Puntigamer Das "Bierige" Bier

Price: $2.49 (on special (of course))
alc/vol: 5%
Serving: 500ml

This Austrian beer is like a Catholic altar boy: pure, smooth and gives just enough head to stop you shaking it back to life. Also it contains ascorbic acid.

In the glass it's a very clear, pale yellow. The nose "just keeps on giving" according to my flatmate and accomplished brewmaster Stu. It's a sweet brew but lacks the fruity nose to make it enjoyable like a pale ale. The hops are added here for bitterness; not enough to make a real impact on the flavour which is decidedly malty throughout.

I couldn't shake the thought of gravy whilst drinking this. To be precise, it put me in mind of that sweet meaty stuff in the bottom of a roasting pan before it's made into gravy. The aftertaste seems to tingle that area of the tongue for some reason. To that end I reckon this is a top beer to have with a white meat roast like chicken, person or pork.

Final score:

3 horses Imported Lager Beer

Price: $2.99 (on special)
alc/vol: 5%
Serving: 500ml

Who couldn't resist a beer with three disembodied horse heads on the label and the word "Imported" printed a total of ten times? I couldn't.

This beer is imported from Holland (did I mention it was imported?) in what I can only assume is the same shipping container holding those pastel-coloured rectangular bubble gums that come with a free temporary tattoo of questionable toxicity (both tattoo and gum). Because this is what it taste like - malty molasses-flavoured softdrink with a few chemicals hurled in to round out the flavour and really give it that "what the shit is in this beer?" taste.

Ah it's not all bad though... It's got a good head and a nice honey colour to it when fresh out of the jumbo can. It kept solid in my pre-chilled handle but swiftly disappeared in my flatmate's room-temperature glass.

The sensation in the mouth is one of tingling and fizz but it's not really a "bubbles" kind of feeling which is a little odd. It reminded me of that old teenage drinking game circle of death where the vessel in the middle held the luke-warm backwashed remnants of on-special beer and flat homebrew attempts. I would drink it again, but I wouldn't be sure why...

Total score:

DAB (Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei) Original

Price: $2.49 (on special)
alc/vol: 5%
Serving: 500ml

DAB touts itself as "The Beer of World Fame", which is obviously why I've never heard of it and why it was on special at Countdown. The large can and low price promises quantity and value.

The colour is golden and strawy like Lucozade and the bubbles roar up the side of the glass to create a lacklustre head which rapidly diminishes to nothing. It can be roused back into life with a solid twirl of the glass or a mix with the finger. But what can't, eh?


It has a light smell - bready without being too yeasty. But giving it a solid snort up the nose doesn't prepare you for the sweetness. As this is a German beer I thought it would have a fair whack of flavour in the savoury spectrum but the sweet butterscotch blitzkrieg leads the charge, disappears and leaves one's mouth a dry deadzone, tastebuds saying, "What the fuck?". Better have another mouthful.

It's a refreshing lager. It put me in mind of Asahi or those other Japanese and Korean beers in that it's super-clean and easy to drink, extra bubbly and refreshing. A beer made for drinking without all that fuss about taste. And even if it's a little thin and fizzy and puts one in mind of the cheeky shandy that your Dad would get you at the RSA on the weekends it's still better than reaching for a Tui or Export Gold after a hard half an hour mowing the lawn.

Drink with nuts, curry or fish. A good match for subtle flavours or relieving a burning tongue.

Final score: