Black Diamond

MANY years ago, I backpacked around China with a couple of mates and part of our
`cultural awakening’ was discovering that there were some pretty good beers over there.

One of the best areas for beer is Tsingtao and thanks to some enterprise on the part of
former racing car driver Allan Grice and his daughter Sally, they have come up with a
gem of a beer called Black Diamond.

The beer is naturally brewed in China in a Mexican style and is starting to circulate on
the Gold Coast.

It comes in a very distinctive bottle with an equally impressive label and I can honestly
the packaging does the beer justice.

It has a good golden colour, a tight white head and a hoppy aroma.

Allan, being partial to Carona, wanted something similar but fortunately the Chinese
brewers have come up with something superior.

Black Diamond has more body and flavour than it famous Mexican counterpart and is
crisp, clean and refreshing across the palate.

It has a good bitterness in its aftertaste thanks to the hops and it doesn’t sit heavily in the gut.

It also boasts low calories but has more flavour than `blondes’.

Being a lighter style of lager, it is an ideal warm weather drop and is a good thirst
quencher.

But it isn’t light in alcohol and is a full strength brew at 4.6 percent.

I would suggest it would go well with Mexican and Sian dishes or even seafood.

It’s a very social beer with good sessionability and doesn’t make you feel bloated after a
few.

This definitely isn’t as bland as some of the other Mex-style beers in the market and it
has certain quality which will make appealing to those who don’t mind the mainstream
bitter ales.

MY TIP

Serve Black Diamond up nice and cold, even chilled as the weather warms. It’s a classy
looking beer a with a taste to match is starting to find its way into retail outlet through the Gold Coast. At around $40 per carton of 355ml stubbies (bigger than the usual premium 330ml rivals), this is also a good value beer definitely worth trying.