This is the first beer that I’ve had from Toohey’s in Australia. Other than Cooper’s, Fosters, and maybe a couple others are all I’ve actually had from Australia. Australia is going to have to start sending some better stuff this way (or maybe I’ll have to look harder) for me to be impressed. Don’t get me wrong, this beer wasn’t bad–it was just run of the mill. Here is my review.
As far as lagers go, this was very nice in color. The beer was a very clean-looking, light gold color with a white slightly foamy head. Bright and active would be a pretty good way to describe the appearance of this beer.
Aroma: the beer had a slight Heineken-type aroma on the nose (very slightly skunky). Sweet, light malty aromas also dominated the nose. Other than that, there was not much happening.
The sweet malts and cleanness came through immediately upon the first sip of the beer. It was all very typical in its qualities as a lager with one exception: the beer was more hoppy than a typical big brewery lager. Quality-wise, the Toohey’s was at about the same level as Heineken but with a touch more hops. About the middle of any given sip, the hops would come through and stay all the way until the beer faded into a dry finish.
Overall, nothing impressive happened in the beer, but it is nice to have a good, clean beer that you don’t have to think about too much. But only once in a while.
Mike’s Rating
Overall Satisfaction: 
Among other Australian beers:
Among other Lagers: 
The only Australian beer I have tried before, outside of Fosters, was Barons Lager that my friend had once. I didn’t find it good just from a sampling. But I really wish there was some Australian beer out there that could convince me to try it in detail.
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I’d like to Stout and other “good” ales from Australia so I could see if they are making some good stuff.
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I’d like to try some Stout…is what I meant
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I’ll look for this one and try it…didn’t know it was available here. I’ve had some of the Cooper’s products and some are quite good, though I haven’t seen them lately.
About the Foster’s you mentioned: depending on when you tried it, it’s quite possible that you weren’t really drinking beer from Australia; I know that these days it’s actually made in Georgia and Texas by Miller Brewing and for some years before that started, it was brewed in Canada. I don’t think there’s been actual Australian brewed Foster’s for sale here for quite a few years.
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Prof,
I don’t know where you’re at but I found mine in Indiana at the Hop Shop. I do want to find some good Australian beers. I think I maybe had Fosters about 8 or 10 years ago…didn’t have it much after that.
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The reason we don’t export our good beer is because we can’t keep up with domestic demand. Wine, on the other hand, we send out loads of good stuff and still have stacks left over…
So, I’m joking of course, but all our best beers are small-ish producers, some of the best aren’t even available nationally…
I haven’t had any of our generic beers (Tooheys, VB, XXXX, Fosters, Carlton) for YEARS
My faves that are relatively widely available down here are:
Cascade (from Tasmania, now owned by Fosters, but remains independent)
Blue Tongue (they also do a great alcoholic ginger beer)
James Boags
Coopers is OK
and very widely available
Hahn (this is actually Tooheys premium beer)
Crown (Fosters premium)
then there’s all the microbrewery beers….yum.
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Thanks David…that was in an interesting and informative comment. Blue Tongue’s ginger beer sounds good!
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David,
Thanks for the feedback. Maybe you can fly me out there to have some of your good local stuff
. I knew exactly what you mean. I think that I meant more along the lines of finding some good stuff in the good ole’ USA. I don’t doubt that there is some great stuff there…I just want it here. I suppose any real beer nut will say exactly what you are saying. “Our best stuff is not that import, it is this or that small brewery”, might suffice as a general quote. I would probably respond the same way that you did. It’s just disappointing that market demand, rather than quality is the real driving force. What can a man do against such odds?
Thanks again for your interaction.
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I’m going to look for the ones that you mentioned, though.
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Recently read some articles in BYO (Brew Your Own) magazine about the Australian brewing scene, including commercial breweries and homebrewing techniques used there. Interesting! The article about the Australian commercial brewing scene had me wanting to visit Australia, just for the beer. I was particularly intrigued by the hops from NZ, that we typically don’t see here in the States.
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sometimes were stuck with our technics and hops, so it’s good to read about what their doing. I’m going to keep an eye out for this article
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About visiting for beer. We’re (my wife and I) are going to Europe this summer. I told her to plan whatever she wanted as long as it includes the chances to go to local watering holes. Beer is one of main reasons for going, so I know what you mean.
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http://www.byo.com/stories/issue/list/issues/260-marchapril-2009
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Thank you Tex…I’ll read it very soon.
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@ beer scientist – the hops thing is really interesting. Did a tour of the Cascade brewery in Tasmania last year, and about half of it was discussing the hops and how unique the Aust/NZ ones are.
‘Course, the multiple free samples of beer at the end of the tour had nothing to do with why we did it…
Speaking of NZ, they have some great ones too – Montieths…mmmm
Enjoy the Europe beer tour…Germany especially (are you going for Oktoberfest?), and hope you have success tracking down some of ours. I deliberately listed ones you’d have at least half a chance of finding
@Nate – the BlueTongue ginger beer was quite a revelation; it’s really refreshing on a very hot day.
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This is my favorite everyday drinking beer. I’ve heard it described as drinking an ice cream since it is so frothy and easy to toss down. It deserves Mike’s middle of the road 2 an’ a half star status, but don’t let that put you off. Sometimes you don’t want a mouthful of hops with a light, summery, peppered finish. Sometimes you just want to have a nice refreshing beer after mowing the lawn.
This beer did receive a medal or some such reward for being the best mass produced beer in the country at some stage. I’m a bit pissed (drunk) now so I can’t be bothered Googling it.
David’s got the good stuff listed pretty much as I would have. We might lack other conveniences over here in OZ but we can offer a range of beers to keep any enthusiast busily drinking for a few months.
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I know what you mean about a beer after mowing the lawn. I drank some Red Stripe the other day and found it refreshing. I’d been working in the sun all day, so it was spot on.
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