Golden. Quaffing beer. OK, but nothing spectacular.

Unique. Sour. A Margherita of beers. A cleanser. A beautiful bottle - very Perrier-like - and unusual in this age in that it remains the property of the brewery and is refillable. An art-deco label. Bottle-conditioned.

Black beauty. Perfect. Beautifully balanced beer. Dark ruby red color and a thin head that clings to the glass. New Zealand's answer to this beer is Speight's Old Dark; the head and color are identical. Leffe Brune has a bitter finish, alcoholic warmth and a rich, toffee flavor.

Geoff: “Just close your eyes and think of a Jimmy and Coke. The sweetness and alcoholic taste. Mmmm, bourbon beer!.”
However, we decided that if we'd produced this as a homebrew we'd be a bit disappointed, as it's a bit too sweet for our liking.

“Light and refreshing with a slightly bitter and fruity taste.” - Belgian Beer Cafe Bluestone beer menu.
We couldn't agree more. It's cloudy and straw-colored (genuine straw colored; this beer, like straw, isn't clear). Would receive five stars if we were rating sessional beers. Geoff thought it would be the perfect beer to drink while watching test-match cricket.

The longest-lasting head we've ever seen; it clings to the glass and is thin but consistent and firm, like the rind on a cheese. It's a muddy brown color (the Interbrew website says it's claret colored).

Malty, malty, malty, oi, oi, oi.

Ice-cream head that lasts and lasts. Golden colour and a fruity nose, perhaps of toffee apples. Tastes of caramel and is a heavy beer. Plenty of “warmth” from the alcohol. One has to remind oneself that one is drinking a strong alcoholic drink, not a malty soup!

Nice nose, pity about the taste. Nose promised so much, but a taste disappoints. Deep gold colour with a malty nose. Oliver: “Some would call it delicate, I'd call it watery.”

“Available in both bottle-conditioned and filtered draught versions. It has a highly spicey and fruity aroma and palate.” This was Roger Protz's summary of this beer in his 1995 book Ultimate Encyclopedia of Beer, when the brew was 4.8% alcohol.

And it seems that the alcohol content has been the most minor change. As Geoff said: “What Protz describes is what I remember about this beer when I first tasted it in the mid-80s. This is not the same beer. This is shit. Too much barley, not enought wheat.”

Plus, the brew is too golden, not straw-colored enough. Geoff and Oliver agreed that they'd have trouble picking this beer from a Foster's Lager in a blind tasting. Geoff: “If I had to drink six of them, I'd be sick.”

(Note: This wasn't just a bad couple of bottles. Oliver's had this on tap not long before this tasting and was thoroughly disappointed.)

FOOTNOTE: In the Melbourne Age of January 27, 2004, beer writer Willie Simpson vindicated our comments above: “Fact is, Redback got bumped to the naughty list years back when it started tasting more like VB than a Bavarian weizen beer.” But he went on: “Now it's back on track with fruity complexity and subtle banana and clove characters in a filtered version … Welcome back, Redback, all is forgiven.”

A crap lager. Guest reviewer Mellas on the Russians: “As beer makers, they make good vodka.” Oliver (dissenting): “It's not the worst beer I've ever had.”

This has got a bit of a VB tang to it. It's an OK European beer, but that's about as far as you'd go. It's very, very pale. Lisa's assessment was that it was “f---ing muck”.

Oliver's first head for the evening. Fabulous amber color (it is an amber ale, right!) and good hop taste and aroma. A taste sensation. Pity about the low alcohol content, although probably true to the style. The drivers' beer of choice.

Geoff: “Mmmm, that's good beer.” Has tropical fruit/mango on the nose and is very bitter and fruity. Oliver: “Excellent beer.” Guest reviewer Mellas: “I don't like it.”

Guest reviewer Mellas: “It's all right; it's different. It's porter, it's not beer.” Oliver and Geoff agreed that it was a beautiful beer. It's smooth, dark, nicely hopped and chocolatey, a bit like Oliver's No.13 homebrew.

A shit beer.

Better than the last. (Unfortunately what "the last" was was not recorded.)

A clean, easy-drinking lager.

A strong beer, in which you can smell the alcohol. A dark honey colour. A thin head (as is to be expected given the high alcohol content). Geoff: A good strong ale. Fruity and malty.

This is a limited release made with the first hops of the season from Tasmania. They're picked from the vine and taken straight to the brewery to be included in First Harvest Ale. It's not as good as Geoff talked it up to be, but still a nice beer. It's hoppy, malty and tasty and has a beautiful copper color. But it's a bit thin of body. It has the floral, citrusy flavor of an American pale ale, which is not surprising given that it uses two United States hop varieties, Cascade and Willamette.

Copper color with a beautiful aroma. It's citrusy with a good head. While it's bottle-conditioned, it pours absolutely crystal clear and the yeast sticks like concrete to the bottom of the bottle unless it's given a good shake. The finish is amazingly smooth, unlike anything we've expreienced before. While a tasty beer, it's not particularly complex.