Beer Styles

Queensland's flagship beer is a pale lager. According to the brewery, XXXX Bitter has contained 4.4 percent alcohol since March 2016, down from 4.6 percent before. It tastes mild, lightly malty and dry, with very little hop bitterness.

This shouldn't be confused with English bitter, a copper-coloured ale from England. The name comes from marketing, not the recipe. In international beer style terms, XXXX Bitter falls into the international pale lager category, a style brewed worldwide.

A second group is mid-strength beers—what Germans would call Leichtbier, or light beer. XXXX Gold launched in 1990 and contains 3.5 percent alcohol. Such beers are popular in Australia because they let you stay at the table longer, whether at a barbecue or a sporting match. Original gravity and alcohol content run lower, yet the flavour stays clean and fresh.

Craft brewers like Green Beacon or Newstead have brought ale styles like pale ale and IPA to Brisbane. These are fruitier and more hop-forward than lager, but still meant to be served lightly chilled.

And Bundaberg Ginger Beer? It's a style that belongs to the beer family in name only. This ginger soft drink is non-alcoholic, made differently from beer, and doesn't substitute for a lager in the glass. The same region does offer XXXX Ginger at 3.5 percent alcohol, but that's a different drink from a different producer.