Beer and Wine Thread

[mld]

Since its beer drinking weather i thought this thread needed to come back to life.

It is always beer drinking weather. Always.

Now i'm not old enough of to have drank them when they were around originally but i can fondly remember my dad and pop drinking Abbots Lager and Ballarat Bitter many many moons ago. Saw Ballarat Bitter on tv this morning so took myself off to Dans and sure enough they had around 20 slabs (limited run). Right next to them was again roughly 20 slabs of Abbots Lager and again a limited run.

They had a few open boxes and are selling cans individually, x6 or slab. I grabbed a few of each and will sit outside this evening and give them a go.

Anyone old enough to have enjoyed either drop back in the day? Or maybe when they have previously done limited runs?

Certainly hadn't consumed either of the originals, but I bicked up a six-pack of the Ballarat Bitter a few weeks ago for the novelty of the can. Nothing special, pretty much just standard Fosters Group beer with a different label, as I was expecting.

 

[Tiger Ghost]

Certainly hadn't consumed either of the originals, but I bicked up a six-pack of the Ballarat Bitter a few weeks ago for the novelty of the can. Nothing special, pretty much just standard Fosters Group beer with a different label, as I was expecting.

Sounds like i'll enjoy it then!!

 

[tigersnake]

There is still a great old heritage listed billboard of Ballarat Bertie holding a beer handpainted on an old brick building in Eyre St Ballarat. Or Redan more like. I did my apprenticeship a block from the Ballarat Brewery which then brewed all the Guiness for CUB. I've never tried Ballarat Bitter. Wonder if its the same as the original. I remember Abbotts, used to drink it when it showed up, 'Yellow Peril' we called it. Carlton Draught 'white death', VB 'green meanies', Melb 'Red terrors'. Remember the days when breweries were state-based and we could only get CUB? Seems weird now.

In the present, I'd recommend beer brewed by a scottish mob called Brew Dog. Great beer, not cheap, but if you're gunna lash out, you don't feel ripped off like a lot of flash beers. The india Pale Ale is superb, its got some catchy name I can't remember, but you really know you're drinking a beer. I love it. I got it at First Choice Liquor (I don't work or have shares in the shop or brewery BTW)

 

[Tiger Ghost]

I tried out both beers tonight. Now i'm normally a Melbourne Bitter drinker but will happily drink a Carlton Draught or VB.

Ballarat Bitter was ok, whacked the can in the freezer about 20 minutes to drinking. Wouldnt go out of my way to find anymore of it would stick to MB but its a very drinkable beer........My neighbour who dislikes all the beers i like and drinks all them girly beers thought the Ballarat Bitter was nicer than a standard CUB product and thinks he could get into a few of them.

Next up was the Abbots Lager, wasnt sure what to expect....a little worried it would be similar to a Fosters but should not have feared....What a nice drop, its just beer a mans beer. Something you could easily knock a few off after a day at work or just watchin the cricket. Will be purchasing a few slabs whilst its available.

Next up i plan on trying Cricketer Arms Lager and Gippsland Gold

 

[B1 and B2]

I’m enjoying reading about some of the beers that people used to / still do drink.
Laughed when I read about the Carlton Cold in plastic – man did I get some hangovers from that rubbish.

I used to be a beer guzzler then half way through the night switch to Bundy & Coke.
Given up on the Bundy now and drink far less beer.
I now love drinking Canadian Club & Cola (sometimes with Dry)
Can drink 1 or 20 and feel chipper the next day (which I love with 3 kids under 6)
If I drink beer I enjoy a Redback, Little Creatures but always love Carlton on tap at the pub!

B1

 

[tigersnake]

Can drink 20 and feel chipper the next day

You could make a great deal of money out of that BB. If you could isolate the gene

 

[tigersnake]

Just noticed that the Ballarat Bertie heritage listed billboard I mentioned is EJC's, who wrote the Tommy Hafey book, PRE avatar. Nice.

