Blue Tongue Brewery Premium Lager

August 28, 2008

The Brew Club is very happy to present a guest beer review from our Australian friend “Coops”! We think its great that people from around the world are willing to share their beer views with us here at The Brew Club! Hopefully, we’ll be reading more from Coops in the future! Blue Tongue Brewery Premium Lager

I haven’t followed The Brew Club’s criterion for tasting and I’m not trained in the art so my opinion should be considered with that in mind.

I have chosen a Blue Tongue Brewery’s Premium Lager made in the Hunter Valley, Australia to review. It is a 4.9% full strength beer as preferred by the Australian market.

Australian brewers have researched this alcohol content very carefully. The measurement allows the average man enough time to get nicely inebriated and tell full sized lies before having to take a toilet break to make room for more. Drinking time to toilet break ratio is an important criterion for beer selection over here.

Both the wife and I like this lager for its easy drinking characteristics. It is a very clear, lightly carbonated beer, with a clean and minimal nose. Crisp though not biting, the hops linger as a pleasant aftertaste that doesn’t interfere with the next mouthful.

As a mild, inoffensive beer it should not be discounted as boring or bland. It’s a great all-rounder that is acceptable for all occasions.

We drink it on the barest edge of freezing, even in the middle of winter. That’s another reason we find the use of stubbie coolers essential. The height of good manners in Australia is to automatically throw your guest a cooler if he’s having a beer.

Coops

Category Posted in All Brews Reviewed, Australian Beer, Guest Reviews, Lager

One Response to “Blue Tongue Brewery Premium Lager”

Bob the Brit said:

September 1st, 2008 at 4:29 am

I like your explanation of the 4.9% ‘full strength’ beer, and it’s probably about right. Over here in the UK I suspect the justification is more prosaic, in that 4.9% beer attracts less duty than 5% and is thus cheaper.

Shepherd Neame, who own the rights to Hurlimann Sternbrau brew this fine lager to 4.9% for draught sales, but until about ten years ago it was brewed to a brain damaging 6.2%!

Draught Bitter over here is brewed to about 3.7% for ’session’ beers, and about 4.2% for ‘premium’ bitters. But then they’re usually consumed by the pint rather than the bottle so your toilet break ration probably still holds true.