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Estrella Damm

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

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

Rating (out of five):

| Posted in Beer Reviews, Lager | 1 Comment »

Budějovický Budvar

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

A first for BeerAdvice all the way from the Czech Republic is Budějovický 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.

Rating (out of five):

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Carlton Cold Ultra Chill

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

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.

Rating (out of five):

| Posted in Beer Reviews, Lager | 1 Comment »