Challenging 10 Perceptions in The Aussie Craft Beer Market

[chrisluki]

What's Craft, what's not?

Is bigger better, or selling out?

Are you allowed to have a desire to make good beer and money at the same time?

http://beerhealer.com/index.php/2016/07/31/challengin/

Just some conversation starters. Some won't be popular, some might spark some debate...but that's what I am trying to do.

Share your thoughts guys and girls, keen to hear them.

 

[DU99]

interesting article

 

[droid]

we're a strange lot here in oz. we have the tall poppy thing going on but we also like to see the battler rise up and have a win - pfft in dunno

 

[Coodgee]

There's no problem with taking a successful small-batching recipe and scaling up production 10x or even 1000x. But it's another thing entirely to take that successful small batch recipe and scaling it up 1000x ...and by the way we need to modify the hop bill a bit because we can't get reliable volumes of those hops (the punters won't know anyway) ...and there is no reason why we need to use that imported german malt, we have a contract with a quality Australian maltster ...and let's just tone down the bitterness a little to make it more accessible...

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

To me the dividing line has nothing to do with size, it has all to do with approach. If the important decisions are made by people who are engaged in production, that will show in the product. If the important decisions are made by people who are not engaged in production, that will also show in the product.

A good example at the large scale is the difference between what's happened with the big guys and the "craft" subsidiaries. CUB bought MBBCo and fucked it up completely, because CUB is run by focus groups and bean counters.

Meanwhile Lion Nathan brought out the James Squire beers, supposedly because Chuck Hahn insisted on that as a condition of the sale of Hahn brewing, and bankrolled Little Creatures / White Rabbit (the latter from day one, not sure about the former). People who actually make beer are still involved in the decision making processes, so they haven't fucked it up as badly as CUB did. Give it time, the beancounters always win.

On the small scale, I know of a very small brewery which has a brewery outlet / pub on site and over the last few years it has changed from being a small brewery that sells its wares on site to being a very successful venue that happens to have a brewery attached. The locus of decision making shifted away from the brewery to the venue: the venue is seen as the profit centre, the brewery as a (necessary) cost centre. The drive then becomes to contain those costs and everything goes downhill very rapidly.

 

[Dave70]

we're a strange lot here in oz. we have the tall poppy thing going on but we also like to see the battler rise up and have a win - pfft in dunno

Until that battler gets to big for his bloody boots. Oh him..yeah, that guys a wanker now..
Cynical Aussie insecurity / crab mentality at work.

 

[Bribie G]

Coming from a UK brewing background, Australia is a bit different - and in many ways similar to the USA. Here, apart from Coopers, by the 1990s everything was owned by the Duopoly.
Prior to that and even up to the 1980s the term "craft beer" had not been invented, but there was still enough competition between the different breweries to ensure that some quite tasty and unique beers were on tap around the country.
And I was already a seasoned home brewer so I knew a good beer.

For example I used to love going on a NSW road trip because once you hit Tenterfield the beers were completely different to the beers North of the border. Tooheys of course, and also Tooths who put out a lovely dark "old" and there were quite a few varieties on tap in most pubs. Back in Queensland Powers were giving them a fright with a nicely hopped malty Bitter and a couple of intriguing offerings such as a Vienna style Red. Just up the road Eumundi brewery did a lager that would hold its head up against most German imports such as Becks. Interstate, Cascade and Boags ruled Tasmania and even SA had three independants in the form of Southwark and West End and Coopers.

All except Coopers taken over by the duopoly, castrated and then many of the brands dumped because of "lack of consumer demand". Yeah of course there's a lack of demand if you've turned a very drinkable lager such as Powers into insipid cats piss.
And if you are making something actually quite good like Castlemaine 3X or Carbine Stout or XXXX Draught red label (a nutty darker lager that was excellent in the winter) well let's get rid of them anyway and bring in something dry, blonde and crispppp to replace them. Fuckwits.

Now the UK connection. Over there, the "duopolisation" didn't proceed as far as the ultimate tragedy in Australia, and whilst very many UK regional breweries got absorbed by MegaEvilBrewGroup, other very old companies such as SA Brain, Camerons, Greene King, and heaps more are still going strong and are now all mixed in with the new "craft" breweries. The line between a big commercial and a craft brewery is very blurred indeed. So in the North East as an example you can wander into a pub and be drinking Cameron's Strongarm then a Black Sheep bitter then a pint of Theakstons.
Camerons and Theakston are old family breweries going back to Cap'n Cook's day, whereas Black Sheep was "cloned off" from Theakston by a family member and would fall into the category of "Craft".. or would it? What about the old dead breweries that have been revived when MegaEvilBrewGroups I and II sold the names back to independants - when I was a wee lad staying with my Grandma I'd pass Barnsley Breweries Acorn brewery on the bus and knew I was nearly at the town centre. After many years it's been revived as a new startup but is it "craft" or not? Do they care? The important thing is that they are once again pumping out Barnsley Bitter to the original recipe.


It's a shame that the greed is good mentality took over in Australia in the 80s and 90s. If we still had strong regional breweries producing fairly distinctive styles, and the craft brewing scene had arisen their midst, say with ten or twelve local State based beers on tap in most larger pubs from a range of various sized breweries, I don't think we would even be using the term "craft". Probably just "small" or "local" breweries, with no insidious sneer at the larger producers.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

It seems from nearly every photo I see of a craft brewery, the blokes have beards. So, to be a craft brewery, beards are essential.

