The world is full of beers. Only Beer & Brewer sorts the amber gold from the rusty water and tells you why. Here's the inside skinny on what's hot in neck nectar.

Best of the Season

La Fin Du Monde

A WHOPPING nine per cent ale that pours cloudy with a nice tight, white head and a golden-to-light-amber colour. Has a fruity, spicy aroma, with orange up front and a hint of white chocolate and vanilla. A complex, malty mouth-feel which had me thinking of orange, coriander, pepper and candy sugar. It possesses a strong alcohol heat which dissipates, leaving a subtle baked-banana yeasty character in the background. A great beer with roast beef - just make sure you add some to the gravy!

Trois Pistoles

AGAIN, a nine per cent Belgian-style ale which pours quite dark, with a reddish tinge, leaving a head that's a tight beige and dissipates to a lingering froth. Has a slightly malty sweet nose but not much hop aroma. Reminds me a little of Orval, with hints of lavender, black currant and toffee. Mouth-feel is complex with toffee, candied fruit, ginger, orange, raisins and citrus notes. A bit like a Christmas pudding. No discernable hop bitterness but does possess a raisin-like yeast ester which lingers on the finish. Enjoy it with a really good cheese plate but hold the raisins.

Chambly Noire

AT 6.2 per cent, the lightweight of the bunch, but it still pours a black-coffee colour, with a loose head that doesn't waste time in relaxing. There are faint aromas of coffee, dark malt and caramel on the nose. The mouth-feel is quite dry again, with cocoa beans predominant, followed by crystal malt and a hint of smokiness. The finish is dry with some lingering fruit esters and a smoky malt character. I'd have this with a ploughman's platter or antipasto plate.

Domestic Beers

Moo Brew Dark Ale (5%)

SMALL, dark and filled to the gills with roasty toasty flavours, this malty little minx from the Moo crew is a deft departure from the hefeweizens and pale ales that set their legends a-rumbling. Rolled oats and shards of cocoa play out in a pocket symphony of sweet subtle seasonings.

Verdict: A short black malty mambo.

Taverner's Strong Mead Ale (8%)

STRONG in colour and malt aroma, the alcohol content combines well initially with some warmth and readiness. Some upfront flavour on the palate, while a mellow body gives way to a dry, smooth finish. Lacks head retention.

Verdict: Great to taste a new brew from a new brewer, this starts well but won't claim line honours.

Matilda Bay Grayston Reserve (6%)

NAMED for a fellow brewer but founded on the principles of exiled gods, the Grayston is burnt butter and cocoa, malty thunder and lightning. Pity it's so limited. You'll just have to trust us when we say it's mud and bullion blended and sublime.

Verdict: Beer - but not as we know it.

Outback Brewery Chilli Beer (4.8%)

IF ZING is your thing, this is for you. It pours a nice clarified ochre with a little short-lived head. Up front it gives you sweet ruby malts and a bit of cinnamony crunch. The chilli bites at the back of the mouth and it's nicely balanced - not too hot, but you know it's there. We've had worse chilli beers, by far.

Verdict: Light your fire with a chilli kick.

Outback Brewery Pale Ale (4.8%)

THIS pale drops its head quicker than a hot rock, and offers a big snootful of honey and dried fruit. It's not too fizzy, which is good in a pale, but really lacks that sharp, yeasty hit. Plenty of sweet fruit in the tasting, finishing up with a dry, straw finish. You could drink this one with some chicken on the barbie just fine.

Verdict: Not quite pale, but far from dark and dreary.

Murray's Sassy Blonde (4.5%)

A GRASSY, herbaceous, slightly metallic nose, with hints of caramel and apricot. An even-tempered tendancy to the light side in the body stakes, but with a clean finish.

Verdict: A thin-bodied summer tart.

Snowy Mountains Razorback Red Ale (4.8%)

STARTS with a bubbly head but ends up as flat as Dolf Lundgren's. Smells like Mum's spice cookies with an extra dose of sweetness but the flavours are more subtle. A slightly bitter finish after a big mouthful of Simcoe hops. It's very Barbara Streisand; okay in short doses but can get a bit cloying.

Verdict: More a winter warmer than a spring refresher.

