Questions About Australia

[fcmcg]

"Australian Beer"...does it exist, and what is it?

I look forward to the response.

If anyone says Fosters I'm going to kill a kitten.

I believe when god was here last year for the ANHC ( That is Gordon Strong BJCP Grand master and he was at the Aust National Homebrew Conference ) , he was doing some research regarding an Australian style being included in the BJCP style guidlines. He did AFAIK , visit South Australia and drink plenty of Coopers for research.!
As already stated , coopers sparkling and pale ale...the Sparkling is like 5.4% alc and the pale is 4.8% and i do prefer the pale....
Most breweries in Australia are owned by foreign interests now , so alot of beers are domestically reproduced crap versions of stuff like Stella , Becks , Peroni...
Fosters ( or Carlton and united breweries..aka...CUB ) are still Australia's major beer producer and they continue to try and make VB our favourite beer . Once it was mine...when i was 18..but now i know a whole lot better...
CUB also produce Melbourne Bitter ( which isn't a bitter in BJCP terms ) Carlton Cold ( triple filtered lager rubbish) Carlton Draught ( A slighly more bitter lager ) amongst other non descript and non mentionable beers....
Most large brewery beers made in Australia are lagers...apparently because it's what we love in Australia...but then beer sales are declining ( as they are in America ) and the smaller craft brewers are taking a niche spot...so it goes to show that maybe we don't love them as much as they think we do...
Unfortunately though , the tax a beer producer pays is quite high( excise tax) and with beer , must be paid before the beer is sold ( unlike wine producers who get favourable concessions from the tax department)
Australia has just started the tip of the iceberg in the whole micro brewery scene and i'm lead to believe what we have happening now is like what happened in America about 10 years ago...only problem is our beer is very expensive...
Anyway...Australian beer does exist...in temrs of style...Fosters has none and please leave our kittens alone or we will send Russell Crowe over there to live...
Ferg

 

[fcmcg]

How many of you have actually seen a Kangaroo in the wild? Is it fairly common or not so much?

My wifes folks have a property about one away from Melbourne ( major town ). At dusk , the roos will come out looking for food...you can be eating dinner and watch them hop around outside...it's kinds cool...My mate lives up the bush , he drops one every 3 months...he keeps the good meat for aeting and the rest he cuts up for pet food...
Once , when i was a young lad , i was in a greyhound bus that hit a roo at 100kmh at 3.30 in the morning....
Roo didn't survive, ,the bull bar got a massive dent in it ( and it broke a spot light ) and we all got woken up by this massive noise....
There was dead roo everywhere...and i mean everywhere....
Poor Skipppy ( Skippy was a TV show in the 60's about a family and their pet kangaroo , Skippy )

 

[pcmfisher]

Most Australians have never seen a hand gun apart from what the cops now wear, and they havn't really been wearing them exposed for long.

Autos and semi autos including pump guns were banned some years ago with thousands being put through the chomper (apparently) via a government buy back.

Nobody in the general public owns a gun for personal or property protection (officially speaking that is).

Get caught walking down the street with a concealed hand gun and you don't see daylight for a while.

What do us Australians think of Americans?
Maybe you should have asked us before they aired Oprah's last couple of shows.

 

[Tim F]

How many of you have actually seen a Kangaroo in the wild? Is it fairly common or not so much?

yeah i live about 30 minutes from the center of my states capital and i can see a wild kangaroo any time i want... Also koalas, possums etc. There's a lot of national parks and state forests most parts of Aus and still plenty of wildlife.
Couple of questions for you - how much is milk in america? Petrol? Malt?

 

[felten]

We live 15km out from the CBD and have seen roos on the morning walk just a few K's away, which is still in the middle of the 'burbs.

So what are the gun laws like there?

Can you legally own weapons for sporting/home defense purposes?

Here in the States we have to obtain a FOID (Firearm Owners ID) card, which is basically our state of residence saying that we arent drug addicts, felons, or otherwise just friggin crazy. We can then buy a firearm (with different restrictions in each state), after we wait for about 3 days for a last go around with a criminal background check. This is what happens in IL. I lived in Arizona for awhile, down there you dont need a FOID card. They look up your criminal weapon real quick, and hand you your weapon as long as you arent a convicted felon. In AZ you can even carry a handgun on your person to most places, except banks, places serving booze, or anywhere otherwise posted.

