Melbourne Bitter
Carlton & United Breweries, Ltd.

Melbourne Bitter is often seen as Victoria Bitters younger cousin, well, at least outside of Victoria that is. In recent years in seems to have been more prominent outside of Victoria, but holds a lesser reputation to the more well known VB. Something that is more widely regarding in regional Victoria, than Melbourne, but holds up as another standard Australian macro lager.

Look: Standard Australian lager. Dark golden lager hue. Clear, filtered. Thin soapy white head that disappears quicker than the sun in Melbourne. Think tiny bubbles floating to the top. Poured out of a 750ml longneck, looks almost flat.

Smell: Honestly not a lot going on. Very faint adjunct grain smell, hint of citrus hop, obviously Pride of Ringwood. There is a metallic ring I'm picking up. Honestly not a lot going on.

Taste: It's mild, and only slightly offensive. Very thin, carbonated. Classic bitter pride of Ringwood hop presence, but metallic flavour holds strong. Decent malt presence gives it a rounded sweetness. Slight graininess but honestly not a great deal going on. Dry-ish finish.

Feel: Thin, heavily carbonated. On a hot summers day, can see the refreshment value in this but not much else.

Overall: It's another mass produced Aussie macro lager. I've had in on tap in Victoria, and I honestly remember it drinking a whole lot better on tap than out of the bottle I'm reviewing it on. VB is probably marginally better than it, but to me it's not completely horrid. It's not great, and I'd probably prefer a European Supermarket beer over it, but it's nothing great. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it unless it's on special, or I'm in Victoria and there's nothing better on tap.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours out clear golden with high fluffy head. Musty cardboard aroma, tastes like white school paste. At least a hint of bitterness at the finish, but a tough drink to get down.

I find this beer to be very sessionable it's a lager that's good to smash down at a bbq on a hot day.i get a earthy bitter taste and finishes very crisp.

Too bad I can't give negative points. This is by far the worst thing I ever tasted in life... I had to vomit just by tasting it. I could not believe myself so got a bottle the next day, same reaction...

 

A strong, earthly bitter taste from the pride of Ringwood hops gives the taste buds, or caliculus gustatererius if you will, a flavor sensation

 

This is a drink for men. The sort of men that discovered the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn. A strong, earthly bitter taste from the pride of Ringwood hops gives the taste buds, or caliculus gustatererius if you will, a flavor sensation usually reserved for kings among men or gods. The little red delights are commonplace in the fridges and eskys of all the great beer drinkers in this big, brown, wide, wonderful land of ours and will forever be so.

 

 

 

 

 

This was a delicious beer.
I would definitely have another, and I will.
In fact I already did. Lots.
Pours really well into beer bong.
Minimal froth, crisp taste.
Can crushed easily upon finishing.
Attractive logo.
Best enjoyed with your m8s.
Great accompaniment to the footy/cricket.
Discount on slabs at liquorland Frankston - $37.50 for 24 cans.

 

Poured at a good temperature with a mammoth, thick, foamy, frothy, billowy, off-white head (suspect foaming agents) and lots of lace. Color is a clear yellow. Aroma reminds me of a common lager with a bit o hop. Flavor’s like nose, bitter, sweet, and tang are actually fairly balanced, adjuncts are present, as are off flavs, body/carbonation are soft. Finish is like flavor. I just want to get it over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: Pours a dark yellow color with a small head that fades to no real lacing.

S: Aromais musty. Blend of yeast and hops with a bit of sweetness in the background. Has that old stale beer smell.

T: Taste is not much better, sort of funky with yeast and malt sweetness. Coarse bitterness and a sticky finish.

F: Light body, has a lot of rough edges and high carbonation.

O: Not a decent drinker, but then you can't expect too much from a poor step sister of Victoria Bitter.

 

 

 

Picked up one of these bad boys at my local. Was shocked at how cheap this devil is!
Cracked it on the tram home, delicious. Smashable. Aromatic hops come oozing out of this fine beer. very sessionable, recommend it to anyone! Also says melbourne on the front.

