Craft Beers changing pub culture.

[Dan Pratt]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/craft-and-imported-beers-changing-aussie-tastes/story-fndo28a5-1226578362131

 

[Bribie G]

Even regional "redneck" towns like Taree here are succumbing - the local bottlos are full of craft beer and interesting imports. The pubs always have at least one James Squire on tap, either Pale Ale or Amber and have recently started to put in - oh still my beating heart - Stella Artois. It's a start and a long way to go. However this week I did a mini pub crawl in Victoria Street Taree. It's the first time I'd darkened the door of a town pub as I live out of town, but caught the bus in. First pub had JS Amber but they had run out. I said "well at least somebody is drinking it". "yeah, can't keep up with it - guys have really taken to it"

Now we are definitely talking flanelette and mullets here - so it's an encouraging trend. :super:

 

[Bribie G]

Haha I got published.

 

[slash22000]

Somewhat strange that "Matilda Bay" are being interviewed about "craft beer" considering they were bought out by CUB in the 90's. I mean, yeah, their beers are better than 99% of the mega-swill lagers but they're not exactly ground-breaking micro-brews are they?

Still, anything that gets that "Ice cold, bitter, crisp Aussie lager!!!" out of pubs and into the urinal where it belongs is fine by me.

 

[DU99]

One of the fine dining places at work have one tap of "craft" beer on tap.also notice cider is making inroads also

 

[mosto]

I made a note a recent BBQ about the diversity of beer people drink now. There were about six of us standing around the BBQ, looking around there was a Squires, Bluetongue, Asahi, Stella, Fat Yak and another US beer that escapes me at present. Not massively ground-breaking beers I know, but, as pointed out to the group, it would only have been 5 years ago and there would have been 5 Tooheys New, and maybe a XXXX Gold or something. Tastes are definitely changing. Even my old man, a dedicated Reschs drinker of 50 years. Has recently branched to trying things like Fat Yak and Mac's Hop Rocker.

 

[winkle]

OK, I'm printing off a copy of that article and heading down to my local to demand SCB Rye ESB be put on tap. You can't stand in front of progress!

 

[Goldenchild]

OK, I'm printing off a copy of that article and heading down to my local to demand SCB Rye ESB be put on tap. You can't stand in front of progress!

I'm actually very tempted to do the same.
My local has just installed 2 new double decker fonts 2mtrs apart with 10 beers on each. Out of those 20 beers the best choice and only ale is 'Tooheys old'.

There is double of all beers and even triples so when someone orders 3 schooies of 'extremely dry super double filtered low carb blondes' there beers dont have to sit on the bar and warm up above 0deg while the others are being poured.

The fridge is also stocked with the same beers. Not 1 ale to be seen.

When i have asked them in the past to order atleast a case of coopers for me they have said i would be the only person that would drink it. -_-

 

[slash22000]

There is a fairly new bar in Darwin. "The Precinct". Apparently, they have >40 beers on tap. I had this dream of 40+ craft beers on tap. I haven't been there yet, but I'm told that of the 40+ beers maybe half a dozen are anything but Tooheys/XXXX/Carlton/etc.

Hopes. Deleted. -_-

 

[Diesel80]

I didn't used to mind the T-Old when i was a little younger. Mates looked at me perplexed when I came back with dark beer.

I reckon though, you may need to find a new pub. At least tell me they have the new full strength VB on tap?

Cheers,
D80

 

[DU99]

Redback beer been around for years,they had a micro brewery in nth melbourne,so i wouldn't call it "new".the "craft" beer scene around melbourne suburbs is enormous.

 

[woody0055]

I didn't used to mind the T-Old when i was a little younger. Mates looked at me perplexed when I came back with dark beer.

I reckon though, you may need to find a new pub. At least tell me they have the new full strength VB on tap?

Cheers,
D80

Since being bitten by the craftbeer bug last year, T old is all i drink if i go to the pub. all else is flavourless crap. I just say its coke cos i'm driving

 

[Bribie G]

Fortunately every pub and club in NSW seems to have Old on tap - I note the font says something like "seriously refreshing" to tempt new drinkers who might think it's a bit muddy or something.
When I first arrived in Queensland in the 70s there were two types of pub - the blue pubs (CUB) and the red pubs (Castlemaine Perkins) and one beer. That's right ONE beer was on tap at either pub. Of course Tooheys weren't in QLD yet - Alan Bond saw to that and as the market sorted itself out and mid beer arrived, you could eventually - around the mid 1980s - walk into a pub and see maybe six or seven beers on tap such as Powers, Fosters, Carlton, XXXX heavy and Gold, Tooheys Draught and Tooheys Old, and even a Guinness occasionally.