 

[chrisluki]

interesting article

Thanks mate...appreciate the feedback

 

[chrisluki]

It seems from nearly every photo I see of a craft brewery, the blokes have beards. So, to be a craft brewery, beards are essential.

hehe, seems that way. My beard is poor compared to most craft beer beards!

 

[chrisluki]

we're a strange lot here in oz. we have the tall poppy thing going on but we also like to see the battler rise up and have a win - pfft in dunno

Yeah its a really strange dynamic...we support to a level and then cut you off at the legs!

 

[chrisluki]

There's no problem with taking a successful small-batching recipe and scaling up production 10x or even 1000x. But it's another thing entirely to take that successful small batch recipe and scaling it up 1000x ...and by the way we need to modify the hop bill a bit because we can't get reliable volumes of those hops (the punters won't know anyway) ...and there is no reason why we need to use that imported german malt, we have a contract with a quality Australian maltster ...and let's just tone down the bitterness a little to make it more accessible...

You're on my wavelength!

 

[chrisluki]

To me the dividing line has nothing to do with size, it has all to do with approach. If the important decisions are made by people who are engaged in production, that will show in the product. If the important decisions are made by people who are not engaged in production, that will also show in the product.

A good example at the large scale is the difference between what's happened with the big guys and the "craft" subsidiaries. CUB bought MBBCo and fucked it up completely, because CUB is run by focus groups and bean counters.

Meanwhile Lion Nathan brought out the James Squire beers, supposedly because Chuck Hahn insisted on that as a condition of the sale of Hahn brewing, and bankrolled Little Creatures / White Rabbit (the latter from day one, not sure about the former). People who actually make beer are still involved in the decision making processes, so they haven't fucked it up as badly as CUB did. Give it time, the beancounters always win.

On the small scale, I know of a very small brewery which has a brewery outlet / pub on site and over the last few years it has changed from being a small brewery that sells its wares on site to being a very successful venue that happens to have a brewery attached. The locus of decision making shifted away from the brewery to the venue: the venue is seen as the profit centre, the brewery as a (necessary) cost centre. The drive then becomes to contain those costs and everything goes downhill very rapidly.

Great reply mate...whats the brewery? Get others to head out and support it!

 

[chrisluki]

Interstate, Cascade and Boags ruled Tasmania and even SA had three independants in the form of Southwark and West End and Coopers.

All except Coopers taken over by the duopoly, castrated and then many of the brands dumped because of "lack of consumer demand". Yeah of course there's a lack of demand if you've turned a very drinkable lager such as Powers into insipid cats piss.
And if you are making something actually quite good like Castlemaine 3X or Carbine Stout or XXXX Draught red label (a nutty darker lager that was excellent in the winter) well let's get rid of them anyway and bring in something dry, blonde and crispppp to replace them. Fuckwits.

It's a shame that the greed is good mentality took over in Australia in the 80s and 90s. If we still had strong regional breweries producing fairly distinctive styles, and the craft brewing scene had arisen their midst, say with ten or twelve local State based beers on tap in most larger pubs from a range of various sized breweries, I don't think we would even be using the term "craft". Probably just "small" or "local" breweries, with no insidious sneer at the larger producers.

Great comments here mate.

I worked for Boags, came in just after the Lion purchase...We saw exactly that happen with the Boags beers...St George, Strongarm, Honey Porter, Classic Blonde etc...all died so that they could push Draught and Premium into Victoria...didn't really work.

We had one small win Tassie, our team revived XXX Ale to its former glory, but they would never take it over to Vic...wasn' "premium" enough!

 

[Mikedub]

It seems from nearly every photo I see of a craft brewery, the blokes have beards. So, to be a craft brewery, beards are essential.

very essential, and though they may look like beards, but they are in fact portable yeast propagation labs

 

[chrisluki]

very essential, and though they may look like beards, but they are in fact portable yeast propagation labs

You aren't going to get much yeast out of my pathetic beard!

 

[Black n Tan]

Good article Chris. Just a minor, the correct SI abbreviation for megalitre is Ml or ML, not ml (millilitres)

 

[mongey]

at the start defining what craft beer was ,was easy. there were the mega swill companies churing it out and everything not them was craft. Now the giants have worked out that people actually like flavourful and interesting beer, and more imprtalalty hare willing to pay extra for it , the term craft beer doesnt really mean anything. its a fashion label or marketing term to be chucked around . like when large record labels started marketing "alternative " bands in the 90's

I think the whole thing has moved past the term craft .I have never heard the term in use for wine . there are large and small wineries . some indepandant and some bought out when succesful and still producing great wines

now I just think there is great beer and the rest. like you say stones and seirra nevada make amazing beers and they are large operations . it can be done .

 

[chrisluki]

Good article Chris. Just a minor, the correct SI abbreviation for megalitre is Ml or ML, not ml (millilitres)

Oh, ok, thanks mate!

 

[chrisluki]

at the start defining what craft beer was ,was easy. there were the mega swill companies churing it out and everything not them was craft. Now the giants have worked out that people actually like flavourful and interesting beer, and more imprtalalty hare willing to pay extra for it , the term craft beer doesnt really mean anything. its a fashion label or marketing term to be chucked around . like when large record labels started marketing "alternative " bands in the 90's

I think the whole thing has moved past the term craft .I have never heard the term in use for wine . there are large and small wineries . some indepandant and some bought out when succesful and still producing great wines

now I just think there is great beer and the rest. like you say stones and seirra nevada make amazing beers and they are large operations . it can be done .

i feel like i know you and we have had this conversation before!