We had mates stay with us over the weekend and between telling old stories, mostly full of lies, making fun of each other’s short comings, we watched Transformers 2, and to dull the disappointment I felt while watching it, I resorted to a few XXXX Bitters.
I grew up watching Transformers, Macross and most other 80s cartoons (who remembers Marshall Bravestarr). I even owned an Optimus Prime and Soundwave at one stage (the boom-box one that had the cassettes in his chest). So, even though the movie has been out for years, I still hadn’t seen it, but it gives you an idea of how keen I was to see it…..knowing that Megan Fox was in it and dressed mostly in tight leather had nothing to do with it……..much.
Instead we sat through just over an hour of the most useless fight scenes and destruction, and longing looks from the actors. In fact Optimus Prime appeared to be the only Autobot that had the ability to cause any damage on a Decepticon……I clearly remember Starscream being bashed by Bumblebee in the cartoons. It caused me such anguish that I started to have waves of non-alcohol related nausea. In fact, the nausea got so bad at one stage that I had to leave the room when it was announced that the only way to revive Optimus was by plugging in the Matrix of Leadership.
But it was when one of my drinking…sorry, movie watching companions noted that he had his Masters in Business Management, and wondered aloud if that would qualify as a Matrix of Leadership, that I thought I was actually going to have my first non-alcohol related vomit in years. The movie goes on to get better, and a truth be told, I’ve seen worse movies out there, Dark City for example.
And it’s in this long-winded way that I come to the review of the XXXX Bitter.
With the XXXX Bitter there is not much to talk about. It poured a pale yellow with a white head which disappeared quickly. It tasted fresh and was easy to drink in a thirsty sort of way. Some of the other professional, more qualified reviewers out there say that it’s a rubbish beer and shouldn’t be made. I disagree. There is definitely a place for the easy drinking, full flavoured beer. The fact that XXXX Bitter can be bought in tins and had around the pool is also a bonus. It’s inoffensive and you could do a lot worse, even within Castlemaine’s own beer list, don’t get me started on their Summer Bright Lager, for example.
All said and done, I’d give XXXX Bitter a 2.5 and Transformers a 2 out of 5.
Other “steady performers”:
VB – hold on to your hats beer lovers. As of October 2012 VB will revert to it’s original recipe, the full flavoured full strength 4.9% alcohol. Vic Bitter has been tinkered with so much since 2007 that it’s nowhere near the beer that it once was. Now the beer boffins have realised “they got it wrong” and will start to make a beer that is, as the ad says, “for a hard earned thirst”. Plus there will be no wholesale price rise, this means that we shouldn’t see a price increase at our end.
James Squire Sundown Lager – Originally one of James Squires’ limited edition beers, it became so popular the Malt Shovel Brewery were forced to continue production! It’s a crisp, clean beer with a touch of citrus, and hop driven flavours that make this perfect for summer. Try it with seafood coming straight off the BBQ, pork snags or even a BBQ Chook.
