Hammer N Tongs Draught

Brewed by J. Boag & Son (San Miguel)
Style: Pale Lager
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Lager glass, Shaker

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Sold cheaply at 1st Choice Liquor stores around Sydney. Sweet corny malt nose with a dash of skanky yeast. Pours a nice pale gold body with a fluffy white head and lace. Starts off reasonably nice, some floral hops, then turns a bit wrong with a watery corny malt flavour, drying skunky yeast note and metallic bitterness. Not a fan, but decent considering the price.

Bottle in Brisbane. Another boring pale lager. Aromas of hay, and hints of citrus. Taste is sweet, and short-lived. Palate is thin and watery. Yellow, with no head.

375ml bottle. Pours a clear, pallid yellow, with a tiny and rapidly fading white head, thus looking like just another dull pale lager. Looks can be deceiving, but in the case of this beer they are extremely accurate. This is just another dull pale lager. Weak grain notes on the nose, with some wet grass and cardboard. Metallic, stale hops lead into overly acidic lemon, before fading into a finish that is disturbingly reminiscent of a grease-soaked pizza box. Curses to whoever it was left two of these in my fridge - I’ve still got another one to go! As an additional note, whilst I am 100% certain that this is the same beer, my bottles were brewed in Vietnam, not Tasmania.

Clear golden colour, minimal carbonation and a thin white head. Slightly wheaty and metallic aroma. Rather empty flavour, a bit of wheat. Having said that, not completely unpleasant - just empty. Slight bitter after taste. If its a hot day, and this is whats available i’d drink it.

bottle. mate of mine used to get this as it was so cheap, think it was exclusive to one chain. as others have said, you really do get what you pay for.

Aroma: light apple with some lightly funky notes. Appearance: aussie lager yellow clear with a white head. Flavour: Typical watery aussie lager notes with pride of ringwood hops destroying any possibility of a decent brew. Overall don’t

375ml bottle. You get what you pay for - cheap and nasty. Poured clear and golden in colour with an average head of foam and average carbonation. Corn and malt aroma which was very bland. Dry and thin bodied with a slightly metallic taste. Nothing about this was nice. Did not expect much and I wasn’t disappointed.

Aroma 8 I love the smell of home brew Appearance 3 I am drinking from a bottle and a fine looking bottle it is. I am sure it looks good inside my tummy also. :) Flavor 7 It does taste a bit like XXXX I have figured and that aint too bad, along with it crossing towards a boags that hits the spot! Palate 3 sweet at 1st, then with a nice XXXX ending.... as Borat would say... niiiice! Overall impression 15 most people told me it would be crap, I was very suprised and must give it 75% for this category. I rated this beer quite well based on the fact alot of people neglected to give it the credit it is worth for a 4% $25 case of beer. It is fairly cidery, I like a boags, favorite is Boags Light. If you dont mind this as a similar but not exactly the same type of flavor you will enjoy it. I guess most people like the VB or Carlton Draght or XXXX. If this is what you are looking for yes you will be disappointed. It doesnt taste like a cheap beer. I gave it an 8 for aroma based on the fact it smelt like a home brew, When I drink a cheap beer, I wanna feel cheap and what cheaper smell is there than home brew. Seriously if you like a cascde/boags type beer then you wont mind this. Just dont expect the earth or you will be slagging it like others... When I saw the name in the 1st Choice I had to crack a smile and say in my most ocker bogan voice, "STRUTH I wanna go Hammer N tongs!!!!" Another thing it is brewed it says on the bottle in tassie, I think the beer is worth it based on the fact it has been made with water from tasmania... I have drunk about 6 of them by now and a comment from my neighbour was while it is a bit like a boags it does have a XXXX gold after taste. I kinda have to agree with him. If anything it could be called a refined XXXX gold?

Bottle (375ml). Poured a dull gold with a average size, creamy, white head which was fully lasting. Aroma was of sweet cornish malts, honey and some damp bready notes. Flavor was darn right offensive! with loads of musky wet cardboard, sweet cornish malts and some sugar. Light bodied with medium carbonation, watery texture, watery mouthfeel and a short finish. Awful.

A trip down south to Bunbury bought this knocking on my door. Doing the ’handshake and smile’ rounds for a Perth brewer, I was in desperate need of a good German Pilsner or the like and, no-where to be found at first, needed to sample this questionable Tasman Bitter clone just for another notch. Good to get it out the way.
Into a whisky tumbler (all that was available) it produced a dull-gold and bright with a nicely formed, well held pad of fake white foam that daubed rings down the glass. An "I’m sorry who farted?" yeast burp lifts from the glass - slow-cooled poached eggs followed by boiled old cabbage. It tingles and then bites in the mouth, carbonic acid ’east-coast-style’. As you get into it a little passionfruit shows, canned corn kernels, nasty yeast notes and a balance of mown-lawn hops make for utter pleasant and down-right enjoyable drinking. Its finish is rough, metallic, not crisp and so thoughtful is the dodgy vegetable broth of a finish that I must say made me forget I was tasting new beer at all. Is this the state of Australian brewing. Have we regional beers now made by licensed nobodies and paid for by huge corporations like San Miguel?. Have I lost touch with Aussie brewing in only a month or two?
A label to soon find at auction on ebay as it will soon be discontinued!!! (37,5cL, 20/03/08, Liquorland, Bunbury)

Funny how the name Boags appears nowhere on this. Trick is to freeze the life out of it to make it drinkable. Soft and bland but better than similar products at this end of the range.