Sam: Wow. This was really intriguing. And surprisingly delicious. Brewed with wattle seed--apparently a shrub or type of herb indigenous to Australia--as well as barley and wheat, this poured a deep dark mahogany, nearly the color of a porter. But it had the aroma and flavor reminiscent of a rye ale, in my opinion. I thought it was quite good, and look forward to finishing off the rest of the (pretty pricey) sixer. It's apparently pretty new to the states; try it if you see it. (2/9/2008)


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Steve: Probably one of the better lagers from the land of Oz that I've had. Of course, this was several in a long line of beers which I had that same evening, so this could've tasted like kangaroo piss and I may not have known. I'm reasonably certain it was better than Foster's, because my head didn't hurt the following morning. (4/26/2008)


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Tim: You've got to dig the green bottle with the two Tasmanian tigers on the label. That alone makes it worth looking for. But you know you drink beer for the actual beer and not cool packaging. This is good beer in that it's clean and refreshing. It does have a nice malt taste which gives it some substance. It is a little watery, but enjoyable nonetheless. Reach for this ahead of the likes of Toohey's New, VB, and XXXX. (11/3/2007)


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Steve: I have to say that this is probably the most easy-drinking stout I've ever had. It was a hell of a lot like a dark lager. There was that roasted malt taste, but it wasn't heavy like Guinness, Sam Smith's, etc. I probably could've killed off a few of these in a sitting. Now, part of that is a good thing, but if you're looking for a hearty stout, something for a cold winter night, maybe this isn't so good. I could handle this in the summer, but wintertime I want something that will stick to my ribs. Good, but won't knock your socks off. (5/8/2004)


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Steve: The deep copper color threw me off. I thought it would taste like an English ale. It actually tastes like a cross between a Welsh ale, a Scotch ale, and Guinness. It had a deep, caramel-toffee flavor that I wasn't too wild about at first, but once I got used to it it was fairly good. I think after two or three I would be very much used to this.


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Sam: Meh. It's better than Budweiser, but that's no ringing endorsement. (10/18/2008)


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Steve: All of Coopers skill at making a smooth, easy drinking ale must've gone into their Sparkling Ale, because this was missing something. I would've liked some bitterness to take away the sour, bad lemon taste that I kept coming up with. It advertises as bottle-conditioned, but I don't think it would meet the standards of a British Real Ale. Seems to be more of a mass-produced guzzling beer, because it had no character and too much of a water taste. (5/1/2004)


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Tim: It's hard not to chuckle a bit as you empty the contents of the bottle into a glass. There's nothing sparkling about this ale, it's cloudy as all get out. And there's yeast sediment effortlessly making it's way to the bottom of the glass like snowflakes. And it all seems to glow a dirty orange. Is this some kind of sick aussie joke? Hell no it's not. Not sick, and not a joke. This is an incredibly fine ale. Solid ale flavour but with fruity undertones that give it a nice unique flavour. The aftertaste is there but with little bite. Meaning that this beer goes down remarkably smooth. So if you like beer with flavour that you can drink easily and quickly, look for this one. Seems to travel well too, I haven't come across a skunky bottle yet. (2/1/2003)


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Steve: The famous oilcan. The first impression I got was it tasted like the can. Not good. Then, after I got an inch down, the can taste went away, and what was left wasn't too bad, actually. A better taste than Moosehead, for sure. There's nothing spectacular about this, but I believe it beats out most domestic lagers I've tasted. (5/15/2004)


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Steve: Australian, brewed in Canada. This was ok, but in all honesty, it didn't seem very special. It was basically a funny tasting ale. I'm willing to bet the crybaby in the Foster's ad doesn't drink this. This beer also loses points for advertising as Australian and saying "Product of Canada" on the label.


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Sam: This was a new one at my favorite package store, Bosque Liquors. Though leery of the green bottle and the price, I had a little mad money in my pocket and thought, what the hell. It wasn't skunked—I don’t know how, since it was an open sixer—but having said that, it way way too sweet. Maybe I've gotten too used to the lagers brewed out in the western US that emphasize the hops more. It wasn't totally unpleasant, but I’m still glad I only bought a six-pack. I’ll probably use the remaining bottles the same way I used my remaining bottles of Steinlager: as meat marinade or beer boil for brats. (3/11/2006)


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Tim: Who is James Boag? Or so the advertising goes. Well I can't tell you who the f he is, but I can tell you that this beer is brewed in Tasmania. It is similar but slightly superior to that other premium lager that's brewed on the south side of the island (Cascade Premium). It's a little more hoppy, which gives it some good bitterness to balance with the nice sweetness of it. I kind of taste apples in this. Definitely clean and refreshing, but with that little extra hoppiness I was looking for. (12/2/2007)


