# Slabs



## pmolou (10/5/08)

ok so i basically have a routine of buying a slab every fortnight or so just to chill on when cooking the bbq and so on but lately i havent seen anything thats grabbed my eye

was wondering if anyones got any advice/had good experiences with a kinda sessionable slabs about $50 and lower 

So what is ur favorite slab?


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## Cocko (10/5/08)

Hey P-man,

If you are drinking slabs that slow, I would go with something real tasty!!

To me thats a Little creatures, either Pale or Bright Ale - always enjoyable.

And a new discovery is a; Murray's Blonde - sold in 4 packs so a slab would be costly but a good f*ckin beer!!

Obviously all IMO!!

Cocko.
:beer:


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## bakkerman (10/5/08)

James Squire Pilsener... fresher than Urquel, and bloody tasty if you like a well hopped lager.

Didn't win a gold medal for nothing..


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## andreic (10/5/08)

$50 a slab gives you a little more choice... I would be going to a bottle-o with a reasonable selection at reasonable prices and trying a few different things.

My own beers stocks are a little low on "ready to drink" beers at the moment. (will be ok in a few weeks).. so I bought a case of Memminger tonight for $35. It may not be exceptional, but I'm finding it to be a fairly tasty, very easy drinking lager. It is most certainly a sessionable beer - I've had a good go at it tonight.


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## mika (10/5/08)

You're on a homebrewing forum and you're buying a slab of commercial beer a fortnight :huh: ? Think you should be doing less posting and more brewing


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## pmolou (11/5/08)

actually im doing so much brewing i have no bottles and have to keep drinking slabs so i can get my next brew on the way


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## barfridge (11/5/08)

I've been slack in the brewing department, so have been buying a bit lately.

My faves recently have been Budvar and james squire IPA.


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## Prawned (11/5/08)

pmolou said:


> actually im doing so much brewing i have no bottles and have to keep drinking slabs so i can get my next brew on the way




I have that same problem  though mine is with kegs.. i have around 300 long necks there to fill.. but when i think about using bottles again i get shudders up my spine!


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## Barramundi (11/5/08)

Coopers Sparking Ale , good beer, higher alc % and australian and all for under $50 a box


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## paul (11/5/08)

Coopers Dark Ale or Dr Tims for me.


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## dr K (11/5/08)

Konig Pilsener represents excellent value at the moment, a very good example of a German Pils...


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## Katherine (14/5/08)

Coopers Pale Ale represents great value...


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## boingk (14/5/08)

Good offering for bottles and drinking alike? Try VB Original Recipe, have brought that to a party or two and drunk side by side with Coopers Pale. I think its better - mates think its either on par or just above/below CPA. Depends on taste I guess. Also the bottles have a very sleek look, the shoulder sloping like the longnecks of old. Pluss they're roll-tops ;D

Gotta admit I don't mind the odd Tooheys Pils. Half decent taste, goes down pretty easily due to a gravity thats not very high, and it has an alcohol content of 5.2% - I usually see it for $40 a case. This too has a somewhat distinctive bottle, with a sharp shoulder and relatively sqaurish look. Honestly, my next commercial case will probably be these.

Haagen Lager gets my vote too - $29 a case, good full-strength commercial lager without any overpricing. Also, its from the Independant Breweries of Australia! My mates who've had this with me now usually get it as well. Average green bottle.

If you want to go a bit over those price-wise, I don't mind Stella [even the Aussie brewer version] and very much favour Red Oak's Honey Ale...although they do run the $25 a 6-pack mark, its worth every cent. Trouble is they aren't that much of a session beer.

Cheers - boingk

EDIT: PS - You might want to pay the local recyclers a visit...I've scored numerous bottles [several batches worth], sealed back up in their original boxes. Easy, cheap and you don't have to spend the dosh on commercial.


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## bakkerman (14/5/08)

boingk said:


> Good offering for bottles and drinking alike? Try VB Original Recipe, have brought that to a party or two and drunk side by side with Coopers Pale. I think its better - mates think its either on par or just above/below CPA. Depends on taste I guess. Also the bottles have a very sleek look, the shoulder sloping like the longnecks of old. Pluss they're roll-tops ;D



I like VB original, can't for the life of me think why they changed it to it's current incarnation.. :huh:


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## LethalCorpse (14/5/08)

Another vote for Haagen, though buggered if I know where you get it for $29. bought it at dan murphy's for $39. Four blokes all agreed it was a bloody good drop.


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## Katherine (14/5/08)

```
Another vote for Haagen, though buggered if I know where you get it for $29. bought it at dan murphy's for $39. Four blokes all agreed it was a bloody good drop.
```

Yes I remember about 6 years ago it was around $30.00...

Its an ok beer!


