Beer!
 

Is the beer in oz that bad?!

I'm hearing bad things! I'm moving to oz in august and very high up on my list of concerns is the quality of beer, ( followed by where to live etc etc...)

What are your thoughts?!

Re: Beer!
 

Depends where you are headed and what your tipple is. I drink wine however so can't really tell, though I'm partial to a drop of Bluetongue in the summer.

Re: Beer!
 

Do you mean beer as the Brits understand it - "real" stuff, or beer as the Aussies understand it - ie lager? :)

Re: Beer!
 

Beer as in proper beer!

London pride, tribute.... Good thick beer!

Re: Beer!
 

70 Victorian beers available at a local pub to us.... Most of them Ales. The Beer Market is changing fast here. This pub is always packed.

Heres the list....

http://www.thewoodlandshotel.com.au/Menu/beer_menu.pdf

The more pertinent question could be, can you handle the higher alcohol content ?

Polly.... for your likes and dislikes you probably couldn't have picked a worse state to live in IMO ;)

Re: Beer!
 

If your in Sydney you need to get yourself to the Lord Nelson down the Rocks. They have their won micro brewery on site and make some very good winter and summer beers :thumbup:

Many other pubs down the Rocks also have a bit more variety. The Orient does a good hand pulled Guinness :thumbup:

Dan Murphies stocks a good variety of real British beer in bottles, but is never the same as the proper casked hand pumped stuff.

The Tasmanian lagers tend to be the best, Boaggs and Cascade. They have a bit more flavour than your usual tasteless Aussie fizzy lager. Mind when it is 40c outside and you are gasping for a beer and have a dry mouth even a tasteless lager can hit the mark!

Re: Beer!
 

This is one of my usual stop offs in Brissie (West End) for a decent beer.

http://www.archivebeerboutique.com.au/

Re: Beer!
 

You have to hunt down the good stuff. Your average pub/rsl will just have aussie piss (vb, tooheys, etc) but there are some great pubs around.

Lord Nelson has been mentioned. Harts Pub, Redoak and Schwartz Brewery are other good ones in Sydney.

Re: Beer!
 

I have yet to find anything drinkable in Perth. Disgusting muck than i wouldnt clean the drains with. And before anyone says what about.....little creatures....micro brewery....blah blah. They are some of the worst and can only assume the people who recomend them normally drank Tennants from a can back in the UK.

Re: Beer!
 

It wasn't my choice, trust me. I had to go to where the Bloke was living.

Re: Beer!
 

Yep has more varieties than you can shake a stick at :thumbsup:

Re: Beer!
 

What do they rush you for a "proper' beer over there? Are those the prices in the RHC?

Re: Beer!
 

Australia has a thriving and expanding 'microbrewery' culture. There are excellent beers produced in all states now and they are just starting to become a bit more commercial as they show up on tap in pubs and bars and also sold in bottle shops.

The Matilda Bay brewing company in Melbourne makes some excellent beers, eg. Fat Yak. JSydney based James Squires is quite good as well. The Holgate brewery near my area, i.e. Woodend, VIC has excellent beers based on British and European styles.

Here in VIC, local breweries are becoming as prevalent and ubiquitous as wineries, i.e absolutely everywhere.

Re: Beer!
 

Little Creatures is hardly representative of the entire Australian microbrewery culture.

Come back and post again after you have tried all the beers from every brewery in Australia before passing judgement.

Re: Beer!
 

No big brewery beer in that particular pub. Yes the prices are steep. You could always wander 200 years up the road and drink with the Oldies at the RSL.... there it's 5 bucks per pint for that chemical tasting CUB. Pretty bleak atmosphere though.


.

Re: Beer!
 

I like the Fat Yak :thumbup:

And another thumbs up for the Archive place, they used to do beer tasting sessions (with grub) there too, good fun.

Re: Beer!
 

Fat Yak was on special last month at the local bottle shop. At $38 a carton I had to buy three:blink:
All I need now is Little Creatures pale to come on special & the beer fridge will be back to capacity:fingerscrossed:

Re: Beer!
 

I've never seen it that cheap :eek: I'd be buying a couple as well.

I now reckon the best main stream beer is Cascade pale ale... although thats suprisingly difficult to get. Not sure why, I think it's better than anything Boags do, I'd put Cascade Pale up there with Little Creatures personally.

Re: Beer!
 

I love Cascade Pale too, really nice. Shame they seem to focus on cornering the light beer market and don't distribute it more.

Re: Beer!
 

Most mainstream beers you get in your average pub is ordinary at best, you have to search out the better stuff. 95% of pubs give you very little choice.

Re: Beer!
 

I have never seen that on special.

Re: Beer!
 

As a general rule, for most locations in Aus, you can forget about walking to your local pub and having a pint of bitter.

the beers on offer vary from region to region.

Perth - extremely expensive. Expect to pay $10+ for a pint. That's nearly 7 british pounds. I'm not talking about good beer here, either. This is bog standard lager.

Melbourne / Sydney - the inner suburbs of both, have a fairly good choice of bars and pubs where you can get "proper" beer. Note that a proper beer in Melbourne will probably cost you less that a glass of tap water in Perth.

Brisbane - very little choice of pubs selling proper beers. Up here, you generally have to get used to drinking the local lagers.

Adelaide - not even worth mentioning. Whereas everywhere else in the world, a pint is a pint, in Adelaide, order a pint in the pub and you get a small glass of beer. Write this place off, immediately.


In terms of beers from the bottleshop, as a general rule :

cheap lager, or light lager = $30 a carton. Must be drunk ice cold, or preferably, avoided.
local full strength lagers and beers = $40 to $50 a carton.
premium local lager/beer = $60+ a carton.

proper beers from the UK = at least $70 a carton.

Re: Beer!
 

Good spotting, I would too if was in beer-drinking mode.

I did pick up some James Squire Porter during the week though, I am going through one a night before switching to the red.

It's OK, a bit watery and fizzy for me, if I'm going mainstream then I'll pick up some Coopers Extra Stout, I don't mind that at all.

Re: Beer!
 

Cascade do a damn good stout.

Re: Beer!
 

I am told there is a pub in the Dandenongs near Melbourne that sells English beer.

Re: Beer!
 

ok so its not all that bad then!

i just need to choose carefully!

Tim

Re: Beer!
 

Nope, just $$$$$!

Re: Beer!
 

True... Cost me close to 150 bucks for two last night... including the one course meal. Scotch and Dry and a Pint of Belgian Style Vic Brewed IPA..21 bucks a shout.... It was 7.5 pct and on tap, so a rare brew. Wont be doing it again in a hurry.

Luckily these Gastro pubs are the sort of places I only venture into once every 6 months or so. It was a real experience, However I'd rather go out 3 times as often than pay 3 times the usual cost. Instead of feeling good about a pleasant experience, I'm left with a feeling of slight guilt about needlessly wasting money.

Back to the much cheaper BYO ethnic restaurants I reckon.

The Wife had Mauritian Curry.... Had a quick taste, definitely different, almost certainly genuine in flavour, very distinctive.... but not worth 36 bucks in hindsight.

Re: Beer!
 

I used to get free beer n cheese crackers from a shed on a mountain top in Brisbane,Polly lived there:D

Re: Beer!
 

You forgot to mention the pickled onions :p

Normal service can be resumed at a few days notice ;) I have a local cider supplier now too :sneaky:

Re: Beer!
 

Maybe you can't read. I didn't say Australia. I said Perth. I made it clear it was based on what I have tried. Which includes all the Perth micro breweries and a good assortment of bottled. All gross. I will keep trying but after 4 years aren't hopeful