It's easy to look back and imagine that the Aussie pub beer scene hadn't changed since the 1940s and that craft beer is changing all that, but in fact there has been a heck of a lot of "churn" going on for the last 20 years at least, and the craft beers popping up are a continuation of that "churn".

 

[thylacine]

Are commercially successful "Craft Beers" increasingly under quality threat? (via take-over) ie. today I had another good look at 1st Choice's "craft/premium/import" beer section. BUL, Licensee, BUL ,Licensee, BUL, Licensee, BUL, etc. Most of the beers listed so far on this thread are BUL.

Links below illustrates the "transparency" challenges in today's market. eg. who brews Coles's "Steamrail" beer?

http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2013/02/once-more-unto-the-breach-dear-friends-just-once-more/

http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2013/02/who-is-australian-beer-connoisseurs/

 

[thylacine]

"Local brewers band together for festival"
"...he wanted to organise the Small Brewers Beer Festival because he was tired of the big beer companies taking over craft beer festivals with "their so-called 'boutique' beer brands'... "


http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/local-brewers-band-together-for-festival-20130215-2ehc0.html

 

[Bribie G]

Are commercially successful "Craft Beers" increasingly under quality threat? (via take-over) ie. today I had another good look at 1st Choice's "craft/premium/import" beer section. BUL, Licensee, BUL ,Licensee, BUL, Licensee, BUL, etc. Most of the beers listed so far on this thread are BUL.

Links below illustrates the "transparency" challenges in today's market. eg. who brews Coles's "Steamrail" beer?

http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2013/02/once-more-unto-the-breach-dear-friends-just-once-more/

http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2013/02/who-is-australian-beer-connoisseurs/

Steamrail is actually brewed by Australian Independent Distillers who also do Haagen (if you can still get that slop) and Kingfisher amongst others. Actually the KF isn't a bad stab at the original, I inadvertently had a few at in Indian Restaurant last year. They are very hard to track down on the net, don't advertise their presence or push products, they are strictly a background operation - definitely the SERCO of the brew world. (SERCO, the biggest company in the world you never heard of).

 

[bum]

I completely dispute the claim that pub "culture" is changing.

I was in a city venue on Friday evening (a venue that generally has decent beers on and cycles their range fairly frequently).

Dude walks in. "What is [insert beer name]'?". Barkeep says "It's a double IPA". Dude says "Double, triple - I don't care. Whatever. Gimme one of them."

People are still ignorant as **** and are buying an image not an experience.

 

[Nick JD]

I saw a big, scary-looking guy, head to toe in tattoos get out of a car yesterday (while I was being ultra-manly and walking a baby in a pram) holding a sixpack of Corona.

Giggled a little bit, but I think he thought I was laughing at the drively scribbles all over his skin not his girly beer. Which was kinda true.

Got home and poured myself a IPA. Who's tough now, *******. :huh:

 

[Byran]

I made a red ale a while back with deep red/ brown colour and caramel flavours, roasted my own malts, hopped with EKG and used 1469. Thought this is great it tastes so caramelly and had a hint of coffee flavour, thick creamy head, not super bitter. After trying a couple of these at home I went to the local one arvo and the squires were out.......... So I grabbed an old, low and behold it was almost an exact match to the full "boutique" home brew I had made. Turns out Tooheys old was a boutique all along. Ha ha ha, I do enjoy old but it seems to be a slow mover at my local. Everyone that tried my beer thought it had too much flavour...........And whenever I have an old or even a squire, peo ple say, oh they have too much flavour. I will drink pretty much any type of beer on tap as I enjoy the various idiosyncrasies of each, I guess flavour preference is in the eye of the beholder. Why shouldn't we drink beers that we can knock back when we are thirsty, or enjoy slowly with a meal. Or get our senses roared at by hops and bitterness? Why not. "Judge not, lest ye be judged" I think the culture hasn't changed, there was just never a market for people to fill. Now awareness has changed and as people find out about a new product, they will try it. Over time this will no doubt change again and again and in the near future, people may say" Why are you drinking that hoppy **** you sheep!" Only time will tell. -_-

 

[Bribie G]

There's an interesting pub drinking culture in Taree, the Centrelink office is right next door to a pub so if there's a massive queue you get SWMBO to hold the place while you duck next door for a couple of swift VBs. Excellent setup.