Most of my friends are yanks, one of my mates recently bought an AR15 from parts purchased entirely over the internet. He's a young bloke with a wife and baby and it really blew me away to see him putting this thing together over facebook, and then pics of it in his living room all setup with his kid sitting next to it.

To him though it's just a hobby like brewing is to me, he takes it to the local shooting range and has fun shooting shit I guess.


The only time I've ever held a gun was at the local army barracks, and that was a steyr that had the firing parts removed and replaced with a laser system, for training purposes infront of a massive projector screen like a computer game.

 

[HoppingMad]

Your healthcare system. Is everything really free?

Nope, you pay for some things or a subsidised amount but you can see a doctor here for free. They need to have a sign on the door that says 'Bulk Billing' though. If the sign isn't out - you pay through the nose!

What is your federal tax rate?

Depends but if you earn a lot, you get taxed a lot. It's a scaled system, but one of the most complex in the world. Due to what you can and can't deduct from your income tax mostly. It varies right down to your profession. It gets so confusing most get professionals to do their tax to get a maximum refund/deduction. Accountants do very well once a year here.

Is Rugby pretty much Austraila's version of baseball or what?

Cricket as mentioned is our baseball - just 2 bases though at each end of the pitch not four like your game.

Anyone else think that Russell Crowe is an asshat also?

We love him as an Aussie win he wins an academy award and does a good film. We disown him as a dumb kiwi when he recites a poem at a media gathering, plays in a band or gets in a fist fight. We do this with most kiwis - like Crowded House (band), actor Sam Neill and others. We pretend they're aussie when it suits us.

Is it awesome having Christmas in summer?

Hell yeah. Particularly if your relatives have a swimming pool. Singing 'Dashing through the snow...' in hot weather does get odd though.

What has happened with the Australian aborigine. Do they live on reservations like many Native Americans?

Some do, some don't. Just like Native Americans.

You guys watch American movies at the theater? Australian? Both?

Both but many Australian films are terrible. We make some classics that do well, but film funding in this country is skewed towards films that showcase the landscape, have a social conscience and are generally too 'real' for many average australians. We like US movies as they let us escape reality.

Perception of America and Americans in your country?

I think they're awesome, but like any country you get some very annoying people. A lot of dislike of Americans stems from politics, not so much people. When you go there they're some of the most courteous and warm people you'll ever meet.

The gun question

Getting a firearm is difficult here and you need to show just cause (hunting, club member, farmer, security) not self defence. Self defence shooting in this country is outlawed unless there is a clear armed threat and you have instructed that person to stop or you're going to shoot them. A person in Geelong Vic went to jail for 6 years for shooting a burglar through the spine claiming self defence and lost. He shot them without warning in his kitchen. The argument was that the burglar was there for goods and wasn't armed with anything more than pry tools so it was deemed 'excessive force'.

Kangaroos

In major cities you see them at a wildlife reserve. Some outersuburbs close to bushland - you do get them on the street. In victoria we have a golf course at a place called Anglesea and people play golf around them. There's also a place called Merimbula in New South Wales where this happens.

Hopper.

 

[Golani51]

First of all- BUGGER BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!
Secondly- Welcome!

You may want to splurge on Private health insurance. We have a habit of beating up Americans for no legal reason.....or just say you are Canadian and you'll likely be fine. The healthcare system is fine as long as you don't need anything serious done. You would actually start sounding like a Canadian before you would get a non- critical operation done.
Tax here sucks compared to the US, but luckily we habe the GST now or we would end up paying just as much.
Christmas in summer is great- Santa's little helpers are usually blonde and wear short santa helper skirts.
Aboriginals are around but they do not homebrew (I haven't met one yet so please feel free to correct me).
We do have American films here on the odd occassion when they slip thorugh the sensors or on the black market, but they are usually starring Aussies so it is like watching an Australian film. Paul Mercurio (star of Strictly Ballroom) is a home brewer and reps for Coopers, so we like him. Russell Crowe is a sheep- shagger and doesn't brew. Not sure if we like him.
Perception of Americans? Buy me a beer and we'll see if it can be swayed from 'hop- headed loud nobs' to 'acceptable as long as they are buying us grog'.


Again- WELCOME

Reuven

Since I'm new around here and, of course, American...I thought that I would ask a few questions to become acquainted with your country.
For the record, I'm not really interested in political debate. Discussion is one thing, but this is a brewing forum so I wont get into a left v. right debate with anyone (this typically happens on "American" forums BTW)
I've seen a few comments about your healthcare system. Is everything really free? I could walk into a hospital right now with a gash in my head, get it stapled/stitched and walk out not having to worry about a bill? Does this include dental/vision and everything else?

