The People's Beer

[Margrethe]

Wading into this one with mah boots on...

I just want to know one thing....since when does anyone give a shyte about what beer Craig Fitzgibbon drinks? I went to school with the guy- a couple of years younger than me, but *Ugh*. Stories I could tell...not just about him but about some other well known Wollongong sports celebs!

Back on topic- as someone who has been in these 'market study' things- its usually all about how they think a particular ad campaign will work. You might have gotten a tainted bunch, and I sure felt like that too in the one I participated in (For a large chain) as I was baffled by the answers of these other people to some of the questions asked, and questions they'd asked me.

As someone who grew up where the beer you're talking about was a huge 'neighbourhood' drink, and you only sometimes saw a case of someone's home brew, most of the people I know drank it when they were young, (25-30 ish) then moved up into something else later. In my experience, that particular beverage seems popular among the younger drinking generation-even now. Not sure why that is. But since I went to Perth, and experienced both Craft Beer, and tiny vineyards making gorgeous beverages- I was lucky enough to have my palate expanded- and then being in the SCA (many SCAdians brew their own) I've been lucky enough to be exposed to a wide range there too. And then there's the English friends who exposed me to Bass and the like!

I guess I'm lucky because I've come into brewing with a non biased opinion, because I don't drink beer very often, and although Little Creatures is my fave beer, I've not had a lot of experience- so I'm looking forward to getting into working out what I like and what I don't...fun fun fun!

*That* particular beer makes me bloated, drunk very quickly, gives me a headache and makes me hungover as hell if I drink too much of it. So I avoid it now that I've got taste

Something else for good measure: Why limit yourself to drinking one beer when there are sssssooooo many to drink!!

 

[bowie in space]

you call these obscure bands but to me and most of my music nerd mates these are not obscure at all just general listening

Definately not obscure listening for me either, but i was going to rant into more obscure australian bands but i know not many would have heard them. I have a 7 inch of a mob from your town, carty, exploding white mice, which is pretty hard to find these days. Greasy pop records is quite legendary among underground music folk of this country.

My beer knowledge is slowly reaching to the level of my music knowledge, but i've been interested in obscure music for a long time now, whereas my beer appreciation had to wait til i grew out of teen years and early adulthood.

It's now becoming apparent when i talk about beer to the every day folk just how narrow minded their views are which is a problem i've faced with music for years.

Well enough ranting. Let's enjoy some great tunes and fine brews together....in cyberspace!

 

[goomboogo]

so... there's probably alot of things they know about that you dont. See once again this has turned into the same thread even though I don't think the thread starter intended it to!

If I could make a beer like Cascade Premium Lager I would be very very happy with myself.

I had a 'Cascade Premium Lager' the other night, first one in quite a few years. I may have been having an off night but I'm sure I could detect a whack of DMS. I may be reasonably sensitive to DMS but has anyone else had this beer recently and detect DMS?

 

[Mantis]

Someone earlier mentioned Tooheys Red. I tried it once and woke with the worst headache I have ever had, then, and since. Never again.
Southwark is the worst beer I have ever tasted and I think I still can :icon_vomit:
The homebrews I made years ago with coopers real ale kit cans and a kilo of white sugar, fermented at whatever the ambient temp was, are a very bad memory as well. ick

That being said, I go to the footy on Saturdays in the winter and the best they have is VB. I drink it all afternoon with the lads. The first one is not so good but after that its beer and ok.

I really enjoy my homebrew when I get home after the footy.
Many thanks to all on this forum that have helped me rise out of the mire.
Only days away from my first AG
:icon_chickcheers:

 

[Brewtus]

When I am asked what my favorite beer (or song or food) is I often reply I haven't tried it yet. This is because , even though I really like some beers, there not as interesting as one I haven't tried. To be frank, you know some are going to be dud like Aldi Beer, but you still should taste them before you comment. Other times it is an adventure. I have had the pleasure of drinking in many parts of Europe an never had a Foster's there once. The honest answer is my favorite depends on the context. A weather on the day, food you are eating, location, company, recent beer you have tried all effect what I want to drink.

