Melbourne’s bargain beer buyers rate Aldi knock offs

BEER drinkers are turning to Aldi’s cut-price knock-offs of premium ales, with a taste test finding some are actually better. VIDEO: Blind taste test

BARGAIN beer drinkers are turning to Aldi’s cut-price knock offs of premium ales, with a taste test finding some are actually better than their competitors.

But many discount supermarket chains were left wanting, with testers describing them as worse than “70 cent beers on a beach in Thailand”.

The Sunday Herald Sun did a blind tasting of the beers and consulted beer experts and seasoned drinkers to settle the bargain beer debate.

Beer guru Luke Robertson has been reviewing beers for years and said Aldi’s Fraser Briggs premium lager had similarities to James Boags.

“If someone gave me Aldi’s Fraser Briggs and told me it was a James Boags I would probably believe them,” Mr Robertson said. “I would happily drink it again.”

The beer blogger said Fraser Briggs was “definitely value for money” coming in at $9 for a sixpack compared with more than $20 for the premium Boags beer.

Alan Jupp and Julia Miles test Aldi beers against brand name competitors. Picture: Eugene Hyland

He rated the Aldi knock-off an 8/10.

Mr Robertson also reviewed Aldi’s Storm Pale Ale and described the packaging as “a lot like Coopers”.

“The look of the bottle looks like Coopers but it was lacking the yeast and grain flavour,” he said. “It wasn’t too bad but I wouldn’t go out of my way to have it again.”

The beer guru said Aldi’s Storm Super Dry and Saint Etienne lager were his two least favourite.

“I had two sips of the Storm Super Dry and was done. It tasted very oxidised and kind of like wet cardboard,” he said.

“The Saint Etienne wasn’t great either.”

Our blindfolded taste testers cracked open the case and gave the thumbs up to Aldi’s Saint Etienne, and all agreed it tasted “spot on” to Stella.

Aldi’s Pale Ale got a 0/10 despite one tester saying he would “happily drink it at the cricket”.

But Aldi’s Fraser Briggs was the favourite, with the team rating it an 8/10.

Aldi’s Fraser Briggs impressed the blind taste testers.

Alan Jupp, a regular at the St Kilda RSL, said Aldi’s Storm Super Dry was fresh to the palate and it wasn’t too far off tasting like Asahi.

“It’s light and pleasant,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed Asahi but I prefer Aldi’s Storm now.”

But Julia Miles, who also took the taste test, thought Storm wasn’t a boutique beer.

“It’s not a fancy beer but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I think it’s more palatable than Asahi,” Ms Miles said.

Both testers agreed they couldn’t tell the difference between Aldi’s Fraser Briggs and James Boags.
Mr Jupp said he was shocked to find how well Aldi matched the flavour.

“It’s got me absolutely stumped. They taste exactly the same,” he said.

Ms Miles said she couldn’t tell the difference in flavour.

Surprisingly, they both agreed on Storm as their favourite.

“I would definitely go out of my way to drink Storm and Fraser Briggs,” Ms Miles said.

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