What is your federal tax rate?
Is Rugby pretty much Austraila's version of baseball or what?
Does anyone else think that Russell Crowe is an asshat also?
Is it awesome having Christmas in summer?
What has happened with the Australian aboriginee (I butchered that spelling I'm sure). Do they live on reservations like many Native American tribes do?

Do you guys watch American movies at the theater? Australian? Both?

What is the general perception of America and Americans in your country? What is YOUR perception?

 

[Amber Fluid]

Hi and welcome to the forum... here is something that might puzzle/interest you and sadly I must admitt, I can relate to almost all these......





Australian Citizenship Test .
1. Do you understand the meaning, but are unable to explain the origin of, the term died in the arse? '



__________________________________
2. What is a bloody little beauty?
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3. Are these terms related: chuck a sickie; chuck a spaz; chuck a U-ey?
___________________________________
4. Explain the following passage: In the arvo last Chrissy the relos rocked up for a Barbie, some bevvies and a few snags. After a bit of a Bex and a lie down we opened the pressies, scoffed all the chockies, bickies and lollies. Then we drained a few tinnies and Mum did her block after Dad and Steve had a Barney and a bit of biffo.
__________________________________

5. Macca, Chooka and Wanger are driving to Surfers in their Torana. If they are travelling at 100 km/h while listening to Barnsey, Farnsey and Acca Dacca, how many slabs will each person on average consume between flashing a brown eye and having a slash?
___________________________
6. Complete the following sentences:
A) If the vans rockin dont bother ?
B) Youre going home in the back of a ?
C) Fair crack of the ?
_________________________________
7. Ive had a gutful and I cant be fagged. Discuss
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8. Have you ever been on the giving or receiving end of a wedgie?
__________________________________
9. Do you have a friend or relative who has a car in their front yard up on blocks? Is his name Bruce and does he have a wife called Cheryl?
__________________________________
10. Does your family regularly eat a dish involving = mincemeat, cabbage, curry powder and a packet of chicken noodle soup called = either chow mein, chop suey or Kai see Ming?
__________________________________
11. What are the ingredients in a rissole?
__________________________________
12. Demonstrate the correct procedure for eating a Tim Tam.
__________________________________
13. Do you have an Aunty Irene who smokes 30 cigarettes a day and sounds like a bloke?
__________________________________
14. In any two-hour period have you ever eaten three-bean salad, a chop and two serves of pav washed down with someone elses beer that has been flogged from a bath full of ice?
__________________________________
15. When you go to a bring- your-own-meat Barbie can you eat other peoples meat or are you only allowed to eat your own?
__________________________________
16. What purple root vegetable beginning with the letter b is required by law to be included in a hamburger with the lot?
__________________________________
17. Do you own or have you ever owned a lawn mower, a = pair of thongs, an Esky or Ugg boots?
__________________________________

Does your family regularly eat a dish involving mincemeat, cabbage, curry powder and a packet of chicken noodle soup called either chow mein, chop suey or Kai see Ming?
__________________________________
18. Is it possible to prang a car while doing circle work?
__________________________________
19. Who would you like to crack on to?
__________________________________
20. Who is the most Australian: Kevin Bloody Wilson, John True Blue Williamson, Kylie Minogue or Warnie?
__________________________________
21. Is there someone you are only mates with because they own a trailer or have a pool?
_________________________________
22. What does sinkin piss at a mates joint and getten para mean?

If you understood all the above You have passes the Aussie Test.

 

[shadders]

Someone should do something about that. I can loan you a firearm.

That'll land you in a pile of shit. Illegal to shoot dropbears, koalas, possums... and just about anything poisonous. You find a deadly taipan under your house you leave it there, that's the rules.

I lived on a property infested with the things once. Learned to deal with it eventually.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Aussie fun fact: on average, Australians can recite more of the lyrics to Working Class Man than the national anthem.

 

[shadders]

Aussie fun fact: on average, Australians can recite more of the lyrics to Working Class Man than the national anthem.

A little piece of me just died.

 

[ekul]

If you manage to get a botle of coopers pale ale you'll be able to reculture the yeast and make your own. The coopers range aren't the only examples of 'australian' beers, but the yeast is probably the only example of a uniquely australian yeast that i can think of.

