Logo Bird ImageLogo Mast Image

The AtoZ Club Beer List

  Ad finds himself the centre of attention

Statistics!

Number of beers tasted: 302

Countries represented: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, Corsica, Curacao, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tasmania,Thailand, Ukraine, USA.

Welcome, pull up a chair and rest your elbows on the table. It's a bit sticky, mind, and we had to wedge some beer mats under one of the legs to stop it wobbling.

Before you can make any sense of this list, there are some basic facts that you need to know about our tasting notes. If you discount British ales (which are a law entirely to themselves and do not, in the main, appear on this list), bottled beers can be broadly divided into four tastes; blond, dubbel, tripel, and wit. At least, these are the terms commonly used in Belgium, where most beers are made.

  • A blond (blonde, lager) is a Czech or German style beer, typically a clear yellow, with a characteristic pure taste that does not change as you drink it (note: UK readers please discount any comparison with the fizzy stuff sold there as 'lager').
  • A dubbel (bruin, dunkel, donker, alt) is a dark brown ale, somewhat on the sweet side, often complex in taste and changing flavour from the first sip to the final aftertaste, typified in Benelux by the ubiquitous Grimbergen (UK readers: a dubbel can be vaguely reminiscent of an English brown ale). Another common dubbel is Palm, an almost tasteless quaffing beer.
  • A tripel (triple) is a somewhat stronger beast, straw coloured, strongly flavoured, and quite potent. In the AtoZ Club, we regard the ur-type as Duvel (UK readers: imagine a strong barley wine).
  • A wit (white, weiss, wheat) beer is usually light in colour but intentionally cloudy, and has a soft taste. In the Club we compare wit beers to Hoegaarden.
  • Finally, there is lambic beer, which is made by natural fermentation from airborne yeast over a period of years, maintaining a surprisingly consistent sour flavour from bottle to bottle. Gueuze is old lambic mixed with young ('faro') to give a lively re-fermenting drink in a champagne-corked bottle.

I apologise humbly for the horrible oversimplification in all of the above, but we're here to drink the stuff, so let's get on with it. Prost!

Page 1

The Label

Name / Origin
tasting notes

 %

Abbaye des Rocs

Belgium

rich caramel

 9.0

(alternative label)

Abbaye des Rocs Blanche des Honnelles

Belgium

smoky

 6.0

Aerts 1900

Belgium

Grimbergen-ish

 7.5

Affligem Tripel

Belgium

Duvel-ish

 8.5

Alfa Edel Pils

Netherlands

leathery

 5.0
Lyn and Reinhard discovered this in a Spanish restaurant in Sydney

Ambar

Spain

spanish honey

 5.2

Amstel 1870

Netherlands

just lager

 5.0

Amstel Bright

Curacao

bright honey

 5.0

Amstel Lentebock

Netherlands

soft warm

 7.0

Amstel Gold

Netherlands

unenthusiastic gold

 7.0

Amstel Herfstbock

Netherlands

tart

 7.0

Amsterdam Nut Brown Ale

Canada

brazil nuts

 5.0
We originally thought that this was "Ana Bier". However a passing surfer called Delta 9 has told us that it's actually Ara Bier. An Arabier is a kind of parrot, hence the picture on the label.

Ara Bier

Belgium

like La Chouffe

 8.0

Asahi

Japan

refreshingly gluggable

 5.0

Aubel Brune

Belgium

mild and brown

 6.0

Augustijn

Belgium

dark Duvel

 8.0

Augustijn Grand Cru

Belgium

wibblewibble

 9.0
Brewed in St Petersburg

Baltika 4 Dark

Russia

fine red

 5.6

Barbar

Belgium

tasty

 8.0
I blagged this from a Mexican restaurant in Amsterdam. Very oddly, the alcoholic strength is mentioned nowhere on the bottle

Bavaria

Mexico

silky

 ?.?

