Just A Bit Of A Rant...

[unterberg]

They are - or at least the ones brewed by fosters are. If you cant read the label and identify that it was brewed in Australia, then it wasn't.

I tend to agree though - perhaps they should be labeled "premium" or some other such guff, rather than imported. They are harder and more expensive to brew than the local products, so they will always be more expensive, but they aren't imported and shouldn't be sold as such.

Of course, thats all a bit hard for the local restaurant owner, they just know that heineken is dutch and therefore must be an import. I say just call em beer, price em as you want and let the customer decide whether the one in the green bottle has something he wants to pay extra for... bad business though.

For those that know what to look for it is possible to find the hints but I think it should be made easier and more obvious.
But as you said - in the end its the customers choice. And for those that dont even know that the beer is actually not imported it probably doesnt make a difference because they think they buy a good brand beer. Bad business indeed and in case of the Guiness it might actually not be too good business for the brand either if people realize that this doesnt really taste that good so why pay that much for it? If only they knew...

 

[Ronin]

Would be interesting to run a blind tasting of the real imported versus the locally brewed versions of these beers. I wonder how many people would really pick the real one.

As threeheads said, try contract guiness next the the real thing (I think they're both in cans). There is a huge difference, I can't believe anyone wouldn't be able to pick the difference.

People may not care about the difference, they might both be nice beers, but one is guiness and one isn't.

 

[Black Dog Brewery]

But how do you define "foreign"? Does it have to cross internationally recognised boundaries? Because technically speaking each state of Australia is a separate sovereign (since Australia is a federation), it can be argued by people who are pedantic that Victorian made beer in SA is imported.

You drinking already P&C... :icon_cheers:

Cheers BDB

 

[peas_and_corn]

No, that's what hours and hours of reading theory does to your brain

 

[Ronin]

For those that know what to look for it is possible to find the hints but I think it should be made easier and more obvious.
But as you said - in the end its the customers choice. And for those that dont even know that the beer is actually not imported it probably doesnt make a difference because they think they buy a good brand beer. Bad business indeed and in case of the Guiness it might actually not be too good business for the brand either if people realize that this doesnt really taste that good so why pay that much for it? If only they knew...

Often you don't get to see the bottle in a restaurant...just order the beer off the menu and hope that you get the imported stuff and not the locally brewed beer. My wife ordered a becks the other day and after the first sip, she asked me what was wrong with it. For starters there was barely any hop character at all...we checked the bottle and yep, brewed under contract by lion nathan. We didn't even know that Becks was contract brewed, she bought it over heineken specifically because she knew heineken was contract brewed.

This is the cause of the rant...

I don't mind bring duped, but when it's my wife...why I oughtta! :angry: :lol:

 

[Bizier]

These damn mexican imports are disgusting...

 

[DiscoStu]

But how do you define "foreign"? Does it have to cross internationally recognised boundaries? Because technically speaking each state of Australia is a separate sovereign (since Australia is a federation), it can be argued by people who are pedantic that Victorian made beer in SA is imported.

In this context from a nation other than your own. That would mean interstate beer isn't.....well maybe anything from Tasmania, it does have to cross the water to get here

Definitions of foreign on the Web:

• of concern to or concerning the affairs of other nations (other than your own); "foreign trade"; "a foreign office"
• relating to or originating in or characteristic of another place or part of the world; "foreign nations"; "a foreign accent"; "on business in a foreign city"

 

[peas_and_corn]

Please do not confuse 'nation' and 'state/sovereign'. they are different things. However, I do get your point, I was just feeling a little pedantic (and probably still am a little )

 

[DiscoStu]

Please do not confuse 'nation' and 'state/sovereign'. they are different things. However, I do get your point, I was just feeling a little pedantic (and probably still am a little )

Mate just having an bad day at work and being a little pendatic and fiesty, need it to be beer'o'clock before my brain explodes :wacko:

 

[eamonnfoley]

Its just an outright con. This sort of thing is part of life I guess. Vote with your wallets and don't buy stuff brewed under license unless you really think it is an exceptional beer (which is rare)

 

[eamonnfoley]

As threeheads said, try contract guiness next the the real thing (I think they're both in cans). There is a huge difference, I can't believe anyone wouldn't be able to pick the difference.

People may not care about the difference, they might both be nice beers, but one is guiness and one isn't.

+1 on this - was just talking about this on the beeradvocate forum actually. It is even more apparent comparing the tap versions.

 

[peas_and_corn]

I don't think I've bought any BUL beers for a while now- that is unless Hoegaarden is made by CUB now?

 

[bradsbrew]

So I wonder what would the legal aspect of having an " Imported" price list if the product isn't imported? I might just bring this to a managers attention next time I go to a resturant with the imported list. After I get my food that is.
I'm guessing it will be like going to the local IGA and asking for an MSDS for washing detergent or going to a a busy fuel station and wanting an MSDS for the fuel.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

For those that know what to look for it is possible to find the hints but I think it should be made easier and more obvious.
But as you said - in the end its the customers choice. And for those that dont even know that the beer is actually not imported it probably doesnt make a difference because they think they buy a good brand beer. Bad business indeed and in case of the Guiness it might actually not be too good business for the brand either if people realize that this doesnt really taste that good so why pay that much for it? If only they knew...

Well, at least on the bottle of Carlsberg I had the other day, it just said "brewed by fosters" or words to that effect and gave an Australian address. Not all that cryptic

Of course... you have to buy the bottle in the first place to find out - so no help in a restaurant.

 

[jonocarroll]

I'm still a little confused - why do breweries allow their product to be BUL at all? Surely they know that it sullies their reputation. Is it just that importers refuse to pay to import these beers, so BUL is the only way for the original brewery to make money? I thought that people were usually sued for making an inferior copy of a product and selling it locally - somehow for beer it's licenced to do just that! Ugh!

Actually, come to think of it, coca-cola (and related products) and cars are also 'made under licence' here. This all just seems... wrong.

 

[peas_and_corn]

I think that Australian market is too small for them to give a crap- what is InBev's annual volume, and what would Australia drink of their product? It's also cheaper.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Boags and Cascade are imported.... :lol:

 

[jonocarroll]

what is InBev's annual volume

460 million hectoliters apparently (AB-InBev). Oh - was that rhetoric?

 

[devo]

+1 on this - was just talking about this on the beeradvocate forum actually. It is even more apparent comparing the tap versions.

Also the IBU's in the German brewed Becks is lower than the export or contracted variant.

 

[Ronin]

Well, at least on the bottle of Carlsberg I had the other day, it just said "brewed by fosters" or words to that effect and gave an Australian address. Not all that cryptic

Of course... you have to buy the bottle in the first place to find out - so no help in a restaurant.

yeah, that's my problem...and I'd feel like a bit of a wanker (can I say that here?) asking to see the bottle before I buy it :lol: