What Makes Megaswill Just So Crap?

[Thirsty Boy]

Hey Razz, if i could change the title of the post I would as i didnt actually mean for my thoughts to come across like that. Sorry mate

I was mainly wanting to know if there are any lesser quality ingredients or procedures which are used by the big breweries to give a beer of, not lesser quality, but lesser taste/flavour? (cant think of the right word). And as a few people have mentioned which i never really thought of, but its made that way because thats what sells. They wouldnt be multi million dollar businesses if their product didnt sell. They advertise well, and produce the beer which most australians are happy to be drinking. Not that theyre of lesser quality, just theyre brewed for the aussie palate and they do a dam fine job for 90% of the aussie beer drinkers

Once again, sorry about the post name as I realy dont like it either.

I don't think you have anything to be sorry about there mate,

You think its crap and by asking the question about why it is the way it is, you were actually seeking out the qualification that Mr Brau was looking for. You weren't happy with just saying "its shit because I don't like it" you wanted to know why, so that you could dislike it in an educated way.

You got a bunch of answers - some of them were good and informative, some of them not so much. And you got some philosophical points to boot.

Now when you come forth with "megaswill is crap ...." you can add an informed "because" to the statement and you will sound like a proper beer snob. Welcome to the club


Megaswill is crap because it is bloody cold on the tootsies when you are wading around in it and it comes over the top of your gumboots. oh for a nice tepid real ale when you really need one.

Thirsty

 

[staggalee]

I agree , but I reckon the most basic homebrew would be better than the big breweries main lines. I used to drink them but now drink the expensive stuff while waiting for my first HB efforts to condition.
I am not looking forward to going to the footy this weekend when megaswill is the only beer on offer.
Drinking coopers stubbies now for $17/half doz, where I used to drink Hahn ice at $30 per 30 can block.

Better stop now. Another of these sparkling ales and I will be talking $hit , hic

It`s too late- you`re talking it now.
You`re saying the most basic homebrew {which could be a can of No Frills lager and a kg. of white sugar} would be better than the big breweries main lines.
Don`t be so bloody ridiculous. :excl:

stagga.

 

[lagers44]

OK so I might come across as stupid for this reply , but can some-one please explain just what mega-swill is please.

Is it just mass produced beer from the larger breweries ? If so wouldn't beers like Guinness , Bitburger , Fullers , Pilsner Urquell etc all be mega swill as they are produced in large volumes.
Is it the style of beer ( thin gassy low in flavour ) that makes it mega swill ? if so wouldn't a can of kit beer fall into that category as most kits with sugar result in a similar light bodied flavoured beer .

Shouldn't beer be judged by it's technical correctness not so much it's flavour profile or content ?
When trying some-ones homebrew does everyone say "this is crap beer " just because it's too bitter or malty or do you judge the efforts on how clear it looks and how free of off flavours it is and just how technically right the brewer did the job ?
Personal preferences shouldn't determine if something is crap or not just if you like it or not.

There , i've said my piece now I can leave this thread alone.

 

[bonj]

OK so I might come across as stupid for this reply , but can some-one please explain just what mega-swill is please.

In this context, mega-swill is referring to the bland lagers produced in extremely large quantities by the big two in Australian brewing.

mega: large quantity
swill: bland beer consumed in large quantities by the unwashed masses

 

[ibast]

So live with it! ITs not going to change.

Look where wine was in Australia in the 70's and look where it is now. That came about by people being critical. It is healthy to be critical.

And the title of the thread is fair enough. If commercial brewers are aware there are an increasing number of people who are discontent with their product, then the product can only get better.

 

[mr brau]

A lot of you have missed the point. The beer is not crap (ie faulty in some way). It achieves what it was meant to - please re-read the AIBA guidelines for Australian Lagers. That your palate prefers something with higher hop and malt profile doesn't make the alternative - what you call "megaswill", crap.

I believe that we become better brewers by appreciating, rather than dismissing styles - and defining faults rather than making generalisations. A beer's technical merit is not at all related to personal taste. That is all that I have been meaning to say.

