I'd agree with L R G - we have so much going for us here in Brisbane and are "united" in ways that they don't have in the other Capitals except perhaps the ACT and to a degree Adelaide. For example there's no SABBs or MABBs or PABBs equivalent of our BABBs, their suppliers - whilst excellent (and I have bought from several mail order) - are in various locations serving different geographic areas, whereas there's a definite sense of a community that has developed around CraftBrewer - for example I can pop in and I will inevitably run into AHB members who are not necessarily in BABBs and I never get out of there within an hour and a half......
It's a pity that the commercial market isn't catching up as fast. It seems like trying to move a brick by pulling on a long rubber band - who knows the brick might shift eventually. I'm a bit heartened by the fact that I work evenings in the Valley and on my way home to the train I pass footpath Chinese Restaurant tables, and the BYO nowadays is likely a LCPA or a Fat Yak as opposed to the compulsory Sol a few years ago. However the relentless hammering of the megas promoting case buys of Maxxx Lyttte Shyyte brews is disappointing. Another trend that I note is the effect parallel imports are having. Even in the Courier mail whenever there's an online beer story about VB whatever there are increasingly comments like "why spend $50 on a carton of puke when I can get a carton of top quality German beer for half the price"... clearly these guys aren't home brewers and maybe a mind shift is happening in the perception of what represents good beer.
End rant, all the best to the Nectar people in their new enterprises.
It's a pity that the commercial market isn't catching up as fast. It seems like trying to move a brick by pulling on a long rubber band - who knows the brick might shift eventually. I'm a bit heartened by the fact that I work evenings in the Valley and on my way home to the train I pass footpath Chinese Restaurant tables, and the BYO nowadays is likely a LCPA or a Fat Yak as opposed to the compulsory Sol a few years ago. However the relentless hammering of the megas promoting case buys of Maxxx Lyttte Shyyte brews is disappointing. Another trend that I note is the effect parallel imports are having. Even in the Courier mail whenever there's an online beer story about VB whatever there are increasingly comments like "why spend $50 on a carton of puke when I can get a carton of top quality German beer for half the price"... clearly these guys aren't home brewers and maybe a mind shift is happening in the perception of what represents good beer.
End rant, all the best to the Nectar people in their new enterprises.