Snowy Mountains Charlotte's Hefeweizen (4.7%)

A GOOD spring bevvy, Hefeweizen's always fresh. Charlotte has a nose like a sweet shop; heaps of curly caramel. Wheaty funk comes through in the tasting and it bubbles on the tongue like a bag of sherbert. Heaps of fresh flavours, with a crackling finish and more bananas than the monkey cage at the zoo.

Verdict: A barbie beer for upright apes.

St Peters Green Star Lager (5%)

IT'S light, and bright as a star, with a huge fluffy head. A nose as corny as a Simpsons special and just cloudy enough to let you know it's real. This eco-friendly drop has a bright, bitter palate, a big lager finish and a plain profile from front to back. Tastes like lagers used to. Not a bad drop, and comes in a nifty carry bag.

Verdict: Buy this instead of carbon credits.

Bluebottle Beer (4.3%)

"BLUEBOTTLE is made for seafood; we designed it this way," sums it quite well. I can see myself with a few Balmain bugs in the height of summer with a couple of these under my belt. It's light, bright, with a hefty bitterness that makes it quite refreshing. Tasted with a bowl of pasta, and it went down fine with that as well.

Verdict: Throw another prawn on the barbie!

Victoria Bitter Midstrength (3.5%)

A VB drinker with a canary yellow stubby in his mitt? Something went badly wrong in the pitch here, which is a shame because, while this brew is stale as a Boxing Day Sao, its a mid-ranger that might've been the Tom Moody of its field: essentially artless, sure, but dependable and handy to have around in a crisis.

Verdict: Tastier than a roadside dirtnap.

Red Hill Imperial Stout (8.1%)

THIS lovely beer from Victoria's Mornington Peninsula arrives with a stunning aroma, full of aniseed, banana, liquorice and coffee. A slight astringent finish but it's generally mild in palate, with a lingering bitterness.

Verdict: Perfect match with a smoky beirstick.

Imported Beers 

Carlsberg Elephant Beer (7.2%)

MALTY, sweet aroma with an explosion of spiritous malty notes. Hints of capsicum and, believe it or not, a peppermint finish. Very highly carbonated capsicum.

Verdict: More like a whiskey than a beer.

Chang Beer (5%)

A TYPICAL Asian-style lager from Thailand, with an easy-drinking, refreshing character. Little malt in evidence, obviously some use of rice adjuncts. Simple bitterness, enough to cleanse the palate.

Verdict: A good session beer in the hot Aussie sun or the back lanes of Bangkok.

Löwenbräu Original (5.2%)

POSSIBLY the most widely distributed of the Munich lagers world-wide, it's a good example of a simple lager style. Nothing offence in the way of aroma or flavour but slight European Nobel hop character.

Verdict: Comfy as a Melbourne stubby or Munich stein.

Hofbräu Original (5.1%)

When in Munich, all roads lead to the Hofbräu Haus. This iconic Munich beer is well brewed, with a good balance of European pale malt characters that match nicely with some hints of Bohemian hop traits.

Verdict: A solid pale lager for any beer lover.

Leffe Blonde (6.6%)

THE golden girl of the esteemed Leffe stable, this Belgian blonde is a class act all the way. A bullion haze to make you glaze over releases a vapour trail exploding with apple, cinnamon, earthy cloves and citrus zing, before the cream comes over the top in a gush of svelte malts and honeys.

Verdict: A dangerously sexy beer.

Zatec Lager (4.8%)

AN OLD flagship Czech beer that's lain dormant for too long and has now been reanimated by a young European brigade. This one's a greyhound, fast out of the blocks with kickers of fruit and double-hopping, and a sizzling finish that have won it a huge following in its homeland.

Verdict: A fast session beer and a good one.

Kronenbourg (5%)

ALTHOUGHT it's considered a blue-chip elixir on the insipid Euro palate, this French filly fades in comparison with our own robust local lagers. Crisp and carbonated on entry, it comes with mild hopping, a measured sweetness and good looks in the glass. But so did Serge Gainsbourg.

Verdict: Perfect with frogs' legs and Galoises.

Goolman (5.4%)

A POLISH beer with plenty of polish but bugger-all body, the whiskey-shaped bottle in clear glass is a neat indicator of the buttery but short-lived suds within. Lots of bouquet out of the blocks and action in the glass, it drinks solid and steady, with high musk at the front door and caramel budding at the back-end.

Verdict: A bear with a poor head or a beer with a sore head?