Oh, and support microbrewed beer more.

 

[mfdes]

Two points I'd like to add.

First, I think the title of the thread is great! It's certainly stimulated vigorous debate, with remarkably little flaming...

Second, this comment about most basic homebrew being better than megaswill... I know we all like to think out product tastes good, but it takes a lot of time and effort to produce a beer that just plain tastes balanced and drinkable and is to style and with no major faults. Ask any novice using K&K and they may be truthful and tell you their stuff doesn't actually taste like beer, or they may be optimistic and say their stuff is good (when it doesn't even pass for something that's recognisably beer). We have a homebrew club down here and the majority of brews I've tasted in competitions I would not swallow for fear of poisoning (just being silly here ). But seriously, it takes a bit of effort to get past the K&K according-to-instructions-on-the-package crap.

My point is, the beer they make, within its style, is in general very good, and the majority of people I know will swallow liters of it with a satisfied smile (as I used to), and then turn around and tell me this Moo Brew and Little Creatures stuff tastes like somebody pissed in it after drinking perfume! Most people I know won't swallow a hoppy American Pale Ale, home- or commercially brewed!
However the megaswill is designed to appeal to as wide a share of the market as possible, including (especially?) teenagers, and does it remarkably well.

MFS.

 

[the_fuzz]

If commercial brewers are aware there are an increasing number of people who are discontent with their product, then the product can only get better.

You think they would see a forum about people who home brew, discussing how some people do not like megaswill, and then develop a hoppy ale to satisfy the HOME BREW market???

The big breweries already try to satisfy all markets with their other brands, With Lion Nathan, they have James Squires to fill the "craftbrewer" segment and then you also have knapstien (SP) lager and other ones off's


So they are not just out there trying to brew (in your opinion "crap beer") they are brewing 100's of styles across numerous brands to try to have everything covered

 

[Mantis]

It`s too late- you`re talking it now.
You`re saying the most basic homebrew {which could be a can of No Frills lager and a kg. of white sugar} would be better than the big breweries main lines.
Don`t be so bloody ridiculous. :excl:

stagga.

Sorry to offend Stagga, keep your shirt on mate
Perhaps its because I have just gotten into homebrewing and am enjoying the taste of them over the commercial beers that I have swilled in great amounts to the point that I find them soso. By commercial beers I mean mainstream brands and not coopers and others.
Cheers
Have another drink and rise above it man

 

[the_fuzz]

By commercial beers I mean mainstream brands and not coopers and others.

A little off topic - but why is coopers not refered to as MegaSwill?

Surely after their plant upgrade etc, they would have to be Megaswill - the CPA is bland as is the CSA - why are they still seen as some shiny becon of hope in the beer world?

Seriously, they still crap on about their beers being handmade - WTF, Sure - you push buttons on a control panel, that means hand made right?

 

[mfdes]

A little off topic - but why is coopers not refered to as MegaSwill?

Surely after their plant upgrade etc, they would have to be Megaswill - the CPA is bland as is the CSA - why are they still seen as some shiny becon of hope in the beer world?

Seriously, they still crap on about their beers being handmade - WTF, Sure - you push buttons on a control panel, that means hand made right?

They have sludge on the bottom of the bottle. This acts as a sort of safety blanket to make us homebrewers feel warm and fuzzy

MFS

 

[the_fuzz]

They have sludge on the bottom of the bottle. This acts as a sort of safety blanket to make us homebrewers feel warm and fuzzy

MFS

Exactly what I thought - throw some dead yeast into the bottle and people will think your beer is special :blink:

 

[ibast]

You think they would see a forum about people who home brew, discussing how some people do not like megaswill, and then develop a hoppy ale to satisfy the HOME BREW market???

No I don't expect them to run out and create a beer. But if they believe there is a market for better beer then it is more likely they will create better beer.

Take TV stations for example. If you ring up and whinge they actually note what you have to say. They've done their research and they know that for every person that whinges there are 400 other people who feel the same that have not rung up.

