The local chain of bottle shops put on a beer tasting night last night, and it was very good. At first I was a little disappointed when I walked in to see a massive "Superdry 3.5" banner and a few cases of Budweiser, but upon closer investigation, there was some lovely beers to be had. I can't write much, because I had so many and took no notes (and I'm hardly a connoisseur like Fatman), but here's what I remember:
The entire Mac's range, brewed in NZ, including:
Spring Tide Lower-Carb Lager- Quite easily the best low-carb beer I've ever had
Mac's Gold All Malt Lager- Very sessionable, refreshing, but not too exciting
Hop Rocker Pilsener- Bloody excellent, crisp, but with a lingering bitterness. Made with crystal and lager malts and Nelson Sauvin and NZ Cascade hops. EDIT: Just saw Fatman's review up above. Seriously, listen to the man and buy it.
Sassy Red Best Bitter- It's been a while since I've had a Red Ale, and this didn't disappoint. Loved the initial sweetness then the long finish.
Black Mac- Can't really remember
Malt Shovel Brewery Abbey Ale- brewed in the style of a Belgian wit bier, I found it pretty similar to Hoegaarden. Definitely not a session beer at a hefty 7% though.
Zywiec Lager- Polish, better than average Euroswill, reminded me of some Furstenberg I bought once.
Zywiec Porter- Sensational! Best porter I've ever tried. Charred, but not burnt, and without even a hint of that cigarette aftertaste. Thanks has to go to the lovely Polish guy who was pouring very generous portions, even more so considering it weighed in around 9.5%
Zipfer Lager- Heh...can't remember
Knappstein Premium Lager- If you like white wine, but want beer, drink this. Dear goodness it is excellent. Light and fruity, a little bit like LC Bright Ale, but somehow better.
Also got to try
Magners Irish Cider, both apple and pear varieties. I never knew it was supposed to be drunk with ice. I'm now a fan of pear cider I think.
Finally of note, the new Matilda Bay beer-
Big Helga. It's a "Dry, Munich-style lager", and it does exactly that. Pretty inoffensive, you could drink a lot very quickly.
In addtioan, tried some dirty 5 seeds, Amstel, Cruiser Hummingbird and Baltika. None were overly remarkable. There was one beer I can't remember, if anyone could help me it'd be appreciated. Green bottle, think it was a pilsener. The name started with v i think, it's brewed by a winery. Very good stuff also.