Carlton Draught
Carlton & United Breweries, Ltd.

Very nice beer, better on tap. It is a staple and could very happily drink a handful on evenings.

Micro-brewers stand on the shoulders of Carlton Draught... and if they think they don't, they do.
C&U Breweries has a bad rep, having helped consolidate the old Aussie standbys for the global manager, Kirin (or was it Ashai... or does it even matter.) My point is this: Carlton Draught has been successful because it satisfies needs better than the competition, usually for thirst... but tonight also at the table with a Malaysian spiced soup.

Draught Looks inviting, a big bubbly foam sticks around. For its style, Smells are slightly below average, mostly muted malt. Tastes are balanced, but also not distinguished; except for a slight spiciness that wants to come out, but never makes it. Medium-mouthed and quite soft in a style dominated by the light and prickly.

I drank this along side sipping a spicier Asian soup; and it calmed my palate. It is OK to like not C&U for its role in consolidating the Aussie has-beens; but it is not OK to not praise a decent beer when you have one.

 

I nicked this one out of the old man's fridge in January 2024 and drank it in May that year.

L: Crystal clear, deep golden yellow, with a fluffy and long-lasting, bright-white head. Lots of bubbles are visible in the glass.

S: The nose has mild, bready malt notes, light, spicy and woody hop notes, and just a touch of old pub floors. Perhaps it's the ingrained memory of a thousand university Carlton Draughts from back in the 90s huddling in the corner of my brain that brings that last note to mind...

T: Crisp with a slightly sweet, slightly buttery malt base, mildly bitter with that spicy woodiness evident, and very easy to drink. After a few sips, a slightly sour note and a sweet finish again bring old pubs - and the cling of cigarette smoke - to mind. That said, this is actually much better than I was prepared to put up with; I can understand how 19-year-old me thought this was the bee's knees.

M: It's very soft and easy on the palate. The carbonation from the bottle is mild; I think this generally comes with more kick out of a tap.

O: As noted above, I drank a lot of this at uni, but that was 30 years ago now (sigh...), and it's fashionable to piss on Aussie macro beer, largely because it deserves it. But there's a reason this style of beer reigned supreme in Australia for the best part of a century: it's an easy-drinking, everyman kind of beer, and if there's nothing else on offer, I'm happy to drink it.

Cheers!
#531

Absolutely delicious. I’ve been craving one ever since leaving Australia. I would give anything for a schooner on tap

Drinking Carlton draught is like attempting to tap dance on a rollercoaster – it's a wild ride, but you're left wondering why you even tried in the first place. The taste is like a confused symphony of regret and stale hops, making you question if your taste buds have gone on strike. It's the kind of beer that makes you appreciate water more, and that says a lot. If disappointment had a flavor, it would be Carlton draught – a true masterpiece in the art of brewing confusion."

 

Another day, another Australian adjunct lager. Probably Australia's 2nd or 3rd most popular lager. Why do I torture myself buying these? Well all beer should be reviewed. I've drunk it before, I'll probably drink it again. Let's try to be as neutral as possible.


Purchased at BWS Macquarie Fields, Sydney. Best Before 18/6/24.

Appearance: Typical golden straw of your Australian adjunct lager. Soapy white head a tonne of bubbles clinging to the glass and racing to the surface. Standard Aussie mass produced lager.

Smell: Grassy Grain, pride of ringwood hops, a touch of alcohol, something citrus, but that's the pride of ringwood hops, but could have also been from a urinal cake dropped in the vat. Smells like the floor of a thousand Aussie pubs. It's not inoffensive, just standard.

Taste: Grain, sweet malt, grassy notes. Funky aftertaste that seems like chemical residue Little to no bitterness. Slight citric floralness with the after-taste.

Mouthfeel: Thin, highly carbonated. Somewhat refreshing if you're thirsty.

Overall: Bog standard Aussie adjunct lager. It's nothing to write home about because there nothing to really write about. It's not flavourful, it's not flavourless, it's just generic "beer flavour".

#️⃣5️⃣9️⃣

$6.50 AUD per 570ml pint at Paddy's Irish Pub, Port Douglas, Australia.

Innocuous little brew, hitting on 6-row, minerality, and some buttery notes but little else. Lacks overt hop flavour or any malty richness.

Suffers from subdued though present metallic off flavour.

Not much good for anything save quenching thirst in the Queensland heat, but not terrible for what it is.

Overcarbonated. Not unrefreshing. A bit creamy.

High D+ / NOT RECOMMENDED

***
12/30/22 middy as part of a $20 AUD steak + fry + beer deal at Beaches Bar, Airlie Beach, Australia.

I've had worse, and this is relatively innocuous.

C- / BELOW AVERAGE

 

 

 

Can, best by June 29th 2019.

It pours a clear gold with an ample head of foam.

Big corny notes in the smell, hints of vegetables, wee bit of bitterness.

Taste is below that of XXXX Gold. Too much corn,vegetal, metallic.

Body is not better than the XXXX despite its higher abv.

Pretty poor beer.

 

 

Used to be a fantastic beer. On tap is still okish but in bottle the chemical/metallic after taste ruins it. Never buying again.

 

Somewhat refreshing and mildly attractive, but the strong chemical taste, feel and smell ruin this lager.