Well it’s certainly been a while since my last review and I apologise for that, but in the meantime, a new blonde beer has appeared on the shelves of many Australian liquor retailers. This attractive new beverage is Bavaria Blonde.

Brewed in Holland by the family owned Bavaria Brewery and imported to Australia courtesy of the Australian Beer Connoisseurs, this new low carb brew makes for a welcome addition to the Australian blonde beer scene.

For nearly 300 years the Bavaria Brewery has been producing premium quality beers and this new brew is no exception. Brewed using pure certified 100% mineral spring water that comes directly from the deep underground springs that run beneath the brewery. I’m not sure wether it’s the natural spring water or the traditional brewing methods used by Bavaria but this beer certainly does not leave you with a nasty hangover, like some other blondes have been known to do. Bavaria Blonde premium lager comes with only a third of the carbohydrates found in a standard beer which in reality equates to an average of 0.9 grams per 100ml and it has 28 calories per 100ml. Let me tell you this beer is a very smooth and flavoursome brew. It has a full taste typical to that of a premium import but comes with a refreshing finish. There is a sweet aroma from this blonde and it dresses in a light shade of gold.

If you would like to try this new low carb beer then head down to your local 1st Choice where it currently retails for $37.90 a carton, which in my opinion is a steal for this top quality brew. Let’s face it, everyone loves a blonde from time to time!

BeerAdvice rating (out of five):

A new addition to the shelves of many alcohol retailers is Platinum Blonde. It hit most liquor stores at the start of this month and hit my taste buds around the same time. Currently retailing for $39.90 a carton at Dan Murphy’s it is not a bad buy.

Platinum Blonde is a premium low carb, full strength lager. It dishes up 4.6grams of carbohydrates per 330ml bottle. How does this compare to another ‘low carb’ beer? Bondi Blonde has <6.6grams per 330ml serving, so in this case it does quite well.

This is the first product to come out of Six Star Breweries – which is the brand name that Woolworths has given to the operation. It is brewed in Australia by Victoria’s Independent Distillers using local and imported ingredients and was created by Woolworths with one goal in mind – to capture as much as 10 percent of the 420 million dollar ‘low carb’ beer market.

The beer itself has a sweet floral aroma accompanied by a dark golden appearance. Its taste is smooth but forgetful, as it quickly leaves your tastebuds. There is also a slight burnt taste to this lager. Overall for the price and the ‘low carb’ goodness this beer does alright in my book. It should be interesting to see what Six Star Breweries aka Woolworths will bring to our palates next.

BeerAdvice rating (out of five):

This is without a doubt the most refreshing beer I have ever tried. Miller Chill is inspired by the Mexican recipe for Chelada in which a light beer is poured over ice accompanied by a squeeze of lime and a dash of salt.

Miller Chill has had so much demand since its launch in the United States through domestic sales that it was decided by the Miller Brewing Co. in November of last year that it would be exported to 7500 stores within Australia. This light lager has a unique flavour which is quite mild and smooth to the tastebuds. A hint of lime can be tasted after the initial tongue tingling of its high carbonation. The aroma is sweet but unfortunately has no lime smell to it and its appearance when poured is a light shade of gold. Remember, like any beer it should be served cold to get the most enjoyment.

On June 7 the XXXX Gold Retreat was debuted at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne following the V8 Supercar Championship Series. It comprises of a huge B double truck that converts into a full functioning two level bar along with a stage for performances and if this isn’t enough to entice you it also includes a massive screen which keeps you updated with all the on track action.

The XXXX Gold Retreat will be coming to all of the Australian rounds of the V8 Supercars Championship series, with the next location being Winton Raceway in Victoria.

Unfortunately I missed my opportunity to check out this awesome feat of engineering here in Queensland but if you want to see it for yourself and enjoy an icy cold XXXX Gold in a guaranteed prime track location then head over to the V8 Supercars calendar and check out when the XXXX Gold Retreat is coming to race track near you.

Brewed and bottled in Australia by J. Boag & Son, Tasman Bitter is actually the intellectual property of Coles your local grocery store and it shows. It’s almost as if J. Boag & Son don’t want anyone to know they have a hand in its creation.

No where on the bottles labeling does it mention J. Boag & Son and furthermore the J. Boag & Son website fails to mention the brew at all. The bottle also lacks any brief descriptive details of the beer and its heritage. All you will get from its insignificant labeling is that this bitter is ‘traditionally brewed using fine Tasmanian ingredients’.  Labeling and advertising aside this beer is a cheap purchase. You can currently pick up a carton at 1st Choice for $29.99. A 375ml bottle of Tasman Bitter has a standard drink value of 1.4 which is average for that of an Australian bitter. As for the taste there is an initial tongue tingling bitterness that fades quickly in your mouth. The beer is crisp if served cold and has a sweet floral hops smell. The brews appearance is clear, light and golden with plenty of bubbles and a small amount of head when poured correctly.

Overall this beer is pretty average and for $29.99 a carton I’d rather get myself a carton of Oettinger Pils any day. I’m glad I only bought the one tester this time round.

