What Makes Homebrewers Brewers And Megaswill Crap?

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dr K

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What is it about some (and someone flicking through this forum might be tempted to say so many) Homebrewers that gives them the authority to decree that MegaSwill (and I take it by MegaSwill they are referring to the products of the major brewers, here in Australia CUB and L-N) is crap, is garbage, is made by accountants and marketers who have no idea of what beer is, of what hops are ,of quality grain..in short is Swill.
What is it about buying a can of liquid Mars Bars sans chocolat with some tetrahop extract added, diluting to 11 litres or adding more processed sugar in what ever form (maltose, dextrose, sucrose etc) to make up to 18 or 23 litres and tossing in some form of generic yeast that makes this person able to make a fairly strong statement regarding the quality of "Megaswill" cf this persons own "brew"?
Of course Kits do not allow one to fully express ones artistic talents..so lets go all grain..which is the smartest move most will make but whilst it should improve the quality it may bring its own devils.
What is about marginally elevated levels of brewing products such as diacetyl, acetaldehyde, dimethyl sulphide, phenolics, fusels, buckets of esters, spoonfulls of caramel.and thats just the start that makes this "brew" superior to "Megaswill", different certainly but better..come on...
Yes, I enjoy my own brew (thats when I choose not to throw it out) and I enjoy many of my friends brews, but I equally enjoy a cold clean Resch's at the local in good company.
I have tasted a lot of different beers in the last 30 years and a heck of a lot of homebrewed beers in the last 10, over the last 5 I have judged a lot of homebrews and tasted a lot of commercial with judging in mind.
Now, I have tasted some rather dismal Commercial Brews (none by the way fall into this "Megaswill" catergory), but none so many as dismal and worse as the homebrew. I have also tasted some wonderfull homebrews but not so many as the wonderfull commercials I have been privledged enough to sample.
Strange as it may seem, the brewers of the wonderfull homebrew have no problem with the commercial beers, they may chose not to drink VB or Tooheys or whatever but that is choice, I choose to drink Reschs and not VB...got a problem?
There is great joy to be had by making a product with one's own hands, I make pasta, I make cheese, I make gravlox, I extrude my own sausages, I cure meats, I smoke chicken and fish, I make bread both leavened and unleavened, I even bloody make soy cheese from the soy milk I make myself from soy beans...oh I make beer as well, and I am sure that many members of this forum do some, or all, or even more than that..does it follow, therefore, that all those products produced commercially are crap/swill/garbage etc.. I think not (though there is a good case for the vilification of most cheese but that is a different thread and one based on far more substantial reasoning than that given for "Megaswill")
CUB and LN are not running "homebrewers" down, quite the opposite they sell them extract (like the James Squire all the way from Maltexco in NZ..so perhaps in fact, they are).
Making a better product is all about doing the best you can, and nothing about wildly slinging off at the other products..for homebrewing to truly establish itself in Australia the general public need to see us in the best light..and the Luddite like baseless bagging of technically excellent beers (aka Megaswill) just aint gunna do that.
Sorry.....
Between the third note of the octave and the miasma ....lies the truth.....(an interesting turn of phrase)

K
 
Well said dr K - i think people are missing the point on that thread entirely. Each to their own, i say. Look at the US, that has the highest number of microbreweries per capita of anywhere in the world, has been that way for decades, and still the micro/craft brew market is less than 5% of the total consumption.

I've made the mistake of telling people their favourite beer is crap, when in fact, it's just different to what i prefer. When i go to the pub i usually drink Cooper's, however i don't mind a Boags draught, Carlton Draught, Reschs or even Tooheys New/VB on occasion. At home, different story, but we don't all just drink at home do we?
 
I'm honestly not sure why you made this a separate thread to the other concurrent one.
 
Once again i did not mean to offend anyone with the 'crap' term because it was definitely not what i was trying to get across with the other post

What i was trying to ask is just why it does not seem to be as flavoursome and 'full' as homebrews do. And as i have come to realise, its not from poor ingredients or fermenting practices, its just what the majority of australian drinkers want. its not crap otherwise millions of liters of it would not get sold, its just that there are better brews (in my eyes) and just wanted to know some background information into the production of the megabrews.

i never really liked the swill beers when i first started drinking, instead id stay on scotches or james squire if they had it on tap but once again, this is just my tastes.

some people dont enjoy red label but enjoy the higher shelf scotches, its all down to personal preference and how much someone is willing to pay for something they enjoy. If the main beers are what people enjoy then i will not hold anything against anyone. as someone said previously, beer is beer...

I didnt mean to personally attack anyone or start this debate amongst a fair few people, i was just keen to learn about what goes behind the scenes of the main breweries


Cheers, Sponge
 
It's late at night, as I drink my homebrew, having cycled home from enjoying some professionally brewed beer, but I am resisting the temptation to say more than is necessary. All that is needed is...

Hear, Hear!! (Or here, here if you prefer).


Dr K: You've hit the proverbial on the whatsit...

Edit: Dickheadery about who I am referring to.
 
Now, I have tasted some rather dismal Commercial Brews (none by the way fall into this "Megaswill" catergory), but none so many as dismal and worse as the homebrew. I have also tasted some wonderfull homebrews but not so many as the wonderfull commercials I have been privledged enough to sample.


+1

:super:

I aggree with all......... hence my deleted origional post in the ofending thread and re posting more politicalluy corectly to avoil moderator action.

That phrase just hit the G spot!

Well said old chap!

cheers
 
Wow dr_K, a post with some thought and reasoning. I think you're in the wrong forum.

