+ 1 from me too.
Ultimately it seems to me that it boils down to:
1. market economics, particularly given the relative size of the Australian market compared to say the UK or USA. If a process is not economically viable, it will not occur (unless you are Frank Lowy and, for example, are happy to fund the FFA with no realistic expectation of a return) - a smaller market requires a relatively greater market share before a product becomes economically viable (and I agree with the potential need for a change in excise to assist micro- breweries here as a possible solution);
2. exposure, which to a certain extent follows on from the previous point - if you are a vendor, you want to offer things that will sell so that you too can make some money. As such, any change in products being offered will generally (unless you have a somewhat evangelistic vendor who spruiks a new product or range) be prompted by customer demands. With respect to beer, particularly outside major population centres, I suspect that this may most likely be driven by peer pressure (eg a beer nerd's never-ending quest for 'something new') or a change in environment (eg a trip overseas/ interstate/ etc) where the old product is not available/ hard to obtain and therefore a change is imposed;
3. habit - humans seem to be very habit driven creatures. If it ain't broke, why fix it? In this instance, without exposure to other beers, how will you know if you like/ don't like them, especially if the "Ol' Faithful" is doing the job pretty good at the moment;
4. the view that one beer is somehow "better" than another is entirely subjective to the taste of any given individual, the moment at which it is drunk, the reason it is drunk and any number of other factors. If the drinker enjoys it, then it is a good beer (I am not saying that a beer cannot be judged and graded, just that such a judgment or grading is based on a set of objective criteria only, which may or may not be preferences of the individual drinker);
5. greater choice of alternatives to beer and an acceptance of those alternatives - it used to be that if a bloke drank anything other than beer (aside from a switch to bourbon/ rum/ scotch at some point later in the evening) then he was viewed as, well, unusual. Nowdays it seems to me that, particularly in larger population centres, trends have shifted such that even alco-pops are entirely acceptable drinks for a (usually younger) guy.
Ultimately, I am not really all that worried if less beer is made/ drunk in Aust - from a purely personal point of view, I will be extremely happy as long as the trend towards a greater range of beers are available across the board (eg pubs, restaurants, bottlo's) and I can keep making my own (half-decent and non-poisonous to date :beerbang: ) beer.
Speaking of which (assumes deep, gravelly voice), I'd love one now ... although probably not "that" variety!
(just read that post back - wow
, bit long really and haven't even had a drink to blame it on!)