Perla Chmielowa Pils (6%)

STANDING tall in stature at least, this eminently forgettable brew might kick Polish butt in the mother country but it was as drab and lifeless as Pope John Paul's underdaks by the time we got to it. Mild hops, vague skunk on the nose, colour like a Carl Lewis race sample.

Verdict: Perla? Yes. Pearler? No.

StIEgl (4.9%)

AUSTRIA'S version of VB or Toohey's New, a basic European-style lager. Fortunately the country is surrounded by some of the world's best lager-producing nations, keeping the quality above Aussie domestics. Nice, clean, crisp flavours. Certainly a beer with nothing offensive to speak of.

Verdict: Well worth a trial in the warmer months.

Paulaner Original Münchner Hell (4.9%)

THIS beer is the baby of the Paulanar range, which is more known for its big, black beers such as Paulaner Salvator and Aventenis. Original Hell packs a little more hop character than a true Hell style. A great starter to the Paulaner range and well worth the progression to some of the bigger, bolder beers.

Verdict: Hell won't offend many.

Spaten Münchner Hell (5.2%)

IN MANY cases with European beers, the original is often then the best. It's certainly true with this beer. Spaten brewery in Munich developed this style, with ‘hell' translating to ‘pale'. Spaten Hell typifies the style perfectly, with more of a pale malt driving flavour and only a tiny hop note present at the back of the palate.

Verdict: A clean, crisp lager tuned to springtime.

Taj Mahal Premium Lager (4.5%)

OUT of the bottle it's as yellow as the Ganges. India's straight-up lager has a super-bitter hit on first taste, followed by some very mellow maltiness and a dry finish. It's gone as soon as you swallow, which isn't too disappointing, considering the bitterness. It'd cool a fiery curry but might not stand on its own.

Verdict: Forged in the depths of vindaloo.

Caporal Pils (5%)

A BELGIAN Czech-style pilsener. Now we're getting confused. Caporal is a light, fresh, golden pour with a quickly sinking head. On the nose it's got lemons, and more flowers than a funeral, while in the mouth it's yeast, sharp and a bucket of citrus. It doesn't taste like Czech pilseners but it's still a nice, clean drop.

Verdict: Tastes like bread in a bottle but in a good way.

Chimay White Ale (8%)

AHHH, Chimay. A beer brewed by monks, for mon... wait. Us. The white is the tripel-trouble from our Belgian friends, with a hefty dose of alcohol in the suds. Pours golden with a mild haziness and a super-active long-lasting head. Tastes of spice and fruit, with a crisp bitterness at the end. Not too heavy, not too light and not too sweet. This is living.

Verdict: I'd become a man of God to get this every day.

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier (5%)

THIS German wheat beer's aromas are dominated by clove and spice although missing some of the bubble gum and banana notes often present in others. Cloudy but don't be put off; this beer packs more body on the palate than other Weisse beers. Also has a slight tartness present from the wheat malt.

Verdict: More for colder climes than other Weisse - good all rounder.

Duvel (8.5%)

DUVEL is a supercharged, sprizty golden ale from Belgium. Pours bright yellow with a huge pillowy head. Gives you grassy hops and fruit on the nose and some warning for the alcohol to come. In the mouth it's bright and fizzy with heaps of clean grassy flavours. It's super-dry and doesn't leave you with a mouthful of fumes. One of the best.

Verdict: From the land of religious beer, this one's the devil.

Monteith's Celtic (4.4%)

BEAUTIFUL, delicate, and with an absolutely stunning nose. Hints of coffee and chocolate pervade too. The palate is a little thin and a bit lacking in depth, but it's a lovely beer that comes home smoothly and strong.

Verdict: Good commercial product.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager (4.9%)

ONE of the pioneers in the quality American beer market, the Boston lager hop aroma entices with each mouthful, closely followed by a smooth malt character that gives the beer a wide spectrum of malt flavours, from slightly sweet to caramel to slightly roasted. A stand-out American lager.

Verdict: This Boston brew is something to say ‘Cheers!' to.

Timothy Taylor Landlord (4.1%)

THIS English Pale Ale is a classic. With hints of soft, sweet caramel and earthy notes in the malt flavour, it's full of great English hop aromas. TTL is bottle conditioning perfected, with a mild carbonation that doesn't dominate the beer's fine flavours and aromas. Well worth letting sit once taken out of the fridge to warm and enhance its beauty.

Verdict: Terrific out of the bottle, simply superb out of the cask.

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