I’ve been known to sink an odd toothful of lager, ale, stout or porter on most working days since I began in this newspaper lark, more than half a century ago!
By Dusty Miller
But a recent trip to Australia graphically illustrated how fortunate serious drinkers in this country are…certainly when it comes to the cost of pursuing our hobby, if not on a wide choice of local product.
The range of Ozzie beers is huge and I’m not just talking about their international brands: Foster’s, Castlemaine XXXX, Victoria Bitter spring to mind. Toohey’s and its sister label, Hahn, proved excellent drinking and Toohey’s Extra Dry became possibly my favourite beer on a three-week stay in Adelaide, South Australia, during a prolonged heat wave which sure encouraged the consumption of chilled articles of a moderately intoxicating nature.
(Adelaide hit 46C on January 4 this year: the hottest day there since January 14 1938!)
And that sort of weather was ideal for slurping another favourite tipple: Cooper’s Clear, low carbohydrate beer, described as “dry”, which seems to be synonymous for lager style brews in Australia and was magnificently thirst-quenching.
There are an amazing number of quaintly named craft beers: the sort of Campaign for Real Ale approved brews from which I run a mile when in Great Britain…being, by choice, a lager lout of note!
My daughter-in-law’s order was usually Little Creatures Pale Ale; an Australian classic with more floral aromas than a florist’s shop, but at 5, 2% alc/vol, its kick belies its nursery rhyme name.
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Hahn beer is from New South Wales. I found that confusing when first drinking it in Hahndorf, South Australia, the country’s oldest surviving German town (founded in 1838), perched high in the Adelaide Hills, surrounded by prolific vineyards, olive groves and artisan breweries.
In 1914, during World War I, all men and boys were arrested and interned for the duration. After the Armistice they returned to find Hahndorf renamed Ambleside, after the English Lake District town and surrounding settlements called after Allied victories: Verdun still exists.
(Yet if you look at any of the war memorials which stud the Australian landscape, remembering South Australians who died in the Boer War, WWI and II, Vietnam and since, up to the present conflicts, there are many German-sounding surnames engraved on them.)
From the same area comes Vale Ale, brewed in McLaren Vale, better known for its growing of fine wines, like the neighbouring district of Barossa Valley.
Many beers are available “on tap” (draught) and usually in bottles of 335mm-375mm; 355mm is about the most popular, rather than cans. I liked West End Draught, discovered at the Adelaide Oval watching a splendid T/20 evening match between the home team and Sydney Sixers, also Carlton Draught.
We tried and enjoyed Beez Neez, a special honey-infused wheat beer, Fat Yak, American-style pale ale; 150 Lashes, a brew from James Squire, the name commemorates some poor sod being sentenced to get 150 lashes with a cat o’nine tales, probably from Captain Bligh! Dogbolter is a Munich-style dark lager and Big Helga, a pale lager based on a recipe from the same city.
I managed to handle two beer tastings in the Hills on one day (and lots of wine tastings!). At Lobethal Bierhaus we tried eight beers (175ml glasses) ranging from light Bohemian-style Pilsener to chocolate oatmeal milk stout and after lunch went to Grumpy’s micro-brewery near Verdun, for a couple more.
Spoiled for choice, but prices are horrendous. One bottle of lager in a supermarket costs about A$3, which is US$3,18. A six pack sets you back about A$16, but the price plummets if you want a 24-bottle case to around A$50. True economies of scale!
But drink that bottle in pub, club, or café and it’s anything between about A$6,50 and A$10 EACH and in a restaurant or hotel that zooms up to between A$10 and A$15 a bottle!
Australians earn the sort of loot to make those prices fairly painless. Zimbos on leave don’t!
