I like the Fat Yak

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

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

I've never seen it that cheap 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.

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

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.

I have never seen that on special.

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.

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.

Cascade do a damn good stout.

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

ok so its not all that bad then!

i just need to choose carefully!

Tim

Nope, just $$$$$!

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.

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

You forgot to mention the pickled onions

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