 

[petesbrew]

Couple of things to post here.
1. Had a very f...ing busy day today at home sanding, painting & entertaining my 2yo daughter. Some mates were up at the bowlo, so after 2yo was bathed I ducked up for an hour. No decent beer choice at the bowlo apart from Old, but the weather called for a lighter colour.... Boags Draught. Damn it, I SMASHED that beer. Bloody beautiful. Seriously a lite would've done the job. I swear, this summer any port in a storm will do.

2. Went to 1st Choice to stock up on some wine for SWMBO. She's taken a liking to Lindemans Early Harvest. It's a low carb wine, but she likes it cos it's low alcohol.
When I couldn't find it, and asked the guy there if they had it. He scoffed, "ha, Low Carb Wines! There's no market for them". Man the shoe was definitely on the other foot that time! Still, what a muppet.

 

[Muggus]

Boags Draught. Damn it, I SMASHED that beer. Bloody beautiful. Seriously a lite would've done the job. I swear, this summer any port in a storm will do.

Don't mind Boags Draught. In comparison to other big name Aussie "draught" beers, it certainly takes the cake. Good to see it on tap up in more places up this way too.

Anyway, to the topic at hand, the way I see this whole "mega-swill loyalty" is based around price and availabilty.
Your typical Ausse punter hitting the pub after a long day of work is generally after something cold and refreshing naturally, and here i'd suggest having a water or something along those lines. But of course it's not that simple, people drink booze to take the edge off, and staring them right in the face of any bar is generally an array of well-known beers on tap. And naturally they're all gonna do the same thing in the end...quench thirst and take the edge off a long day with alcohol. So your punter has a choice, go with something familiar, common and cheap, something they've probably grown up with, or take a chance and go for an import or micro brew.
For most in this situation it just seems like too much hassle, almost like taking a huge risk, choosing the micro option. Sure, it costs more, whether thats an issue or not isn't really important, rather its like taking a quantum leap of some sort drinking something thats actually well-made and flavourful.

One thing that I recall from my youth (which wasn't too long ago actually :blink was the accustomising period with beer. Getting use to the taste, mouthfeel, bitterness, that odd skunky after taste. It's quite offputting for your beginner beer drinker, and enough to put alot off beer forever.
Half the problem here is that alot of people are essentially brought up on poorly made beer that gives all beer a bad name, because your beer novice knows no better...Does all beer taste this shit? they'll ask.
I reckon if I was brought up with nice Belgian and German beers, I would have been more inclined to try different things earlier on. Of course, it seems the vast majority are happy enough not know what other beers taste like, and that's up to them.

...woah...that was long.

 

[pbrosnan]

It's just a drink, you put it in your mouth and like the taste or don't. No point taking it any further than that in my opinion.

Download the Michael Jackson Beer Hunter series. I like your pluralist sentiments but I find that mainstream beer is vastly over-rated if you judge it by the advertisements (but then so is milk).

 

[barfridge]

I reckon if I was brought up with nice Belgian and German beers, I would have been more inclined to try different things earlier on. Of course, it seems the vast majority are happy enough not know what other beers taste like, and that's up to them.

I was amazed when travelling through Germany and Belgium by the lack of variety in what people drank. Most just swilled the local bland pale lager (Maes, Jupiler, Stella etc), and left the fancy stuff for the tourists.

I think that also explains how few beers I ran into that I didn't recognise. Maybe the domestic consumption is low, so most of the beers are exported.

So don't think people are gifted with a better sense of taste just because they were born in a different country.

 

[imellor]

Took my son and his mate to the Wheaty tonight and they started on the LC Pale ale. This was a great beer according to them until they tried the mountain Goat IPA my favorite which they drank for the remainder of the evening. They are both 18 and both like the beers they tasted. Until these are served at the average pub they will not be fully appreciated as your average person will not even know they exist. If a Micro Brewery had the money to spend on advertising that the major brewery's did everyone would know about them and try them. Until then it is up to us that know there is better out there to spread the word.