What I find most interesting is what cuts the mustard for this 'Megaswill' labelling. It seems most people refer to LN/CUB, but not Coopers? Where is the reasoning in that? I thought the only difference was the state orientated monopoly. That's what "cheeses" me off. Speaking of which, what's wrong with commercial cheese?
 
Easy answer... megaswill is bland, dry lager with very little or no hop, malt and yeast character. It's the white bread of breads, the cheese pizza of pizzas, the napoletana of pasta sauces, the boxed 'fresh dry white' of wines, the sliced cheese of cheeses, I could go on. Yes it's well made and exact to specification, but it doesn't excuse it from being boring as bat shit. Coopers (ales at least) have that extra dimension of "yeast character".

Hey! I think I said the something very similar in the other "megaswill is crap" thread, we're covering the same content! <_<

(In other words, reiterating my first post in this thread; why the hell are there 2 threads on the same subject?)
 
So if Carlton Draught had more yeast character, it wouldn't be "megaswill"?

:blink:
 
As I am waiting for my wort to chill, l I had the pleasure of reading this thread while listening to Led Zep, "Babe I'm gonna leave you".

K! Your post really hit a note.

And I will reiterate my opinion on commercial brews.
Some are terrific BUT just too expensive.
If I had the time and resources to brew some of the "GOLD" out there I would.
I've tasted more crap homebrews then crap "megaswills".

Saying that, it's more exciting to taste a succesfully brewed HB then a commercial Brew.
Hell of a lot cheaper too.

This is a stab in the dark
But I reckon a lot of us including yours truly is highly opinionated ninkompoops most of the time when we post in thread like theses. :huh:
Any way happy brewing
 
Same here
Agree with Iann and Adamt.
Dr K, you're entitled to your opinion about megaswill, and seems there are some very strong opinions on this topic.
But to start a NEW thread on the same topic is merely an attempt to stamp your opinion on the top of the pile, rather than have it lost in amongst a myriad of opinion.

Of course some people are more right than others...
 
+1 here

I think many of these people bandying the term megaswill and using the word crap to go with it have lost track of how much worse than beer their product once tasted... till they got used to it. :)

MFS
 
Because I can't afford a case of Belgian megaswill (or would you class it as minorswill?)
 
FIRST PAGE ADVERTISING SPACE FOR RENT - PM WITH OFFERS!
 
+1 here

I think many of these people bandying the term megaswill and using the word crap to go with it have lost track of how much worse than beer their product once tasted... till they got used to it. :)

MFS

Now THAT`S going straight to the Poolroom :lol: :lol: :lol:

stagga.
 
how much worse than beer their product once tasted

MFS

This still applies to me so I keep at least one cartoon of my usual bottlo fave on ice to break the week up a bit. Probably always will.
 
Easy answer... megaswill is bland, dry lager with very little or no hop, malt and yeast character. It's the white bread of breads, the cheese pizza of pizzas, the napoletana of pasta sauces, the boxed 'fresh dry white' of wines, the sliced cheese of cheeses, I could go on. Yes it's well made and exact to specification, but it doesn't excuse it from being boring as bat shit. Coopers (ales at least) have that extra dimension of "yeast character".

Hey! I think I said the something very similar in the other "megaswill is crap" thread, we're covering the same content! <_<

(In other words, reiterating my first post in this thread; why the hell are there 2 threads on the same subject?)


great analogies and i think your on the money.

the other thing is, i have friends who drink tooheys extra dry or carlton draught or west end and they don't mind it. Thats cool, but i can gurantee you that those same friends have never gone out and bought some of the beers which are generally regarded as awesome - chimay Blue, hoegarden (all 3 of them!), knapstein lager just to name a few i really enjoy.

but, a classic example, i gave a friend of mine a james squire golden ale (yes mass produced but still a mighty fine beer) and he was blown away by the fact that beer CAN have so much flavour. that doesn't meen he has ever bought it cos JS is exy stuff.

another thing, i am happy to admit some of brews are shit - i've only been in the game a short time and i have ALOT to learn still but im getting their.

To me, the difference between "megaswill" and a quality beer is this; megaswill sells alot because they make a beer thats drinkable. lets face it, no one is about to go out, buy a carton of hoegarden forbidden fruit and drink 10 or 12 of them in a night. but you can do that with mega swill, its cheap and it wont leave you feeling bloated from all the yeast (coopers pale/sparkling) at the end of the night.

cheap beer, easy to drink beer and acceptable to those unlucky few who havn't had their 'awakening' into the beer world.

i hope 1 day i will be able to brew some fantastic beers, ive had some positive comments back on my HB and some negative comments back, you can NEVER brew a beer thats just right for everyone.

also look at the amount CUB spend on advertising (the BIG AD for carlton draught and hiring the sydney syphony orchestra for the VB ad?) little breweries cant do that. people buy mega swill cos they dont know any better, cant afford any better, want to drink lots of beer and wake up the next day and do it all again.

me, id prefer to drink quality beer and if that means i spend a few extra dollars at the bottleshop or if i spend along time perfecting this HBing nonsence, well either way.

HBers are trying to find that perfect beer for them.
megaswill is made for the masses

and thats my point
sorry a little off topic in places
catchyas
gerald

also where is the other thread?
 
I still notice a severe lack of criticism of the major breweries coming from those that have brewed show- and award-winning beers. I would say it is because it takes getting to this level to realise how well brewed many of those beers are, and how bad the vast majority of homebrew is. Beware of the sanctimonious homebrewer... his beer is usually shit.

MFS.
 

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