What Makes Megaswill Just So Crap?

[Fents]

sometimes, it's a cheap source of bottles

$35-40 is cheap for 24 bottles? :huh:

 

[the_fuzz]

Not a single pellet, Its all done with ISO. Don't know about tooheys, but I strongly suspect that they are the same.

They are still using pellets and ISO at the same time - depending on the beer.

They are actually using this as a differentiator within the industry "We are Tooheys and we still use real hops, CUB doesn't use real hops anymore" But give it 6 months and I would say no more pellets

 

[the_fuzz]

Yep and I could taste it when they went over and I stopped drinking their product at that point.

Where did they go over to? Or where did they come from?

 

[mfdes]

When you say CUB no longer use hops, what do you mean?
Many CUB beers are hopped with pellets and even late hopped, and being very familiar with the hop industry, I can tell you they sell a lot of hops to the breweries.
For example Cascade Premium is late hopped with (I think) Tassie hersbrucker. Their (crap tasting) carbon-neutral fad Cascade green is hopped with very nice Galaxy hops. Cascade first harvest use this year a new, unnamed cultivar for flavour and aroma.
Best to be specific and not generalise one's experience from one or a few beers to the industry in general.

MFS.

 

[the_fuzz]

No, beer tastes the way it does because breweries can get away with it and it costs more to do otherwise.

Or they produce the beer that the market will buy - which is exactly what is happening.

Australians believe their beer is strong,

It is strong, in regards to Alcohol content - compared to the yanks we have very strong beer

The hops is used to hide how low the malt level is.

That makes no sense

The big two breweries are in the buisness of making money not beer. Beer is just a means to getting the money.

Is that not how every business works? You have a business to make money, you sell a product - this is just the means to get the money

The rest of the developed world, and some underdeveloped countries are capable of making good beer without producing the piss that our major breweries do.

Name of the other Megabreweries that produce outstanding beer

BTW if Aussie Megaswill is so crap on the international stage, why do they keep winning awards in international comps (Real comps)

Fortunatly I think Australians are slowly waking up. It'll take a few generations.

That would not be indicated by the sales of the megswills - they are selling more then ever..........

It just sounds like you have a gripe against the Big Breweries. Even thou must of us here would have gotten our taste for beer from beers like New, VB, XXXX. But hey, some people just hate seeing large companies succeeding

 

[the_fuzz]

Best to be specific and not generalise one's experience from one or a few beers to the industry in general.

MFS.

TB works for CUB.........

And from an exec at Tooheys, he told me that CUB also do not use any pellets any more

Cascade may obviously be an except - I think TB was refering more to the stock CUB beers, VB, draught etc

 

[ibast]

Where did they go over to? Or where did they come from?

Not "where", "when". James squire started using it some time after they were bought by Lion Nathon. I didn't know they had been bought out. I tasted it a few years ago and thought "this has changed. it tastes like Tooheys dishwater" then did a bit of a google to find out they had been bought out a not that long before.

 

[the_fuzz]

Not "where", "when". James squire started using it some time after they were bought by Lion Nathon. I didn't know they had been bought out. I tasted it a few years ago and thought "this has changed. it tastes like Tooheys dishwater" then did a bit of a google to find out they had been bought out a not that long before.

LOL, ok........

 

[bonj]

Not "where", "when". James squire started using it some time after they were bought by Lion Nathon. I didn't know they had been bought out. I tasted it a few years ago and thought "this has changed. it tastes like Tooheys dishwater" then did a bit of a google to find out they had been bought out a not that long before.

Uhh.... they've always been owned by Lion Nathan... they just got more popular and had to shift production to a larger brewery. Ever wondered how Hahn Brewery (which was bought by Lion Nathan) and James Squire started in the same building?

 

[ibast]

It just sounds like you have a gripe against the Big Breweries. Even thou must of us here would have gotten our taste for beer from beers like New, VB, XXXX. But hey, some people just hate seeing large companies succeeding

No I have a problem with the c-grade product they spew out. I believe it is the direct result of the Duo-duopoly they hold on the market.

I got my taste for good beer with products other than those made by CUB & Lion Nathan.

Australian beer is like Bert Newtons 20 to 1. People only watch it because there is nothing else on. Until recently (say 10 years ago) better beer was significantly more expensive than mainstream swill.

This meant that the Australian palate has become used to it. It doesn't mean it's good.

People still buy McDonalds, not because they prefer it to a burger with the lot from the local, but because it is cheap and convenient and the marketing is strong.

CUB and Lion Nathan products are the McDonalds and Hungry Jacks of the beer world.

 

[Julez]

No I have a problem with the c-grade product they spew out. I believe it is the direct result of the Duo-duopoly they hold on the market.

I got my taste for good beer with products other than those made by CUB & Lion Nathan.

Australian beer is like Bert Newtons 20 to 1. People only watch it because there is nothing else on. Until recently (say 10 years ago) better beer was significantly more expensive than mainstream swill.

This meant that the Australian palate has become used to it. It doesn't mean it's good.

People still buy McDonalds, not because they prefer it to a burger with the lot from the local, but because it is cheap and convenient and the marketing is strong.

CUB and Lion Nathan products are the McDonalds and Hungry Jacks of the beer world.

picture millions of Australians with pegs on their noses and wrinkled faces, despising every drop of mass-produced Australian beer that passes their lips...yep, they are hating every minute of it... Did you ever stop for a second to think, that maybe these people are happy with their own choices??