The best coopers pale ale recipe but you really need the coopers yeast for it to work.

Looks like I've got some bottles to look for next time I go to the LHBS

 

[shadders]

Actually there's a good movie you should watch about an American's experience getting used to Australian culture. It's called 'Welcome to Woop Woop'. Pretty much spot on how it's gonna be.

 

[amiddler]

Got to get a response from EMalmgren to Amber Fluid's post #88. I have read it before but still chuckle whilst reading it.

Welcome to Australia, Enjoy a beer or 2, hands off our women!

Just jokin' chuck another snag on the BBQ, she's good doogs, mate!

Drew

 

[tipsy]

4. Yes but here it's 'asshole'

I'd say arsehole

I'm currently being treated for a nasty eye inflammatory disease. I went to see my family doctor.

That's gold :lol:

 

[jasonharley]

I served with Americans in Iraq ..... a good bunch of guys .... you'll get on well over here !!!!

 

[TonyC]

In regards to the firearms, i have shot both pistol and clays competavily for thirty years, and feel i can comment. When a mentally unstable person kills thirty plus people in a couple of hours, goverments feel the need to respond. All semi auto weapons are banned, and are collected and destoyed to keep the masses happy.Has it stopped the drug related, gang related and the unstable from killing others, no. In hind sight, the BAR, AR 15, Garand and shotgun i lost did not stop me from enjoying my sport and hobby. I still shoot all the time, although not as regularly as before, and have my firearms secured in a double door, one tonne commercial safe. I keep my freezer full of duck, quail, deer, and goat, and only shoot what i eat, with the exeption of pigs that are vermin here. I have been to the states twice for work, and speak to Americans weekly, as an employee of H.D and have found you all to be very sincere. i hope you enjoy your time here on AHB and look forward to your posts.

Regards Tony

 

[Greg Lawrence]

Rugby Union is the Awesome game, League is the game of mercenaries.(sp). And we wouldn't let Russel Crowe own one of our teams :lol:
Union World Cup= 100's of countries trying to qualify for a spot in the final 16.
League World Cup= Players from 3 or 4 countries pretending to be from somewhere else to make up 8 teams to see if Australia or NZ are world champs.

Union is clearly a superior game to league, but there seem to be a lot more league supporters here.
This is not too surprising, as the average Aussie doesnt understand Union, and Australia are not too flash at playing it.
Just like Russell Crow, they turned their back on Rugby when they worked out that they were crap at the game.

AFL can be compared with NFL. If it was a half decent game, surely there would be more countries playing it.

 

[Screwtop]

Kangaroo, I shot them and sold the skins for years as a second/third job when in my 20's. Couldn't do it again, too easy, crosshair between the eyes in a spotlight. As for eating them, we used to throw them on the fire and get American tourists to try/eat it, no way full of worms!

Screwy

 

[pdilley]

I cracked off a few rounds last week from a 44 Magnum Rifle (pig gun, honest ) and from what you would probably know as the U.S. Army's M24 Sniper Weapon System or the U.S. Marine Corps' M40 sniper rifles.

Most police are still carrying service revolvers of very very vintage stock and are only recently being trained and equipped with that new fangled semi-automatic pistol.

While guns are not easy nor inexpensive over here to come by they still can be had if you have a need and trust me the society feels a lot more safe and free even if it seems counter-intuitive from your beliefs on gun ownership and perceived need for protection over there.

Just check out the customs process, over there you have everyone bandying about with firearms treating customs like a police state action, very paranoid. Very relaxed over here and in NZ... could be worse like with the Chinese/HK loving to run around with fully automatic rifles in the airports. The whole north side of the planet seems paranoid and stressed out. The quicker we can cut the planet in half and jettison you lot of northern buggars up there the better

Still a lot of ignorant Aussies as well with comments about aboriginal history not damaging the land. There are still remnant rain forest pockets in the centre where they did not burn off and destroy the eco system that existed before man came onto the land. But Americans are just as ignorant about their destruction of the whole eastern half of Texas with massive sand dunes blowing across the land in a new forming desert. All the worlds deserts are man made, worst invasive species on the planet that man!

But this is a brewing forum so its all irrelevant, you should just make beer and get on with it and come for a visit some time for yourself. You'll probably find a lot of yanks down here, a lot have left the USA so it can not be that bad here if they give up all those so called freedoms to live a life feeling ironically a bit more free

Not even going to comment on Rugby, its AFL through and through here.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete