You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know why small microbreweries struggle in Australia:
1. Fricken Woolies and Coles own a good slice of the pubs. And these pricks only care about $$$$$$.
2. A lot of what could be smaller bars and pubs don't exist because boring,very large, mega-pubs (The Ivy for example), or Clubs (esp here in Canberra) exist in their place. Oh they give so much back to their communities though....yeah off the backs of all the misery they cause.
3. Exclusivity arrangements. Yeah coles or woolies freezing out competitors from malls, coke installing free fridges on condition that only their products are stocked, or a bowling club not being allowed to put a local microbreweries beer on tap because they signed an exclusivity/wanky/cosy/freeze out competition arrangement. Note: In many cases, even if there isn't a cosy arrangement with a large multinational, it's probably true that the dumbfuckers who run these boring establishments a.) don't understand the difference between good quality and mass produced mediocrity when it comes to beer, and b.) don't give a f--- anyways.
4. The media in Australia has done a pathetic job of educating the masses about beer. For every
informative/quality hour of so of TV dedicated to wine, I bet there's only around 2 mins on beer. Where are the TV shows on the ABC or SBS where Australian beer is discussed, microbreweries visited, etc, etc?
I bet everyone here who doesn't have a problem with all these beers....
http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/australian-independent-brewers/6474/...being made in Campbelltown Sydney, by the headbrewer employed by Independent Brewers, using water from Sydney, etc etc, would have a problem if all these beers were made in China.
Here btw is the back label for Pikes Oakbank. How can anyone seriously suggest this is not deceptive? Note how NSW, Sydney, Campbelltown etc is not mentioned anywhere on the back label. The only address mentioned is theirs in the Clare Valley. To know that this beer is not a craft beer from the Clare Valley - after all Independent Brewers might be based there - you have to go away a do your own research. (Luckily Google makes this task pretty simple.)