# Commercial Beer Taste Off



## clarkey7 (6/1/08)

One of my XMAS presents was a BWS 12-pack of international lagers + Willie Simpson book "The Beer Bible" + the bright orange cooler it all came in.

I was very excited on the day, but was reminded quickly why I make my own beer.

I only tasted 2 or three at any one sitting to give all beers a fair crack...

The results are in.....Beers were consumed in this order over a week, scores out of 10.

Budweiser = 5
Sol = 1
Lowenbrau = 6
Amsterdam lager = 4
Becks = 5
Carlsberg = 8
Peroni = 7
Bitburger = 3
Corona = 6
Stella Artois = 7
Heineken = 8
Pilsner Urquell = 8

Maybe it's old stock, not stored at the corect temperature, had a bad journey over here, been lightstruck ??????

Hang on - half the beers are brewed here under license anyway.....Maybe It's my taste???

Did I get it wrong?

What do you think?

PS - Each night after the commercial beer tasting, my wife and I tucked into a few homebrews. Aaaaaaaahhhh. :beerbang:


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## 0M39A (6/1/08)

if anything i think you have scored them too high 

only decent one in that whole batch (imo) is pilsener urquell


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## newguy (6/1/08)

A fresh Bitburger is perfection itself. Sorry to see yours wasn't up to snuff.


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## clarkey7 (6/1/08)

0M39A said:


> if anything i think you have scored them too high
> 
> only decent one in that whole batch (imo) is pilsener urquell



Yeah - There were a few surprises for me....

I tried to score them fairly on merit....but It's human nature to go in with pre-conceived ideas....

In hindsight I shoud have done blind tastings.....I wonder if that would have changed things?

They weren't that good, so I'm not in for another lot of that imported/international swill.

PB :unsure:


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## goatherder (6/1/08)

Sometimes these are imported as packs and you get the real deal. I've had import Becks and Heineken from packs like these.


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## Fatgodzilla (6/1/08)

Let's face it. The best beer is the next beer.

If the Good Lord said " Son, yours time's up .. have a last beer .. even Birrell would taste like ambrosia !


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## NRB (6/1/08)

newguy said:


> A fresh Bitburger is perfection itself. Sorry to see yours wasn't up to snuff.



I'm quite partial to a Bitburger myself. I've noticed recently Pilsner Urquell is darker and less bitter than it used to be. At $39 a slab for Bitburger/Furstenberg, I can't understand why people purchase Melbourne Bitter/Victoria Bitter/Carlton Draught. I bought a slab of Furstenberg for New Years simply because I couldn't take any homies.

Import Stella/Becks and Heineken are definitely light years ahead of those brewed under licence.


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## Jazman (6/1/08)

fresh bitburger and lowenbrau are good swillers better than aussie stuff i have noticed pu is not as good and rather budvar and furstenberg and memimerger fro, liquorland 1st choice are ok too when its hot and u aint got no beer


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## petesbrew (7/1/08)

NRB said:


> I'm quite partial to a Bitburger myself. I've noticed recently Pilsner Urquell is darker and less bitter than it used to be. At $39 a slab for Bitburger/Furstenberg, I can't understand why people purchase Melbourne Bitter/Victoria Bitter/Carlton Draught. I bought a slab of Furstenberg for New Years simply because I couldn't take any homies.
> 
> Import Stella/Becks and Heineken are definitely light years ahead of those brewed under licence.



I'd like to compare an import Heineken to a local Heineken, but can't stomach the taste of the local to do the test!
The local-Becks is drinkable...


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## mika (7/1/08)

petesbrew said:


> I'd like to compare an import Heineken to a local Heineken, but can't stomach the taste of the local to do the test!
> The local-Becks is drinkable...



