Australians love their beer, and I love my beer, so while I was in the land that loves its beer, I thought it prudent to make an appropriate review of some of the brands offered here. I am not, of course, a proper brew reviewer nor am I as up on my lingo as, say, my former roommate, Adam, so forgive me if I screw up something or sound like I’m just a guy that likes his beer cold and lots of it.

XXXX (pronounced ‘four eks’) is brewed in Queensland by Castlemaine Perkins. It is a clear-ish lager that has a bit of a bitter aftertaste to it and goes down relatively like flavored water. Unfortunately, the odd aftertaste to it leaves it wanting and it lacks any sort of body to it. I’ll drink it (as I did on the plane ride over) as it’s decidedly Aussie, but it’s not a favorite.

Victoria Bitter, most often known simply as “VB”, is, despite its name, a traditional lager brewed by Carlton & United Beverages, a subsidiary of Foster’s Group. It does have a more bitter (hoppy) flavor than other lagers, however, and a thicker body that makes it one of my preferred mass-produced Australian beers. It goes down well yet has that distinctive heaviness of a higher-gravity beer and taste that makes sure that you’re not drinking water. Overall, a pleasant experience for a big-name beer.

West End Draught is brewed in South Australia by Lion Nathan and is a pretty light lager that is served all over South Australia and is almost guaranteed to be on tap at any pub or establishment here. While popular amongst the locals, I’m less fond of it as it has some sort of odd off-flavor overtones in the palate during the drinking that somehow turns me off. However, it’s drinkable and is usually easy to obtain, so one makes do.

Following is a rundown of several beers that I sampled per bottle, as I could pick up each bottle for approximately A$2.50 or so instead of buying an entire six-pack or similar:

Steinlager: While not an Australian beer, I felt I couldn’t forsake one of the largest beers in New Zealand on a fair taste test. Sadly, however, the bottle was horribly skunked and my first impression was skewed because of that. Brewed in Montuek, South Island, NZ, this 5% lager ended up being very watery but had a nasty bite in the aftertaste. It gave more bite than a typical 3.2 American lager, but the finish wasn’t as smooth and I wasn’t very impressed.

James Boag’s Premium Lager: This 5% lager from The Esk River, Tasmania, was slightly skunked but not nearly as bad as the Steinlager, so that helped. It also had more body during the drink and less bite on the aftertaste, but had a sour finish to it, which may or may not have been part of the skunkification. Better than the Steinlager, but not by much.

Cooper’s Original Pale Ale: The 3.5% Original Pale from Coopers (Regency Park, South Australia) was a refreshing change from the previous beers as it wasn’t skunked and had a nice, crisp flavor. However, I felt that they took the “pale” in the title a bit too far and it lacked any sort of interesting aspects to the flavor, preferring rather to emulate a more watery existence. Swing, but a miss.

Cooper’s Mild Ale: Cooper’s Mild Ale was a better shot at a good ale, giving a more thorough shot at the body of the beer and providing a nice, even release on the aftertaste. This one I enjoyed quite a bit and took some time drinking it, so I think that gives it a good review right there.

Toohey’s New Draught: A popular beer here in Australia (brewed in New South Wales), left me with a less-than-impressive experience. The 4.6% lager had a very unique flavor, but not one I’d want to replicate anytime soon. It had a very nutty flavor with overtones of…fruit? I wasn’t entirely sure, but it was at least unique.

Carlton Draught: A pale 4.6% lager brewed by Carlton & United Beverages, was a very enjoyable experience. The brew was a bit carbonated for my liking, but the flavor was really well-thought-out and flowed nicely down my gullet with a thicker taste and nice finish. Something I’d definitely drink again.

Southwark Old Stout: Ah, the stouts, one of my favorite beer styles of all time — the darker, the better, and Southwark Old Stout, produced by Lion Nathan, didn’t fail to please me. Creamy and thick, it flowed down my throat in a lovely way, had a thick, happy head on it, and had great flavor from beginning to end. The bouquet was a bit lacking, but the flavor matrix was polished, so it didn’t bother me too much. A lovely beer, one that I’d be happy to crack open again and again.

Cooper’s Best Extra Stout: I was hoping that the name of Cooper’s Best Extra Stout might really blow me out of the water, given that it was supposed to be “Extra” something or other, but the extra must have been related to the level of carbonation and not the flavor. There was plenty of the former and the latter consisted of the typical, dark stout flavor but it tastes burnt, which is not the sort of experience you care to have. You want dark, smooth, creamy, malty, but burnt is right out, and this one fell short of making an impression on me, to be honest.

So, that’s the Aussie Beer Rundown. This was, by no means, exhaustive, but was a fun trip anyway. Australians certainly know their beers and moreover, really like to consume them, so you have to respect that, no matter what your tastes.