Hey, goq_11k76, you are not alone. As a frequent visitor to Newcastle NSW several decades ago, I failed to come to grips with the beloved dark brews so favoured in that region. Most of my Sydneyside peers of the time agreed with my sentiments.
As I have matured, I have learned how to slowly sip such brews, so as not to offend generous Novacastrian hosts. Doesn't mean I enjoy those brews. Simply doing my often inadequate best in being well mannered.
Each to his own. My Novacastrain friends don't think very highly of the paler brews I favour.
If everyone liked exactly same thing there'd only be one beer sold and that would be boring! We humans crave variety!
I think a 'bridging beer' can help you see the good side of another style of beer - for me Coopers Dark Ale got me interested in some of the darker ales and stouts etc. and now I enjoy darker beers as much as I would a Corona (or Pure Blonde! Well, maybe...)
beerdrinker wrote:is hoegaarden a nice drop magog? might give it a try! should be able to clone it if this all grain caper is all its cracked up to be
I like hoegaarden, but it is not a beer beer if ya know what I mean, it is a bit fruity, people say it has orange and coriander, it is very refreshing on a hot day!! Apparently quite hard to make, I did a few searches and it requires a higher level of brewing technique that I dont have yet so havnt tried making one.
the bottlo was out of hooegaarden, am keen to try it, sounds like a fruity belgian like a delirum tremmens i had the other day! the taste was "weird" to say the least. alot of different flavours with a 8.5% alc content would take a couple to get the taste for it ??? pretty smooth! allgrain isnt that difficult apparently,i wont be tackling one like that for a while though
Pure Blonde is quite possibly the WORST beer I have ever drunk. I would rather drink water. Oh, wait, I couldn't tell the difference! Except that The Pure Blonde contains preservatives... dunno what definition of "pure" they're using.
My vote is for Cooper's Pale Ale. You can pick it up in Melbourne for around the $45 a slab mark, which is pretty sensational value.
It's in my top five beers, but is not my favourite. However, if you're looking at quality and taste versus price, you can't go past it.
When Cooper's Draught was still alive and kicking (i.e. before it was replaced by Premium Lager) I would have had it up there, particularly in SA where it was very reasonably priced.
As for the draught that was a $25 slab only 3 or so years ago, but I couldn't stand it!
Coopers Pale Ale would be hands down the best beer for the best possible combo of price, drinkability and availability (overlooked but ever tried going into a country pub and asking for a sixer of Negro Modelo?)