 

[ibast]

Uhh.... they've always been owned by Lion Nathan... they just got more popular and had to shift production to a larger brewery. Ever wondered how Hahn Brewery (which was bought by Lion Nathan) and James Squire started in the same building?

OK, that wasn't my understanding. All the same there was a point where some of their products changed yeasts. Their product was definitely inferior after that.

 

[ibast]

picture millions of Australians with pegs on their noses and wrinkled faces, despising every drop of mass-produced Australian beer that passes their lips...yep, they are hating every minute of it... Did you ever stop for a second to think, that maybe these people are happy with their own choices??

When you are a teenager you think masturbation is the best thing in the world.

Then you get a blow job.

 

[pokolbinguy]

When you are a teenager you think masturbation is the best thing in the world.

Then you get a blow job.

hahaha so true!!

 

[AUHEAMIC]

I was raised on VB and drank it exclusively for 25 years until I started home brewing. For me it was the best beer in the world and no one could tell me any different. Now that my taste has been changed I can no longer drink VB and to me it tastes like crap. So in answer to your question What Makes Megaswill Just So Crap? I would have to say for me home brewing.

 

[geoffi]

It is strong, in regards to Alcohol content - compared to the yanks we have very strong beer

Beg to differ. AFAIK, standard American lagers are around 5% abv. That's stronger than the current crop (or crap) of Aussie ms.

It's their jihad against anything resembling a beer-like flavour that has made US mass-market beers seem weak and watery. But they do tend to contain alcohol.

 

[Hutch]

What Makes Megaswill Just So Crap? I would have to say for me home brewing.

Well said!
I have to say that I've always thought VB / Draught etc. taste like sh1t, and struggled to get used to drinking this filth in my late teens, as is expected of a young Aussie male. I started brewing when I was 18, in the hope that I could try to make beer that was like the imported stuff, which for a Uni student was just too much $$$.

I'm a firm believer that Aussie megaswill is indeed vile, and no amount of expensive advertising could ever convince me otherwise. We're all forced to drink the stuff on odd occasions (weddings, parties, etc.) so we are constantly reminded of how bad it is - seems to get worse every time!

I think a large proportion of the drinking public would also agree, however we are "expected" to drink the stuff, and not say a bad word about it, for fear of being branded a "snob", a "yuppy" or a "poof". This is more to do with the Aussie bloke mentality and drinking culture than it is to do with buying the cheapest product on the market.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

picture millions of Australians with pegs on their noses and wrinkled faces, despising every drop of mass-produced Australian beer that passes their lips...yep, they are hating every minute of it... Did you ever stop for a second to think, that maybe these people are happy with their own choices??

Julez you aint wrong, but you are missing the point. They have their own free will to choose, its just that they cannot see the full market. The main philosophy of advertising is to condition consumers minds that what they associate with in the advert is the best thing for them. For the average Australian they see these brilliant commercial advertisements and select the product accordingly. Its not rocket science. With the mass produced beer, they see they want. They are conditioned to that beer. They see the "premium" brands - eg Crown Lager and say "this costs more, it must be better". They are happy with their choices. Its only when they find there really is a better choice do they become homebrewers.

And I wiill say, there is nothing wrong with megaswell. It's just not my first choice of tipple for all of us here on this site.

 

[shonky]

Uhh.... they've always been owned by Lion Nathan... they just got more popular and had to shift production to a larger brewery.

They did, but no James Squire beers are made at Lidcombe anymore.

I believe that the Pils, the IPA, the porter are all made at Camperdown again, (maybe why their pils tastes great again and winning the gold at the WBC seems to attest to this). The Amber and the Golden are brewed at the Adelaide brewery I think :unsure: .

I have it on reasonable authority that they still use the Toohey's new yeast to make the Pils at Campderwdown, and probably always have done. It could be the fermentaion management rather than the yeast strain, or perhaps aspects of the 'hot-side' of production which resulted in the beer being below-par when brewed at Lidcombe.

My view is that it wasn't as hoppy and the bitterness was harsher before production moved back and it didn't have the same malty mouthfeel as it does again now.

 

[maltedhopalong]

Just putting this out there (knowing that many will disagree).

Fact: Many many Aussie's actually enjoy megaswill, otherwise there would not be the HUGE brand loyalty out there that there is.

Subjective Fact based on above: Breweries don't just throw any old ingredients in and market the hell out of it. Any marketer worth their salt believes product is just as important. They may be catering to uneducated tastes, but their beer is deliberate.

Further subjective fact: Megaswill is relatively "smooth" in that it's not interesting, doesn't have floral overtones, doesn't have a strong taste of anything (hops, malt, etc.).

I believe these facts are 100% correct, though I'm sure some will disagree.

To those that AGREE, do you think there's a big difference between saying megaswill TASTES disgusting and saying it is bland/thin/etc.???


My view is that commercial beer is brewed to be unoffensive and I find it such. My tastes have seriously changed with homebrewing, but if I'm deadly honest with myself, megaswill goes down fine, it's just not interesting.

To illustrate, I enjoy freshly squeezed juice. But I have no problems drinking a glass of water with a slice of orange in it. You wouldn't hear me saying "I couldn't even choke down a glass of water with an orange slice in it, not since i've had real orange juice".

Just my opinion and please don't mistake it for anything other than self-indulgence, i am a narcisist.