can't be a Kölsch; it's a Kölsch-style. Kölsch is a very yummy beer.

This is a very yummy beer. It reminds me of the afternoon in front of P J Fruh brewpub in Cologne, Brauerei Früh am Dom, washing down a kurrywurst mit pomme frites with the haus bier. What a glorious afternoon that was. And the weather was a lot cooler. I love this beer; I could drink it until I get the wobbly boots. Next time I go to Orange I will certainly get a sixpack. And a meal containing more bacon than I could eat in a week, but that's another story.

Brewbacca Kolsch
Badlands Brewery, Orange NSW
4.9% alc/vol
500ml bottle

*if you are careful. There is yeast sediment in the bottle, so if you get it wrong you pour a very pale, cloudy yellow.
** when you pour the sediment in, otherwise you are Wasting Beer.



Same again, sir? Oh my word yes.