1) Ever since Coca-Cola Amatil announced some time last year it was going to be importing Fiji Bitter I’ve been keen to try it. Why that is the case I’m not sure. I wasn’t exactly champing at the bit to try Coke’s Yenda range. But when I saw this squat bottle on a bottlo shelf I got a little excited.
2) Not excited enough to buy a whole six-pack, mind you. Instead I ignored said bottle shop’s signs warning against breaking up six-packs and took one up to the cash register – no dramas. Moral to the story? Be a rebel and break up any six-packs you want.
3) It should be said this beer is actually made in Fiji. And by that I mean the country and not some NSW country town curiously called Fiji. Because you know that’s the sort of thing Coca-Cola Amatil might try and do. Like they might try and pass off their Yenda beer range as some offering from a teency-weency brewery, which would include ensuring the words “Coca-Cola Amatil” don’t appear on the label. Yep, Coca-Cola Amatil is so proud of their beers that they don’t want their name on the label.
4) The label describes this as “a Fijian style lager beer brewed to deliver full refreshment when ice cold”. Apparently “Fijian style lager” is the same as every mainstream lager in the world. The aroma here is a bit bready and a bit of wet cardboard. The flavour was a surprise – it’s nowhere near as sweet as I was expecting (I’d presumed it was going to be like Australian macro lagers). But as the beer warms up there’s a slight chemical note, which might be why it’s recommended to be drunk ice cold.
5) On the subject of beers imported by Coca-Cola Amatil, I’m still waiting for them to do something with the Sam Adams range of beers. With their marketing and distribution heft I really expected to see a much wider range of these beers becoming more reasily availabl e. But so far, the only one I see anywhere is the Boston Lager – which is actually less than what the old importer was getting out here. Coke may add life, but it doesn’t appear that they add Sam Adams Beer.
Categories: Beer of the Week
BEER IS YOUR FRIEND 
I’m waiting for more Sam Adams too!
They are wasting that partnership!
When I worked for them there was a little talk of other Sam Adams coming over but nothing concrete. I agree, would be kinda great to see more than the Boston Lager.
There’s still something going on with these fiji’s though. On their home turf they come in the same bottles, but with a curiously thicker glass. It used to be a CUB owned brewery/brand, just as a bit of trivia. I quite enjoyed drinking a couple of cases of these over the course of 8 nights in Fiji last October. I probably wouldn’t strain myself to track them down here though.
Don’t blame you for not tracking them down, Greg. Beers always taste better when you’re on holiday 😉
Your not wrong! When we got to the resort, they had a draught option at the bar called Fiji Gold, which I presumed to be a mid strength for obvious reasons, but it wasn’t, and it was the better beer, both on tap and in bottle. Never seen it here though.