Done it, world's apart and I don't care if the imported one is old and stale, I must like it that way :huh:

It would be interesting to know whether they use the same ingredients, or whether the local boys have cobbled something together that get's it "pretty close". And yes I've heard of all the 'samples sent back to the brewery for evaluation' but are Heineken really going to care as long as they're recieving their royalty and the Brewery can demonstrate that sales haven't slipped ? Maybe I'm just cynical <_<


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## tangent (7/1/08)

corona got a 6!!??? :huh:


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## petesbrew (7/1/08)

tangent said:


> corona got a 6!!??? :huh:


He must've put a lime wedge in it :icon_cheers:


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## Lukes (7/1/08)

Over the holiday's and traveling, several times I was lucky enough to shell out $7-8 for a .3 serve of the above mentioned B.U.L.L.S (brewed under license lacking something).
As Mika outlined my first question in the comparison argument is do they use German malt for say a Aussie Becks and British malt for an Aussie Guinness? 
As the profile must be close, but the ingredients would have to be local from a cost prospective or do they have to use malt from Europe?

- Luke

BTW: 5 beers at a cafe = a sack of Aussie malt


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## tangent (7/1/08)

> He must've put a lime wedge in it



Ahhh, lick the salt, suck the lime and throw the corona over your shoulder!


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## 2brothers (7/1/08)

Pocket Beers said:


> One of my XMAS presents was a BWS 12-pack of international lagers + Willie Simpson book "The Beer Bible" + the bright orange cooler it all came in.
> 
> I was very excited on the day, but was reminded quickly why I make my own beer.
> 
> ...



Nice work on the tasting! Not sure about the chances of them all being in tip-top shape ... but according to BJCP (plug ... www.bjcp.org) there are at least 4 different substyles of beer here: Standard American Lager, PRemium American Lager, German Pils and Bohemian Pils. You can geek over to the bjcp style guidelines which give good snapshots of how the beers should behave. It begins to sound like hard work when you get into the details, but to be fair, those beers were probably not meant to be created equal.


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## PostModern (7/1/08)

tangent said:


> corona got a 6!!??? :huh:



What am I missing here? He's scoring out of 50 isn't he?


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## tangent (7/1/08)

that's still a little high isn't it PoMo? 6 out of 50?


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## PostModern (7/1/08)

Heh, yeah. It would probably score pretty high as a soda water.


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## barry2 (7/1/08)

Pocket Beers said:


> One of my XMAS presents was a BWS 12-pack of international lagers + Willie Simpson book "The Beer Bible" + the bright orange cooler it all came in.
> 
> I was very excited on the day, but was reminded quickly why I make my own beer.
> 
> ...



Thanks Pocket Beers for the info.
I noticed the BWS deal advertised and considered buying it and then was reminded of my beer tasting experience around Christmas 2006.
I have been home brewing for almost two years.These days I buy a kit and add LDME,Dextrose and Maltodextrin.I boil hop pellets and usually use SAF yeasts.A typical brew costs me around $1 per 700 ml Coopers PET bottle.
In December 2006 Liquorland was offering Premium Imported(some brewed in Australia) and Premium Local Beers in 8 packs averaging about $3.20 a bottle.Sizes were between 375ml and 330ml although most were of the smaller size.Apparently "Premium" means a smaller bottle size.
My tastings consisted of two brews per day and I allocated up to 100 points for each brew.The 100 was made up 10 points each for -Carbonation,Clarity,Head,Lace,Aroma,Bitterness and 20 points each for Flavour and Fullness.
Before starting I decided any beer scoring over 80 would be a Great Beer,65-80 Good Beer,50-64 Beer,Under 50-For want of a better term-SLOPS.
As you will see from from the ratings I didn't find any Great Beers but plenty of slops.

Little Creatures Pale Ale.......79
James Squire Golden Ale......67
Becks Pilsener (Aust)...........66
Hahn Super Dry...................61
Stella Artois Lager................60
Crown Lager........................59
Corona Extra Cerzeva..........58
Konig Pilsener......................57
Heineken Lager (Aust)..........55
Tooheys Extra Dry...............46
Matilda Bay B.N.Honey Wheat.44
CUB Pure Blonde.................44
Boags St.George..................44
Kronenbourg 1664................44
Tiger Lager..........................41
Canlina Cerveza...................37

I was glad to get back to my homebrew 
which I rated above 50 at the time and which I think has improved since then.(I'd have to say that wouldn't I?)
It seems to me that a lot of the "Premium" brews are outrageously overpriced for what you get.


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## clarkey7 (7/1/08)

tangent said:


> corona got a 6!!??? :huh:



I think towards the end of the beers, I lightened up a little???