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## Muggus (14/5/08)

Hard to go past a case of Coopers longies...Pale or Sparkling.
Last time I bought one, from Dan Murphys, it was $45 for 12 good quality longies of a good quality beer.

Besides that, I find it hard to resist when I see Pilsner Urquell for less than $50 a case...rarely happens.


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## Fourstar (14/5/08)

Aldi - Wernesgruner pils. Quite ok @ 11.99 a six pack especially if i'm supplying for the commoners. It will taste the same to them as any old pils and doesnt btoher my palate so why bother. Fully imported from Germany.

Buying for myself however ill go for a slab of squires, any style they're all good.

Edit. accidently had 1.99 a 6/pack!


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## Katherine (15/5/08)

> Aldi - Wernesgruner pils. Quite ok @ 11.99 a six pack especially if i'm supplying for the commoners. It will taste the same to them as any old pils and doesnt btoher my palate so why bother. Fully imported from Germany.



I so want an ALDI store... we dont have them over here!


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## Fents (15/5/08)

Katie said:


> I so want an ALDI store... we dont have them over here!



Aldi's rubbish. Its like going to do food shopping at Bunnings.


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## pokolbinguy (15/5/08)

Since when does Aldi sell grog?????


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## Barramundi (15/5/08)

they dont do liquor in NSW ... they do in Victoria 

ive tried the bourbon and cola and wont be doing that again ... not good


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## therook (15/5/08)

Simple

VB

Rook


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## pokolbinguy (15/5/08)

Barramundi said:


> they dont do liquor in NSW ... they do in Victoria
> 
> ive tried the bourbon and cola and wont be doing that again ... not good



Ohh man I wish they did in NSW....Aldi is awesome...scored 3.4kgs of Kalamata (spelling?) olives the other week for $14....SCORE!!!!! And anyway how many place can you buy all those cheap tools to build your brew stand with and get the loaf of bread at the same time 

hahaha Pok


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## bulp (15/5/08)

+1 for aldi's, cheap shopping and you can buy man stuff there two :super: 

Back to topic, not in any order depends on my mood 1: Tooheys Pils, cheap at around $40 slab very underrated aussie beer, have converted all who taste it ( I know I know its no Pilsner urquell but its not as exy as it either )

2:Just discovered Little Creatures Pale Ale :icon_drool2: Where has it been all my life, bloody pearla, made a mess in my pants when i tasted this little gem.

3:The old favorite Tooheys old top australian porter. Steady performer always good and you can get it in king browns.

Mate i could go on and on but their my fav three at the moment. So much beer only one liver. :beerbang: 

Oh i nearly forgot Murrays Sassy Blonde, Absolutely amazing Belgian Pale ale Leffe blond clone, another pantsmesseruperra you've got to try this even just a four pack. Thanks Australia.


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## Katherine (15/5/08)

> Aldi's rubbish. Its like going to do food shopping at Bunnings.



I thought that would be the ultimate mans shopping dream!


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## Dave86 (15/5/08)

Not a slab, but bws has a special on at the moment for two minikegs (5L) of any combo of eku pils, kapuziner weissbier or a kellerbier brewed by the same mob. two kegs for $60. Never tried any of them but got SWMBO to pick up a weissbier ($35) as it has some good reviews here Between being a uni student, having four kegs and god knows how many bottles of my own and trying to shift ten kilos, I couldn't really justify the second keg


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## pmolou (15/5/08)

yer i've tried murrays sassy blonde and loved it got a similar brew in the fermentor atm, good to have a belgian beer with a lower abv too when ur not up 4 a big night haha

yer i got some konig pils the other night ,very very good  especially for 40$ and got monteiths summer ale cos it was on special for 40$ thinking it would taste similr to a golden ale james squire ohh god how i was wrong in a word ginger beer :angry: 
might try tooheys old next its good to get some dark beers for the winter


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## KHB (15/5/08)

I usually go for Coopers Pale Ale Gotta get some drunk again to reculture the yeast mmmm


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## PostModern (22/5/08)

Katie said:


> I thought that would be the ultimate mans shopping dream!



Aldi's is cheap but they don't stock enough stuff, so you need to go to another grocer to get everything else. At least that's the case with my local Aldi, so I haven't been there recently except to buy a $30 DivX DVD player...

Anyway, Slabs... Last slab I bought was during Xmas cooking time, bought some Tasman Bitter from Liquorland. Every bit as good as Boag's draught 

With the season turning, I'm drinking less beer, so my brewing should be able to keep up, at last. Only buying the odd single or mixed sixer to try new beers or revisit old faves.


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## Interloper (22/5/08)

Muggus said:


> Hard to go past a case of Coopers longies...Pale or Sparkling.
> Last time I bought one, from Dan Murphys, it was $45 for 12 good quality longies of a good quality beer.