Cheers
Ian

 

[jonocarroll]

Until these are served at the average pub they will not be fully appreciated as your average person will not even know they exist.

Let's not forget ourselves here - as nice as it is to think that we're in some higher class of society for knowing which beers have appreciable qualities, it's entirely probably that in a hundred other forums people are saying the same thing about almost every mainstream food or drink, and probably a bunch of other products too.

It's not a personal attack on anyone, but I'm sure someone out there on the interwebs is saying "until decent teas are served at the average cafe they will not be fully appreciated as your average person will not even know they exist." Granted, beer is a little more closely tied to our culture, but nonetheless we can't expect everyone to be reaching for the top shelf for every product. The top shelf is only meaningful if you fill up the shelves below it.

I still say that megaswill has it's place - how else can we know just how good our own brews are?

Once again - no harm intended. I'm far too busy today to be dragged into another argument.

 

[PostModern]

It's not a personal attack on anyone, but I'm sure someone out there on the interwebs is saying "until decent teas are served at the average cafe they will not be fully appreciated as your average person will not even know they exist." Granted, beer is a little more closely tied to our culture, but nonetheless we can't expect everyone to be reaching for the top shelf for every product. The top shelf is only meaningful if you fill up the shelves below it.

This is a very valid point, and in fact, I know a tea snob. Orders his tea in from GB, does the whole ritual with the pot warming and steeping and suck. Makes a very decent cuppa. I'm not to fussy with tea and coffee, Dilmah and Moccona on my office desk, tho I do like to run a Bialetti stove-top coffee pot at home of a weekend. I guess if VB = Liptons, I'm a Hahn Premium kind of tea drinker. But tea isn't my passion. Beer is and passionate beer drinkers have to advocate better beer, if only to ensure micros remain profitable enough to keep us happy.

EDIT: Also, a point I meant to make but somehow got distracted, is that there are quality items out there in everything, but the consumers are pulled into what turns over quickest, rather than what is good. Not all of us sleep on Egyptian cotton sheets, wear French silk underwear and eat truffled lobster every day, but at least we can afford to buy or brew great beer. One of life's simple pleasures.

 

[redgums500]

I see where you're coming from.

I see three types of beer drinkers:

1 - People that only drink mega swill and have no desire to drink anything else, e.g. decent imports or local craft beer.
2 - People that are happy to try new things, and judge it based on its merits, no matter where it was made.
3 - People that only drink certain types of beers, local craft, rare imports, etc.

Note that it is only type 2 that have a truly open mind and it is type 1 and 3 that deliberately exclude types of beer from their consumption.

Firstly, I am a type 2 type of beer drinker.
Secondly, Mortal Sin circa 1986/88 were truly a remarkable Aussie band.
Thirdly and am I gonna cop it for this, just because a beer comes from a Craft Brewery does Not mean that it is Better than any other beer brewed by any large or small company at least as far a the average consumer is concerned. I am all for craft breweries, they are great. It is good that people are having a go, following their dreams and trying to broaden peoples perspectives. One of the hurdles that these business are going to face in the future I believe, will be akin to what wineries face a decade ago..... product replication.
Walk into any bottle shop carrying Craft Brewed Beer and there are endless rows of labels bearing the same thing IPA, PAle Ale, Wheat Beer etc To the average Joe its probably going to be too hard and if one asks some of the bottlo employees they will probably be told "Dunno, I don't drink the shit !" (this has happened to me on numerous occasions) That said, Average Joe heads to the domestic isle and purchases the beer by BRAND as opposed to style.
Try this next time you are at the pub or barbie, mention the word Pilsener and you can bet the first thing that most people will say is Reschs and they either love it or hate it. Place a bottle of craft brew with XyZ craft beer Pilsener on the label and most will think that it is a Reschs clone and will not try it.
The wine industry, to their credit, has managed to overcome this. A majority of wine is purchased by style and origin as opposed to who actually made it ie. Shiraz from Hilltops as opposed to ABC Wineries Sydney St. Melbourne.
To the majority of consumers beer is beer just the same as to majority of people reading this, lamb chops are lamb chops and you really couldn't give a rats as to where the lamb was grazed or what it was fed before it landed on your plate. You just wanted a bloody lamb chop. Most blokes I know couldn't give a rats as to what hop was added to their beer or the type of malt used , they just want a bloody beer.

