New Zealand: Monteith's Brewing

So after a 13 hour plane ride that landed at 5:30 in the freaking morning and a semi-nap, I was looking forward to trying my first New Zealand beer at lunch. It was Monteith's Brewing Radler Bier and boy, did I wish I had a glass of wine instead! I looked up the brewery and once again found that it was bought by a large corporation, DB Breweries. I disliked the Radler Bier so much that I wouldn't buy anymore Monteith's when I saw it. However, my friend and I were walking around a neighborhood and there wasn't much to do there, so we saw a Monteith's Ale House called The Copper Room and out of pure boredom, we tried 2 more beers.


Monteith's Radler Bier- 5% abv, says : An easy drinking beer with light hoppy notes and a hint of natural lemon juice. Poured a light clear yellow. It smelled like Sprite soda, artificial lemon and light faint hops. It tasted like Sprite soda with the tiniest touch of hops. It was nasty. The last thing I ever want a beer to taste like is soda. It reminded me of a Zima or something to that effect. I bet it is popular with college students who don't know the taste of real beer.  (I just looked it up and it has a D+ rating on beer advocate. Not sure what the + is for).


Montieth's Summer Ale- Lager 5% abv. I didn't even want to try this beer after the Radler Bier, but the bar tender in the brew pub insisted I try it, as it's apparently their best seller. The only difference between this and the Radler beer is that instead of Spite lemon/lime soda, this tasted like carbonated apple juice soda. Not sure which one was worse, but they were both the worst beers I tried on my trip.

Monteith's Black Beer-Schwarzbier style- 5.2% abv. This poured a dark black brown, slightly clearish. It smelled of light roasted malt, some espresso and a touch of vanilla extract. It tasted light, with a good chariness to it, toasted malts and roasted espresso. It had decent drinkability because it was such a light drinking beer. Hands down, the only decent one that is passable for Montieth's if you have to go there- which I advise that you don't.


Overall, there are MUCH better beers out there in New Zealand. Don't try their Radler or Summer Ale even if you were stuck on a dessert island and drink their Black Beer if there's nothing else decent to try.


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