It was lime actually....and the lime was the only reason SOL didn't get a big fat zero.

IMHO any beer that requires a slice of lemon or lime jammed down the neck isn't beer.

It was a refreshing drop at the time and it made some of those other billion dollar companies beers look really ordinary.

PB :lol:


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## tangent (7/1/08)

get into AG brewing and your taste buds will change dramatically, so will your reviews of commercial beers. I found the change quite amazing.


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## clarkey7 (7/1/08)

tangent said:


> get into AG brewing and your taste buds will change dramatically, so will your reviews of commercial beers. I found the change quite amazing.



Funny you should mention AG........

My eyes have started to be opened....I just put down my 2nd AG 9 days ago...It's an APA.

My first was a stout...Yum :chug: 

PB


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## Cracka (8/1/08)

0M39A said:


> if anything i think you have scored them too high
> 
> only decent one in that whole batch (imo) is pilsener urquell








+2


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## petesbrew (8/1/08)

Pocket Beers said:


> I think towards the end of the beers, I lightened up a little???
> 
> It was lime actually....and the lime was the only reason SOL didn't get a big fat zero.
> 
> ...


Yep, my lime tree comes in very handy for tasteless beers (including the cerveza kit I made).


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## chimera (8/1/08)

definitely would have added some credibility had the test been done blind, perhaps with a few HBs thrown in to cleanse the pallet.

I have become more neutral towards commercial beers in the last year or so, probably through understanding of the brewing process. I'm tired of ignorant bastards who reckon something is piss or gold without any real appraisal of the product, or people who consider themselves beer connoisseurs because they paid an extra $10 per slab for self proclaimed 'premium beer' at the bottleshop, or will swig on a BUL stella and pontificate about Belgian beer..

anyway - there's one born every day.

I like beer, not just cheap intoxication (albeit fun at times) and I try to be critical of the good and the bad in my own beer as well as bought stuff.

That said - you gave Sol a 1? quite generous!


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## Polar Beer (11/1/08)

mika said:


> Done it, world's apart and I don't care if the imported one is old and stale, I must like it that way :huh:
> 
> It would be interesting to know whether they use the same ingredients, or whether the local boys have cobbled something together that get's it "pretty close". And yes I've heard of all the 'samples sent back to the brewery for evaluation' but are Heineken really going to care as long as they're recieving their royalty and the Brewery can demonstrate that sales haven't slipped ? Maybe I'm just cynical <_<



I'll second that. 
Best Heineken I ever had was in the Amsterdam brewery and it was excellent. I enjoyed many more. 
Local product is puke by comparison.


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## davewalk (11/1/08)

Pocket Beers said:


> One of my XMAS presents was a BWS 12-pack of international lagers + Willie Simpson book "The Beer Bible" + the bright orange cooler it all came in.
> 
> I was very excited on the day, but was reminded quickly why I make my own beer.
> 
> ...




Got the same present myself from my mother in law which included a BWS cooler bag. Waited til a mate came down from Melb to try em an were suitably unimpressed. Whenever we tasted one that was a bit foul, we checked the label to find "Brewed under licence".
We couldn't wait to get back into the HB.
However it was a thoughtful present and I refilled them with cold tea capped them and put em down in the pool room.


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## Fatgodzilla (11/1/08)

Chimera said:


> I like beer, not just cheap intoxication (albeit fun at times) and I try to be critical of the good and the bad in my own beer as well as bought stuff.
> 
> That said - you gave Sol a 1? quite generous!



:blink: 

I like beer (no, this is not a country and western song). But it's the company that dictates the drop.

When I go to either of my two locals, I drink Tooheys Old. In both cases, the main man pouring the beer drinks the beer, so they both make sure the beer presents as good as it can and at the right temperature and at the right carbonation level. Plus they make sure all glasses are clean. This is the benefits of living in a small country town. I can't say I get the same satisfaction from other places.

That said I drink at my locals to be with my mates. Its the company that dictates the drop.

The other mob I tend to drink alot with are in my old stomping ground in Wollongong - they drink at home and they drink Tooheys New stubbies. So I drink that with them. Occasionally they buy VB .. and yes I'll drink that with them too.