My 2 cents

Redgums

 

[MarkBastard]

I don't think people just want a beer, I think they just like their chosen brand of megaswill and like it enough that they don't really seek to change it. Particularly if it's one that is readily available. I don't blame them really, it's a burden if anything having 'better' taste and thus ensuring that your preferred beer is rarely available in pubs, is more expensive, etc. Home brew is great because it solves a lot of these problems.

If the average Aussie bloke went into a bar and said 'give me a beer', everyone would laugh at him. They give yanks crap for doing that. They definitely choose their beers and are picky enough about them, they just don't choose from the more obscure range.

 

[PostModern]

If the average Aussie bloke went into a bar and said 'give me a beer', everyone would laugh at him. They give yanks crap for doing that. They definitely choose their beers and are picky enough about them, they just don't choose from the more obscure range.

The average consumer is not picky, he's either too lazy to try other things, does not care or is a dyed in the wool one-eyed brand loyalist.

 

[redgums500]

I don't think people just want a beer, I think they just like their chosen brand of megaswill and like it enough that they don't really seek to change it. Particularly if it's one that is readily available. I don't blame them really, it's a burden if anything having 'better' taste and thus ensuring that your preferred beer is rarely available in pubs, is more expensive, etc. Home brew is great because it solves a lot of these problems.

If the average Aussie bloke went into a bar and said 'give me a beer', everyone would laugh at him. They give yanks crap for doing that. They definitely choose their beers and are picky enough about them, they just don't choose from the more obscure range.

Appreciate that Mark and point taken. What I probably should have said was that people just want a Brand of beer.

cheers

Redgums

 

[floppinab]

Did anyone talk about wine? I bet they didn't all drink Banrock Station or Jacob's creek cause it's proper aussie wine for proper aussie blokes?

I quite like the comparison to wine in this type of discussion. Where the consumption of wine has gone in the last 30 years in this country should be (hopefully) where beer will go in the next 20. Anyone who grew up in the 70's or prior will remember the very limited selection (and quality) of wines that were drunk by the majority at that time (Cold Duck anyone???!!!). Now we're drinking a product of a much higher quality and variety from a much greater spread of producers (despite sizeable consolodation in the last 10 years).
Here's to the micro's leading us in the same way.

 

[unterberg]

I was amazed when travelling through Germany and Belgium by the lack of variety in what people drank. Most just swilled the local bland pale lager (Maes, Jupiler, Stella etc), and left the fancy stuff for the tourists.

I think that also explains how few beers I ran into that I didn't recognise. Maybe the domestic consumption is low, so most of the beers are exported.

So don't think people are gifted with a better sense of taste just because they were born in a different country.

Where have you been in Germany? I dare say that most people drink lokal produce in Bavaria. I mean you get Heineken, Guinness, Becks and so forth and even I have some friends over there who love Becks. Also you get the bigger bavarian ones like Weihenstephan, Weltenburger, Erdinger, Paulaner, Franziskaner that you can also get here. But I would confidently say that more than half of the beer consumed is from smaller breweries that you cant get exported.

 

[mattcarty]

. I have a 7 inch of a mob from your town, carty, exploding white mice, which is pretty hard to find these days. Greasy pop records is quite legendary among underground music folk of this country.

nice one, i used to do a show on 3D radio here in adelaide, its a community station, they have a rule in their licence agreement that they are required to play a certain percentage (cant remember exact figures) of local adelaide bands which is easy to adhere to as the cd and record library is packed with really great music from the local scene and they actively promote bands to send in demos. good stuff.

im late for a party, in space, does that freak you out brett?

Cheers
Carty

 

[MarkBastard]

The average consumer is not picky, he's either too lazy to try other things, does not care or is a dyed in the wool one-eyed brand loyalist.

I believe you have just described the style of 'picky' they are.