Five recently tried brews to avoid

Anything from the Bridge Road brewery (VIC)
Firstly, there is no brewery on Bridge Road. Secondly, I was recommended this by a guy working at the Queen Victoria St markets on a Saturday afternoon who gave me a taste of some Rose that he said was awesome "and he doesn't even like Rose". Think sipping on red cordial after leaving it in a glass on your kitchen counter for 5 months. So I'm not sure why I even entertained the idea of trusting his opinion, but it was $5 badly spent. Also the label had BLING written on it, as you can see in the image...

However, despite that, it's not as bad as...

Pepperjack Ale (SA)
A winery owned by Fosters created a beer. Do I need to explain this any further? I had a couple of sips and poured the rest down the sink because it was so horrendous. No idea what I've done in a past life to have deserved this brutal assault on my taste buds. I think Pepperjack is quite possibly the worst beer I've ever tasted. Moving on...

Young's Old Special Ale (UK)
It's a damn shame because they nailed the stout, but are just slightly off when it comes to the special ale. It's missing the wonderful connection you're supposed to have between the creamy texture and the bitter hop finish. It needs to be consolidated because it does have the potential, the execution is just off. The will is strong but the skin is weak etc etc.

Tripel Karmeliet (Belgium)
Shocked that I've listed a high-end Belgian beer? Now I have to say, after the glowing recommendation from the bar woman at the Belgium Beer Cafe, I was really excited about finding this and trying it for the first time, mainly because she served me the Roquefort and Pauwel Kwak and both were brilliant. Unfortunately, the Tripel Karmeliet fails where something like the Hoegaarden Grand Cru succeeds. It's a brutally creamy brew, very sweet, but without the lingering bitterness, therefore leaving you with that constant feeling of having ingested too much sugar and the queasiness associated with it. Damn, and I was really after a beautiful relationship. Next time.

Monteith's Golden Lager (NZ)
New Zealand's answer to Corona. Now if I want to drink water, I'll just drink water, and in this case I'll put a few drops of pure ethanol in my water rather than spending money on something I can't even believe is being seriously marketed as a legitimate brew. It's no surprise the Golden Lager tastes as weak as their Cider, on the other hand though their Celtic Ale is decent. Inconsistent.

I had an amazing bar experience on Saturday, until the next blog.