United Nations of Beer

Vanuatu Tusker OP Premium Lager

by Fez Broadbent
(Auckland)

Vanuatu Tusker OP Premium Lager (7% ABV)
Vanuatu, South Pacific

The higher percentage is well suited to this pacific island nation and its warm humidity; for one you probably don't want to have to worry about wondering what you got up to the night before while on holiday and at 7% after a few of these you definitely won't!

Golden and smooth with a slight bite, the hoppy aftertaste quickly fades on your palate but not before you thirst for more.

It's hard to place where exactly the origins of this brew are by taste but if it's anything like the island itself; it's complicated. The English and French were originally the first to colonise the island and rather than fight too much over it they decided to make it a condominium of complicated half councils and governments. The result is a tax haven full of very friendly Melanesian people who can speak both French and English but mostly Pidgin English to account for both.

I won't try to kid myself and say it has any hint of fruity taste; it doesn't. It is refreshing in a way but with the heat one is never quiet enough until you are ready for a siesta.

The hops are very rich and are either grown locally or perhaps imported from Australia; it's definitely something I found uniquely different about this drop.

That and perhaps the water used to brew with; its taste seems far less... processed.

This would go well with some local fish lightly battered and served with Kumara (sweet potato) fries while watching the sunset as you sit in a coral pool, wondering why the hell do you even have to go back to the rat race of commercial life when people on this island seem to be so happy living with the bare necessities.

And as the locals would say: Plis tri dis won it ver gud!