10 out of 10.

 

Uncaps with a weedy little sizzle, and pours surprisingly flat and lifeless for an Aussie macro lager—a dull golden colour, with a wispy film of white on the top and very little visible carbonation. Body is quite fine, and what carbonation is there actually looks quite dense.

Nose is what you expect from the genre, with perhaps a little more tilt towards the American macro style, with a strong aroma of cereal adjuncts coming through. Still some metallic twinges to it, and a hint of that muddy, gritty yeast character characteristic of these beers.

Taste is repugnant. Along with the classic CUB yeast dirge, there's a lilting organic character like worm-eaten unripened tomatoes, still containing the pesticides whose job it was to keep the worms off in the first place. Rank and fetid and lingering, leaving a really unsavoury taste in the mouth. Finish is dry and weak, except for that lingering malignancy.

Horrid beer. In some ways, even though it's not as bad all over as some other beers I have, this is worse, because the appearance and the smell don't warn you about how terrible is the thing you're about to put in your mouth.

Well, let this review be your warning instead. Stay away.

 

Single bottle picked up at a Canberra grocery store.

Poured into a small tumbler. My first clue that I had erred in my purchasing decision was the colour and appearance of this brew, which is all macro lager. Pale golden, loads of visible carbonation, thin soapy head. Doesn't look great. Even though it looks like a lager should, when a beer decidees to call itself a 'Bitter' I can't help but be disappointed when it looks like a lager. Then again, another Carlton product - Victoria Bitter - does the exact same thing. Should have guessed...

Nose is almost non-existent - pale malts, a bit of lemon, chemical. Smells like Bud.

My first sip from the bottle reminded me of those first sips of beer from my dad's nearly empty bottles when I was a kid. Not a good sign. The taste of the poured out stuff was not much better, just a macro lager with a foul, chemical character. Hard to finish. Thin-bodied, harsh carbonation. Yellow fizzy water.

Never again, nor anything else from Carlton and United. Avoid!

Pale gold pour with a small head that fades rapidly.
Dirty aroma of stale beer, grainy malt and cardboard, that's all.
Cooked corn and cardboard make up the entirety of the flavours.
Pretty high carbonation.
Utter rubbish. Does anyone drink this any more?

Pours a yellowish brown, light bubblies, not much odor.

Flavor is fairly underwhelming but not terrible. Very malty, with some fruitiness coming through. Not particularly bitter, despite the moniker.

Easy enough to drink, but not the most drinkable beer, but better than VB.

Do not judge a book by its cover could not be more apt then when applied to this beer. It looks great. A good finger of head, nice retention and good lacing. Unfortunately that is where the positive elements sort of stop.
The aroma is of grains - Weet bix. The taste is metallic and husky. Some bitterness. A low carbonation.
The beer actually gets more drinkable as it goes on. Perhaps the taste buds deaden? This is not undrinkable, and I have been known to have more than one at the footy but only because there are no other options.

Appearance - 3.0
Poured a finger and a half of foamy white head that reduced to a thin, patchy layer over a clear yellow body that has a tinge of brown.

Smell - 2.5
Grain, metal and a little vaguely fruity hop and yeast character.

Taste - 1.5
Very similar to VB, although a little more pleasant (or less nasty) to my taste. Similar stale, grain, husk and metal flavour as VB, with more hops and yeast, providing a beer that is stronger flavoured, more bitter, and still a pretty generic macro lager.

Mouthfeel - 2.5
Low to moderate level of carbonation, somewhat astringent.

Drinkability - 2.0
Strong flavour means it is less drinkable than most macro lagers.

OVERALL - 2.15
I think this is quite similar to Toohey's New - it dares to have more flavour than your regular macro lager, yet still tastes pretty bad. Not quite awful, but for from being a good beer. Another one to drink cold, it just gets worse with warming.