But when I drink in my shed, watching the sports channels or the wrestling (love that Smackdown, RAW & ECW - the young bloke age 11 and I call this our testrostone hour) I drink what I brew. There are times when my brews suck and there are times when I think I'm drinking the nectar of the gods. But I'm drinking by myself (the youngum's a Coca Cola freak .. a potential Old drinker coming along), I drink my homebrew becauseit's the company that dictates the drop.

Where's this going -- buggered if anywhere. But I reckon a life without ANY beer is far worse that the current life with some ordinary beers.

There is one good thing about the beer rants here on AHB - I'm unlikely to drink too many of what is on this list unless someone else offers it to me, but then again, it's the company that dictates the drop.

:super:


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## Thirsty Boy (11/1/08)

I think that Fatgodzilla is right on the money,

But its also the occasion. Even a crappy beer is a good beer if its a great day with your mates around the BBQ. Sure a good beer would be even better, but what the hell.

As for things like the Heineken that got drunk straight from the brewery in Amsterdam.... of course it was better than the local product, even if it was complete swill, it would still have been better than any other Heinekin you will ever drink... you were _at_ the brewery in Amsterdam for gods sake.

Same with Budvar or Urquell in the Czech republic, Stella in Belgium etc etc...

Hell, the Bintang I drank when I was in Bali was fantastic.... cant imagine that it might have had something to do with the fact that I was on holidays with my loved one, in the beautiful weather, beside a pool looking over the beach at a glorious sunset; it must be that Bintang in Bali is heaps better than the stuff I can get here. I bet if you drink a Corona sitting on a beach in Tijuana, you'll never understand why the locally brewed product is so bad when the stuff in Mexico was so damn good.

Beers tasted analytically in your loungeroom are almost always going to be missing three vital ingredients - Company, Occasion and Location, they cant hope to compare, no matter how good (or bad) they might actually be.

Of course, Sol is bad no matter what the occasion 

Thirsty


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## beersom (11/1/08)

Thirsty Boy said:


> But its also the occasion. Even a crappy beer is a good beer if its a great day with your mates around the BBQ. Sure a good beer would be even better, but what the hell.
> 
> As for things like the Heineken that got drunk straight from the brewery in Amsterdam.... of course it was better than the local product, even if it was complete swill, it would still have been better than any other Heinekin you will ever drink... you were _at_ the brewery in Amsterdam for gods sake.
> 
> ...



Very well said. 

moment is an oft forgotten part of beer enjoyment....

mood, moment, meal


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## petesbrew (14/1/08)

Commercial Beer always tastes that tiny bit better when you're by the resort pool in a tropical country.


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## Muggus (14/1/08)

Bit of shame they don't put more ales in those mixed giftpacks just for some variation.

Having said that I got one of them for a Chrissie present a few years that contained 5 of your below par European lagers, and a Rodenbach Gran Cru!


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## TasChris (14/1/08)

Even muddy water can taste good with the right setting, LOL..
Chris


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## sinkas (14/1/08)

Tijuana, doesnt really have a beach,


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## dig (14/1/08)

sinkas said:


> Tijuana, doesnt really have a beach,


Zihuatanejo does. I'm supposed to be there now but can't get away from work...  

I'll bet the Pacifica Lager is drinking beautifully...


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## dc59 (11/3/08)

I'd just like to say that Haagen is probably the best commercial I've tasted so far, occassion or not. It's the locally brewed stuff that I'm drinking and only paid $12 a six pack a Dan Murphy's Macarthur.

Going back to the list, my preference would be Carlsberg, though unfortunately I've never had the imported variety.


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## Adric Hunter (19/3/08)

BUDWIESER GOT A FIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!! :icon_vomit: :icon_vomit: THAT SHIT HAS GOT TO BE THE SECOND WORSE CRAP IVE EVER TASTED IN MY LIFE!! 

ps Michealob ultra is worse, far worse


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## Murcluf (19/3/08)

Adric Hunter said:


> ps Michealob ultra is worse, far worse



It's got to be the worst beer ever. can't work out how they think it would sell? Couldn't finish the first one asked for a refund and no chance ever buying or drinking a second. Needed therapy to get over the experience.


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