BeerAdvice rating (out of five):

At first I was hesitant to purchase this beer as my local bottle store had it placed next to Estrella Damm which was a very disappointing brew, however it’s price tag of $7.90 a 4-pack changed my mind.

Memminger Lager is brewed and bottled in Germany with natural mountain water which comes from the great mountain range know to most people as the Alps. The Memminger Brauerei’s fountain uses brew water that is fed from the water strata of the German Alps as seen below. The ‘Memminger’ brand was born is 1998 and in 2005 ranked 8^th on the export list of Bavarian breweries. In its region of the world it is considered to be the most important private and traditional brewery.

This beer has a cloudy yellow appearance indicating a noticeable amount of sediment floating about. Its aroma has a sickly sweet smell of malt. As for the taste this beer goes down nicely. There is a slight creamy note with some malt undertones with little to no bitterness and it has quite a lot of carbonation.

This certainly is a special German import which for the price really cannot be shunned. Overall it’s an exceptionally drinkable beer that truly has no overpowering flavours and as I found out earlier, a 4-pack goes down nicely.

BeerAdvice rating (out of five):

Estrella Damm is the beer of Barcelona. Estrella in Spanish means star and the brand is marketed as ‘a star to the people of Barcelona’. Unfortunately in my opinion this beer has little star status to it.

The year 1876 gave birth to this brand and in 1910 the S.A. Damm company was founded. The beer is brewed, bottled and imported from the S.A. Damm company in Barcelona. Estella Damm has its share of spotlight mainly as one of the major sponsors for the Emirates Team New Zealand, with its logo appearing on the hull and sails of the racing yacht.

This beer is rather bland and unexciting. It has a dry crisp taste with a very mild bitterness and actually tastes quite watery. The aroma is quite lackluster and if I was to pick something to reflect it I would say it has a mild hops smell. A pale shade of yellow is the appearance of this lager.

Estrella Damm is boring in nearly all aspects and was quite disappointing for what seems to be a well marketed brew. This beer may be a star in its home country of Barcelona but it will have to try harder to reach that same reputation here in Australia

BeerAdvice rating (out of five):

A first for BeerAdvice all the way from the Czech Republic is Budweiser Budvar Czech Premium Lager. It comes imported to us in a neat green bottle that is adorned on top by golden foil, which really makes it stand out to the passer by.

If the packaging of this product was not enough to entice you then the ingredients will. This lager is said to use only the gentlest heads of the high quality Žatec hop, combined with virgin clear natural water from the Artesian wells and granules from selected species of Moravian barely, all of which goes through a 90 day maturity period to increase this lagers unique character.

Its taste is bitter from start to finish but is so smooth that it left me wanting more. The beer also seems quite bubbly which leaves your mouth tingling. Its smell is sweet which no doubt comes from the Moravian barely used in the brewing process and its colour is a medium-dark shade of gold. This is a smooth lager that has the right combination of ingredients and packaging to attract the most discerning of beer drinkers but unfortunately it comes at a cost. A carton of this Czech lager will currently set you back $69.89 at 1^stChoice, so at that price it’s not everyone’s cup of tea…..I mean lager.

BeerAdvice rating (out of five):

The German pilsners are certainly flooding the Australian bottle shops but there is nothing wrong with that. König Pilsner is another beer that is brewed and bottled by our beer loving friends in Germany at the König Brauerei and wholly imported into Australia by the Australian Beer Connoisseurs company.

The König Brauerei was founded in 1858 by Theodore König in the lower rural community of Beeck and since then it has flourished with ever increasing product demand and supply. In July of 2004 the König Brauerei became a full subsidiary of the Bitburger Braugruppe and not surprisingly the labeling on the König Pilsner looks very similar to that of the Bitburger Premium Beer which can be seen in the picture below.

This German pilsner has a sweet malt aroma and clear golden appearance typical to pilsner beers. Its taste is light and refreshing with a finish of hops bitterness and overall this is a smooth beer to drink. König Pilsner is a relatively cheap brew and you can currently pick up a carton for $39.90 at 1^stChoice. I suggest you give this pilsner a go as you won’t regret it, I didn’t.

BeerAdvice rating (out of five):

A relatively new beer on the Australian market and from what I have heard a lot of people dislike this brew but I actually don’t think it’s that bad. For a mainstream beer with an alcohol volume of 6.5% it goes down alright. I would love to give you an insight into the unique ultrachill innovation that this beer is brewed with but it would seem that Carlton United Breweries who are owned by the Fosters Group are keeping it under raps, either that or it is a wild marketing ploy with no substance.

I am unsure weather it was from my test beer being chilled in the freezer an hour prior to drinking it or weather it is actually the beer itself, but after every sip it left my mouth with a numbing feeling similar to that after a swig of Listerine in the morning. The taste is very smooth and personally it tastes better then it’s less alcoholic brother Carlton Cold. It has a subtle sweet aroma and a medium yellow appearance. As for its nutritional value is has only .2 more calories per 100ml then the standard Carlton Cold, which is quite impressive since there is a 1.9% difference in alcohol per volume.

Having only tried the one bottle of this brew I can tell you it does go down well when served ice cold but as for making a night of it, I’ll let you decide on that one.

BeerAdvice rating (out of five):