Victoria Bitter Midstrength - Carlton & United Breweries, Ltd.

aeolianshredhead

Australia

1.98/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 1.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Yet another of the main offenders from Australia, VB mid. I remember VB well enough, but I have honestly never tried it's mid strength twin. I have braced myself.

A- There's really nothing to report here. You've seen one Aussie macro trash, you've seen them all.

S- My 8th grade science experiment comes to mind. It is woefully artificial. Very, very minute traces of citrus. That's it.

T- Insipid, but not quite the monstrosity I was expecting. Faint sweetness then the abyss of POR destroys it utterly. Still, it's not overly offensive, I guess.

M- Painfully watery. At least there is some fair carbonation. No character at all though.

O- It's a bit of a chore to drink this. It really does fail on all counts. Yet sadly, this is not even the bottom of the barrel. In fact, I would actually choose this over some certain other Australian macro beers. Drink a hefeweizen instead.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2011 12:11:22 | More by aeolianshredhead

philphilphil

Australia

2.53/5  rDev +21.6%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

VB gold, what you get when you let your unbeercultured mate buy for you...
A - like VB.
S - crappy yeast. CUB style.
T - better than VB. No alcohol flavour being the bettering part. Cheap Bready yeast, water.
M - okay.
D - i could drink it to be polite, not drinking for drunkenesswrothy due to low abv. Not as badd as vb by anymeans.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2010 13:30:01 | More by philphilphil

laituegonflable

Australia

1.38/5  rDev -33.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 2

Here we go with the bottom of Hades' sickbucket. VB - my most-hated of all beers, minus half the alcohol. Will it crash & burn? The excitement is palpable.

Pours a slightly orangey-gold with steady carbonation. Head is not much and sinks to leave a thin cloud, sparse, like a saliva splat. Leaves some impressive lacing, but is otherwise a bit of a dud.

Nose has a weak grassy character, and a very light carbolic aroma, like sparkling water. These aromas are OK, even desirable, in this type of beer, but only if they are actually bloody there. I mean, honestly, there's virtually nothing here. Piss-poor nose.

Oh, yeah, the taste. Dark, nuanced, rich, complex and vibrant. NOT. Very, very weak and watery on the front, with a slight carbonated touch on the mid, then a finish well short of the mark with a weird sweet flavour, almost like lamonade, with a touch of horrible Carlton Draught yeast, only not that offensive. Mouthfeel - eh, not even worth mentioning. Thin, thin, thin.

The one redeeming quality of this is it has no flavour, so it's not out-and-out horrible. But hey, morons, beer should have flavour. It's call malt and hops and shit. Losers.

Seriously, don't bother.

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2009 03:50:37 | More by laituegonflable

Macca

Australia

2.38/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

This pours a clear dark golden colour. A very vigorous pour produces a centimetre or so of head which quickly disappears. Some lacing but no visible carbonation. It looks dead.

Typical CUB grainy aromas.

The taste isn't that bad. Not good but not awful. The grain again dominates. A bit metallic.

Spritzy mouthfeel.

Overall not worth the trouble.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2009 07:52:47 | More by Macca

LittleCreature

Australia

2.03/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Appearance - 4.0
Poured two fingers of dense white head that reduced to a single finger. The body is clear and pale gold. Left lacing right down to the bottom of the glass.

Smell - 1.5
Not much to write about here - smells like husk, grain and a little cooked vegies.

Taste - 1.5
Similar in flavour than the regular VB, but a little lighter, and therefore (seeing as VB has never tasted good), better. Tastes of husk and grain, vaguely metallic and sour in the slightly bitter, very dry finish.

Mouthfeel - 2.5
Moderately carbonated, does not feel quite as thin as some midstrength beers.

Drinkability - 3.0
Definitely easier to drink that regular VB, but those who know their beer will stay away from this one.

OVERALL - 2.25
While still a poor beer, this is definitely better than I had expected. I will hopefully never drink it again, but to be honest, with the number of brand faithful VB drinkers out there, and the number of these people who still get behind the wheel after a 6-pack, I can almost see the point of this beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2008 09:07:54 | More by LittleCreature

jarmby1711

Australia

2.2/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

What possesses a grown man to invest $2.10 in a beer that he is reasonably confident he is not going to enjoy.
A hopeless belief that a major brewer will have realised that some drinkers like flavour? , or interest? or something ?.
Well the putrid yellow labelshould have been as far as I needed to go.
CUB have dumbed down Vb (full strength) to a watery brew of no consequence.
It bespeaks of the inanity of beer drinkers in general that the number crunchers at CUB have a belief , that this will sell
It is sprizy in the mouth Now that I have covered the positives , it is watery thin has no malt qualities and a dull boring bitterness.
Dont bother

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2007 00:35:44 | More by jarmby1711