Belfast Lager, Whitewater Brewery 4.5% abv.
I decided to move from light to dark, by starting with the only lager in the bunch. The Blurb on the bottle says "Crisp and full flavoured this refreshing continental style premium lager is brewed with the finest Saaz hops giving a beer rich in aroma and taste". Hmmmm. There is some nice crispness and a little hopiness but it feels a little dialed back. I think needs more flavour and more alcohol. It's not bad but it's not enough.
Marco Pierre White The Governor 4.1% abv
As above, not bad but not great. It's a light, amber ale with some nice flavours. As above it's a little underwhelming, I think it could do with a bit more jizz (not literally). It goes down easily but is not especially memorable.
Greene King IPA Export 5% abv
Hmmmmm. IPA, eh? Not really. I thought this was half IPA and half normal ale. Certainly the colour is a lot redder than I would have expected. And the taste didn't really work for me. At least it was strong.
Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier 6% abv
"This beer is an institution: the Oktoberfest Bier® from Paulaner, with its full-bodied, pleasant taste definitely pairs beautifully with the hearty delicacies along with Hendln or Schweinshaxen. Its alcohol content of 6 % volume makes it somewhat stronger than the usual lager beer. The original gravity of the Oktoberfest Beer is also slightly higher, starting at 13.5 %. With a hint of malty sweetness the Oktoberfest Beer possesses the perfect balance."
Hmmm. Not quite sure what to make of this. It's pleasant, and as described there's some a malty, fullish flavour. Not a huge amount else but pretty decent. One for the beer drinker who is not too adventurous, I'll wager.
Weihenstephaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel 5.3% abv
"Soft, malty and full bodied. The well balances taste is our weiss beer's great strength"
I've had bad experiences with Dunkel (dark) beers before, there was an episode involving the card game spoons (for shots) and a couple of real life drag queens (shudder).
Update - I don't know why I bought this as I don't generally like Weiss beers and I didn't like this. So there you go...
*I had actually paid full price for each beer (€2.69 each) at the till, before noticing this on the receipt**. It turns out the Paulaner wasn't part of the deal (or something) but Customer Service graciously refunded me the difference anyway. Nice one.
** I obviously picked up something in Scotland...