Big thumbs up for the Coopers Longies in any flavour. Got a carton of Stout a week ago. Perfect winter drinking at $36 for a carton from Dan Murpys here in SA.

Plus you get the king browns x 12 for bottling afterwards!


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## Interloper (22/5/08)

wally said:


> ... and don't forget the yeast that you can culture from them as well. All adds up to GOOD value.


This is probably answered elsewhere but is the Stout yeast the same as the yeast in the pales?


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## paul_h (22/5/08)

LethalCorpse said:


> Another vote for Haagen, though buggered if I know where you get it for $29. bought it at dan murphy's for $39. Four blokes all agreed it was a bloody good drop.


Really? It's not worth that much. I started drinking it when it first come out @$24 6 years ago, stopped drinking it when it went slowly up to $29. That's from the nookenburra hotel though, they were first to get it and Squires in WA and still the cheapest for both.
I'd never pay more than $30 for it, it's malty but bland on the hops. These days I stick to coopers (any of them) in longneck cartons, helps to have all the proper crown seal bottles. I have pay $50 for a carton of longnecks though  That's only $4 a long neck, when they're $5 for a single, so good value anyway. But I'm envious of anyone who can get them for $40.
Coopes stubbies are often $40, but I need the bottles and don't need the wasted space of twist top stubbies.


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## pmolou (22/5/08)

i got a slab of holgate mt macedon and fish rock brewery lager bot very good but pricy way too pricy loved the caramel sweetness of the holgate fish rock was a good beer but not extraordinary for its price

after buying a few slabs i've gotta say my new favorite over coopers is furstenburg from 1st choice @ 40$ a slab and good crown seal bottles :chug:


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## pmolou (16/6/08)

i found the ultimate slab session beer 
(at least i think so)

its called MAE's its a belgian pale ale similar to stella but costs only 30$ a slab at vintage cellars atm so its both quality and quantity


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## Sammus (16/6/08)

If you can stretch the budget I reckon cases of LCPA pints. I lived of em for a while (easy within the budget cuz i dont drink a lot lol) and theyre excellent bottles for your own brew afterwards.

Either that or come over to my neck of the woods, a nice feller is doing his own importing and undercutting a lot of the brewed under license stuff, so you get proper imported euro lagers etc for around $40 a case, or things like hogaarden wit for $45/case...


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## pablo_h (17/6/08)

pmolou said:


> i found the ultimate slab session beer
> (at least i think so)
> 
> its called MAE's its a belgian pale ale similar to stella but costs only 30$ a slab at vintage cellars atm so its both quality and quantity


It's very dissapointing for a belgian beer brewed over there, I had high hopes but it's pretty average, and a couple of posts mention it in the worst beer thread as dissapointing too.
It's not bad, just not in the range of squires or coopers for flavour.But at the price it can't be beat, it's better than Haagen too which is over $30 a carton now. But it's similar to haagen, lots of malt, not much hops. At least it doesn't taste bad, like anything else under $40, eg tasman, tooheys, CUB etc. In fact most of my mates will love it, I might buy another to share with friends at the next party, none of my other mates have heard of it yet and I tried it 4 months ago( didn't seem good enough to even mention to them, but now haagen has gone up so much in price...)


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## Cortez The Killer (17/6/08)

Sammus said:


> ... a nice feller is doing his own importing and undercutting a lot of the brewed under license stuff, so you get proper imported euro lagers etc for around $40 a case, or things like hogaarden wit for $45/case...


Where's that at?

Cheers


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## PostModern (17/6/08)

Cortez The Killer said:


> Where's that at?
> 
> Cheers



That would be Figtree Cellars unless I am mistaken.


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## brettprevans (17/6/08)

pmolou said:


> i found the ultimate slab session beer
> (at least i think so)
> 
> its called MAE's its a belgian pale ale similar to stella but costs only 30$ a slab at vintage cellars atm so its both quality and quantity



Very dissapointed in MAES. no taste. should have spent $30 on HBsupplies. Althought I bought it because im not going to be abl to brew for the next 6 weeks and dont have enough HB stocks to last. 

its very dissappointing that all your tasman bitters etc are now over $30. even your Hollandia from Vintage Cellars was an ok drop for what you paid. but no chance of getting that for under $30 now.


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## pmolou (17/6/08)

yer i'm not saying mae's is tasty beer experience but for $30 its good value i tend to like to buy slabs of blandish beer so when mates and family come over there's always something here to please all (i have to please people who only drink VB haha) 
and then brew really tasty differant beers myself (makes HB look good  )


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## Cummins (17/6/08)

I saw stella for $30 somewhere the other day when I was driving. I think it was on victoria street near the vic market. Didn't really interest me so I forgot exactly where!


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## Sammus (17/6/08)

PostModern said:


> That would be Figtree Cellars unless I am mistaken.


Bullseye


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