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Steve: I have to say, by far this is the best Australian beer I've ever had. Very much in the true fashion of a British pub-style ale, this is a great all around beer. The "Best Ale" in the title refers to the old British fashion of drawing off three different runs during lautering, the first being the "best beer" with the most fermentable sugars and flavor. It's also named after Australia's first brewer (which also means he was likely a criminal, probably sent there for shorting customers on their pints. Definitely a great pub-style beer, with a slight floral aroma and fruit flavor. (11/6/2004)


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Steve: The bottle is kind of neat. It's green, and shaped like Buddha. Unfortunately, once the cap is pulled, it smells like Buddha's armpits after he's been wandering the Simpson Desert wearing a wool jacket. Yeah, it smells that good. The Lucky website proclaims this as being an Asian-style lager. I imagine Asians might be insulted to be associated with it. It's nothing more than a novelty beer, and would be useless without the funky bottle. The taste was better than the smell, in that the taste was non-existent. It was bland and flavorless, undoubtedly from the heavy use of rice, as opposed to any decent-tasting grains. This would make a fair addition to a bottle collection, but a poor addition to your bowels. (3/15/2009)


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Steve: Brewed from, what appears to be, Australia's answer to Anheuser Busch, I would grade this pretty well against many American versions of the stout style, but compared to Sam Smith's, it doesn't match up well. It was good, but for the price I paid ($2.68), I say forget it. Unless, of course, you can find it cheaper than someplace else than at Harry's Farmer's Market. I would provide the usual banter about the taste, but take it from me....if you have the choice between this and Sam Smith's (which you probably would, since you can get Sam's everywhere), get Sam's. (8/30/1999)


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Steve: Not one bit impressive. Some beers can quench thirst, others make you thirst for a Kool-Aid. This is one of the latter. Not bad tasting; I just didn't like the after-effect. Sorry, hard to explain. Still better than Bud, though!


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Tim: Is this club soda spiked with beer? Maybe it doesn't taste exactly like that. But it is rather watery and overly carbonated. The kind of beer that's more marketing than substance. I can just see all the trendy types and meteros making the scene at some trendy bar with this stuff. I shudder. (3/10/2007)


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Tim: This is the New South Wales megabrew. It's kind of like Sydney itself, sterile and without a lot of character. (That's not fair, I only visited Sydney for a couple of days and the city I live in could easily be described the same way upon first glance.) Back to the beer, which is non offensive and easy drinking. It's a thirst quencher and not a bad one at that. But you know I didn't taste a lot of hops in this beer nor did I really taste a whole lot of anything. Not all that bad but not necessarily good either. (4/1/2007)


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Steve: Like most Americans, I had this while dinking at the Outback Steakhouse. For me, it was the one in Middletown NJ. The most memorable thing about this was me trying to convince my mom I've never eaten there, and that the property was a HoJo's when I lived in New Jersey. It was times like that when I wished the beer had a LOT more alcohol, to numb the pain from the debate I was having. Toohey's was the typical light lager, not much in the way of alcohol, hops, maltiness, or anything else but carbonation. A lot more flavorful than Foster's, but that's like saying the steak was a lot more flavorful than cat food. I'll bet anything the typical visitor to that Outback tries this and acts all crrazzzy by because Aussie beers have sooooo much more alcohol than American beers, when in reality this is like Aussie Miller. (5/2/2009)


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Tim: Crisp and easy to drink. As Australian as "Tim Tams", "footy", and meat pies. There isn't much "bitter" about this beer outside of it's name. It's a lager and a decent one. Slight sweetness in the taste. But my warning is that you not let this beer get warm. It is a mega produced beer and the chemical taste starts to assert itself as the beer warms. But any Aussie reading this will say "what the hell are you doing letting your beer get warm anyway". This is a thirst quencher and I'd say not much else. That said this is a decent beer, a notch above most North American megabrews. It's cheap in Australia, not worth paying import prices for elsewhere unless you have a sentimental attachment. (3/26/2005)


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Tim: Pronounced "fourex", this is the beer of choice in Australia's sunshine state of Queensland. And Queenslanders are proud of their beer. How about the beer itself? I did enjoy it. It is a lager moreso than what the English would call a "bitter". The difference being that the aussie "bitter" is in fact a bottom-fermented lager, where as the english "bitter" is a top-fermented ale. It's got a nice gold colour to it and is quite crisp in taste with a slight fruity flavour. One could see how this would hit the spot on a hot humid Queensland day. Went nicely with seafood, and even sushi. I think this would be a great bbq beer. North Americans will find this a step above most domestics of this type. It's definitely better than Foster's also (I guess they send us the swill that nobody at home will drink). But I don't get carried away over this beer. (12/14/2002)


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