 

[evo]

It is always beer drinking weather. Always.

Quite possibly your best post ever.

 

[Disco08]

Selling Hoegaarden, Wahoo Ale, White Rabbit Dark & Lowenbrau in my caf ATM. All going down a treat and very tasty IMHO.

Mate of mine is also now running the Spready on Bridge Rd and tells me Cider is king down there so I'm giving that a bit of a go. I've tried Koppaberg strawberry & lime and Rekoderlig pear. Both pretty good but a bit sweet for my tastes. The ladies seem to enjoy it though. I'll get Henry Weston's vintage next to see if that's a bit more tart. Looks good at 8.5% though.

On the wine front I've had lots of success with Jim Barry Watervale Reisling and Tempus Two Merlot. If you like less acidity/tannins you'll like these I think.

 

[evo]

Cider is certainly making a comeback amongst the bourgousie. It's the new black in Melbourne, AFAICT.

It would pay to become the local expert on it, Duckman.

 

[Disco08]

Yeah for sure, especially given the clientele it seems to attract. :-X

Old mate Tim at the Spready says they've got 5 on tap and 25 by the bottle, which is crazy. If you're ever in the area check him out and say wassup for me.

 

[Gordietiger]

Went to the inagural Ballarat beer festival last Saturday--20 different breweries to sample --city oval was packed! Great time was had!
http://ballaratbeerfestival.com.au/

Been brewing at Barleycorn brewers in Huntingdale for the past 12 momths--$ 25 a slab for top shelf beers--absolutely hooked!!
http://www.barleycornbrewers.com/html/s01_home/home.asp

 

[WesternTiger]

Have been drinking James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale. Not a bad drop and for $15 a half a dozen is real value for money.

 

[craig]

Been all over the place lately Peroni, to Budweisers to Little Creatures, and Coopers.

Blue Tongue lagers not a bad drop either on a warm one.

 

[Joe Lynn Turnip]

Been all over the place lately Peroni, to Budweisers to Little Creatures, and Coopers.

Blue Tongue lagers not a bad drop either on a warm one.

Geez -from the shithouse to the penthouse and back there. :hihi

 

[craig]

heh heh heh also throw in xxxx, Steinlager Pure and i got a James Squires and a White Rabbit in the fridge.

Got a lot of em in singles my sister just went and bought a dozen different stubbies for my birthday ..... great prezzie.

 

[mld]

Always good to mix it up, and you need an average beer every now and again to fully appreciate the good ones.

 

[evo]

Drank most of the generic beers while I was in NZ recently. They have a pretty good range and at very cheap prices.

Monteith's Golden Lager was really tasty and only worked out to be $25 dollars a slab at the supermarket. Checked in Dan mMUphy's yesterday and they wanted $56 as slab -- bloody theives.

 

[larabee]

Drank most of the generic beers while I was in NZ recently. They have a pretty good range and at very cheap prices.

Monteith's Golden Lager was really tasty and only worked out to be $25 dollars a slab at the supermarket. Checked in Dan mMUphy's yesterday and they wanted $56 as slab -- bloody theives.

yeah, Monteith's is a good drop. Also Tui is pretty good beer - some speciality bottle shops have it here.
Love it in NZ getting your beer and wine and the supermarket - usually have a very good range too, compareable to a good bottle shop over here.

 

[mld]

Yep, NZ's availability and variety of good beer leaves Australia for dead.

onteith's Golden Lager was really tasty and only worked out to be $25 dollars a slab at the supermarket. Checked in Dan mMUphy's yesterday and they wanted $56 as slab -- bloody theives.

Indeed.

New Zealand excise on beer of more than 2.5% alcohol: $26.021 per litre of alcohol.

Australian excise on beer exceeding 3.5% by volume of alcohol packaged in an individual container not exceeding 48 litres: $44.11 per litre of alcohol calculated on that alcohol content by which the percentage by volume of alcohol of the goods exceeds 1.15%.