Bavaria

Netherlands

inoffensive

 5.0
Organically brewed from the same ingredients as a Lambic beer, without actually being one

Beersel

Belgium

vanilla

 7.0
Lyn's favourite beer of all time

Besselaer

Netherlands

dry redcurrant

 7.0

Bieken

Belgium

sour

 8.5

Blue Label

Malta

light quaffable

 3.3

Boon Geuze

Belgium

sour lambic

 7.0

Boon Kriek

Belgium

very cherry

 5.0

Bornem Dubbel

Belgium

rich malt

 8.0

Bosbier

Belgium

Ribena linctus

 4.5

Bourgogne des Flandres

Belgium

sweet

 5.0

Brakspear Vintage Henley

England

English vanilla

 5.5
Reinhard's least favourite beer of the whole Cafe Belgie experience. He needed two attempts to drink a whole bottle at one sitting.

Brand UP

Holland

nasty leather

 5.5

Brigand

Belgium

strong

 9.0

Brugs Blond

Belgium

white wine

 6.0

Brugse Tripel

Belgium

sharp triple

 9.0

(alternative label)

Brugs Witbier

Belgium

gentle wit

 4.8

Bud

USA

errm, it's Bud, innit?

 5.8

Budweiser Budvar

Czechoslovakia

roasted fizz

 5.0
They don't come much stronger than this. It's very nice, but should be treated with very great respect

Bush

Belgium

we will die

 12.0

Calanda Brau

Switzerland

crisp

 4.8

Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus

Belgium

sour pink

 5.0
Interestingly brewed with grape juice along with the usual lambic ingredients

Cantillon Vigneronne

Belgium

pleasantly sour wine

 6.2

Carlsberg

Denmark

yeah, well.

 6.2

Carlsberg Elephant

Denmark

strong harsh

 7.5
One of Cascade's Four Seasons brews

Cascade Autumn Amber

Australia

dry

 5.0

Cascade First Harvest Ale

Australia

hoppy

 5.5
Lyn loves this stuff, drinks it by the crate

Cascade Premium Light

Australia

easy drinking

 2.8
One of Cascade's Four Seasons brews

Cascade Summer Blonde

Australia

light honey

 5.0

Celis White

USA

gentle wit

 5.0
Mike's least favourite beer at the Cafe Belgie

Chapeau Banana

Belgium

Nesquik

 3.5
Born in Flanders, Charles Quint became Duke of Burgundy as a child. As he grew up, he inherited three more crowns from different grandparents: Hapsburg Austria, Spain, and the German lands.

Charles Quint

Belgium

dark UK mild

 7.0

Chimay bleu 1999

Belgium

typical dubbel

 7.0

Chimay bleu 2000

Belgium

rich dark

 9.0

Chimay rouge

Belgium

oh *bleep*

 8.0

Chimay Special

Belgium

spiked Chimay

 9.0

Christoffel

Belgium

sharp UK bitter

 5.0

Ciney Blonde

Belgium

cheap white wine

 7.0

Ciney Special

Belgium

stout & Tia Maria

 9.0

Cisk

Malta

honey pils

 5.0

Classe Royale

Netherlands

soft lager

 5.0

Columba

Corsica

soft herby

 5.0

Coopers Best Extra Stout

Australia

cola stout

 6.3

Coopers Original Pale Ale

Australia

india pale ale

 4.5
Unusual in Australian beers, this is bottle conditioned

Coopers Sparkling Ale

Australia

pale bitter

 5.8
Would the label come off? Would it hell. I had to scan the whole bottle.

Coreff Ambree

France

czech pils

 5.0

Coreff Blonde

France

dry parsnip wine

 4.8

Corona

Mexico

fizz

 4.5

Corsendonk Agnus

Belgium

soft and gentle

 7.5

Corsendonk Pater

Belgium

sweet and dark

 7.5

DAB

Germany

typical lager

 5.0

De Koninck Cuvee

Belgium

light Palm

 8.0
The somewhat dubiously translated slogan on the back says " A beer brewed with love, is drunk in the right mind". We know what they mean.

Delirium Christmas

Belgium

deadly red

 10.0
The somewhat dubiously translated slogan on the back says " A beer brewed with love, is drunk in the right mind". We know what they mean.

Delirium Nocturnum

Belgium

dark caramel

 9.0
Somewhat curiously, since it is well named, we seem to end up drinking this during marathon pool sessions

Delirium Tremens

Belgium

gets stronger as you drink it

 9.0





Want to join?
Forgot password?