It's disappointing that the commercial brewers on this forum are not as open minded and are indignant that their product could in no way be improved.

 

[the_fuzz]

No I don't expect them to run out and create a beer. But if they believe there is a market for better beer then it is more likely they will create better beer.

Take TV stations for example. If you ring up and whinge they actually note what you have to say. They've done their research and they know that for every person that whinges there are 400 other people who feel the same that have not rung up.

It's disappointing that the commercial brewers on this forum are not as open minded and are indignant that their product could in no way be improved.

You seemed to be confused with the market - I assume you are calling New, VB etc crap - that is your opinion and the CUB/LN giants ahve responded, thus the reason they also have James Squires, Red Back etc - plus all of the BUL beers.

Your complaint is pointless as they already brew a beer to fill the void you are talking about? Or do you just want them to make a hoppy VB :blink:

 

[Dave86]

I think all people need to realise that better can mean two (or more different things) One it could be a technically better brewed beer that wins gold medals at beer awards eg: tooheys new, not a beer I enjoy at all but well constructed for the market. Or secondly it could mean that it tastes better to YOU, which is how I think of beer most of time as I would prefer an averagely brewed homebrew with interesting flavours, than to something bland, but this doesn't mean they're crap, just that you don't like them.

For example everyone thought the chaser were funny to begin with (I still do!) until more and more people got offended. Doesn't mean they stopped being funny, some people just didin't like them, its all down to preference...

Thats what I reckon anyway

Dave

 

[barneyhanway]

I'm not sure I buy the "never put the big guys down" philosophy, though a lot of people I know are very much in agreement with you mr brau.
To my mind, you have to try and teach people that the big guy makes tasteless beer (which to me at least is a very bad thing), and that to get a full flavoured alternative you have to turn to the craft brewers and pay more for the priveledge. Or learn how to brew your own to a reasonable level.

Tell me, how are you going to convince a wider audience to shell out more for a product brewed with passion for maximum flavour, if you maintain that the big guys products are good beers.

Oh and I thought that was a fairly well known fact that the big brewers invent those competition styles because their watery bland mucky brands don't fit into honest traditional beer styles.
They invent and run competitions with categories that fit their bland product line so they can put gold medals on the labels and market it as award winning. HA - faster than you can say "conspiracy".

 

[mfdes]

Barneyhanway:
Would you consider Macs to be a microbrewery, craft or mainstream?
What about Monteiths? Speights?
CUB? Most people say yes. What about Cascade? It IS CUB and many CUB beers are now brewed down here.
San Miguel? Major international conglomerate. Generic light flavoured pilsner. Boags? They make a similar product but they even have an ale dry hopped with EKG? Yet they are owned by San Miguel.

Where do you draw the line?

MFS.

 

[mje1980]

Interesting thread. I drink tooheys old when out, and the other day tried a matilda bay bo pils, it was pretty good, i enjoyed it better than the barons pale ale ( dont kill me please ). My feeling is, if the beer tastes good, i;ll drink it no matter who made it. Mass produced beers aren't my first choice, and i just cannot drink some of them, but some aren't terrible either.

I think most ( commercial ) beer drinkers aren't really interested in beer, they just wanna go to the pub/club/bbq and have a laugh with mates after work, the beer is really secondary to the social experience.

 

[ibast]

They invent and run competitions with categories that fit their bland product line so they can put gold medals on the labels and market it as award winning. HA - faster than you can say "conspiracy".

You're not as far off as you think. They are certainly selective about which competitions they run in. As for the Australian Lager category, well it was created around the style, so one of the megaswill brews has to win it.

Claiming victory in this category is pretty hollow.

 

[ibast]

I think most ( commercial ) beer drinkers aren't really interested in beer, they just wanna go to the pub/club/bbq and have a laugh with mates after work, the beer is really secondary to the social experience.

Now that is a good point. I and I imagine most people on this forum take beer more seriously than my mates. So I get upset when the only thing available at a pub is megaswill.

My mates don't. So good point.