So young, so naive: How has your taste in beer matured?

[morgs]

Don't know about the average bottle shop, but they (Coopers products) are on tap in that chain of Australia themed restaurants you have over there.

Ahh, yes, Outback Steakhouse. A fair dinkum chain, in my book. There's one less than a hour's drive from me. Thanks for the tip.

Gotta tell you a quick, funny story about Outback Steakhouse. I had to use the restroom/loo/whatever you blokes call it, and I thought the room was laid out and decorated in a strange manner. Fortunately, I was alone in there because when I exited the room, I discovered the sign on the door said "SHEILAS"! (The other door said "Blokes"!)

Cheers,

John

Its called numerous things such as:

Dunny
Crapper
Shitter
Porcelain bus ( when your crook)
Outhouse

and im sure there are many others but never a Restroom

Or a bathroom! cant remember the last time a took a bath in the toilet.

[blandy]

Or a bathroom! cant remember the last time a took a bath in the toilet.

or a sh1t in the bath...

[KIP]

...I've read Ollie or Geoff (I think Ollie) say that he used the dregs from an SNPA bottle to make a yeast starter.

SNPA is now at Purvis Cellars in Surry Hills got 2 tonight worth the $6 each

This is a top-10 beer. A bloke from work bought one for me and I had it when I got home tonight. All I can say is it's absolutely magnificent.

Oliver, I owe you an apology; it was John Palmer whose quote I was thinking of. Sorry, mate. I see now that you hadn't had a chance to try SNPA until a year ago or so. Bloody good beer, though, is it not?

Cheers,
John

[Oliver]

...I've read Ollie or Geoff (I think Ollie) say that he used the dregs from an SNPA bottle to make a yeast starter.

SNPA is now at Purvis Cellars in Surry Hills got 2 tonight worth the $6 each

This is a top-10 beer. A bloke from work bought one for me and I had it when I got home tonight. All I can say is it's absolutely magnificent.

Oliver, I owe you an apology; it was John Palmer whose quote I was thinking of. Sorry, mate. I see now that you hadn't had a chance to try SNPA until a year ago or so. Bloody good beer, though, is it not?

Cheers,
John

It's an excellent beer. Loved it on tap during my recent trip to the States. And no apology necessary.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Oliver]

Though it hurts to admit it, I was a huge fan of VB in the early days.

As was Geoff. In his young, wild days he had a VB logo shaved and coloured into his hair.

He also claims to have seriously considered having a VB tattoo.

He doesn't like talking about that period of his life

Oliver

[gregb]

Of all the embarrassing things you could have tattooed.

Cheers,
Greg

[James L]

My first beer was a Tooheys red... put me off beer for a little while until a week before my 18th i managed to buy my first carton of Emu Bitter... I thought it was pretty darn back in the day, but now i cannot touch the stuff.

When i first tried wheat beer it was a sample of Feral brewery wit beer. I almost spat it out and couldn't imagine how anyone could drink it. Now i cannot get enough wheat beer.

If i go to the pub, i will only drink the micro brewery/boutique beers (if they have them).

Also beers that i thought were bitter are now quite normal. LCPA used to be quite strong, but i think from having drank so much, it is not that bitter at all. (either that or all my homebrew beers are made with too mcuh hops).

And as for the SNPA, i wrote them a letter, and they explained why they cant export to Aust:

Greetings,

Thank you for taking the time to write. At present, Sierra Nevada exports to the UK only. International distribution is difficult for us because we brew our beer in only one location (Chico, CA), and require refrigerated transport and warehousing. The cost of transport makes international distribution too pricey for us to consider at this time, but that is not to say we may not find an equitable manner to do so in the future.

Keep checking back with us, and thanks again for your interest in our beers -- when we do expand our exportation market, I am sure Australia will be one of the first we venture into.

Cheers

James

[warra48]

I started drinking beer in New Zealand in the late 60's. That was before they got serious about beer and wine over there. Beer used to be sold for home consumption in ½ gallon flagons, filled from the draft tap in the pub. They also sold bottles, of course, but they were too dear for me at that time. Bloody awful beer it was, but in your late teens / early twenties you tend to drink most things uncritically.
Moved to Aus in the 1970's and also didn't really enjoy the usual suspects of Tooheys New, Tooths, or KB Lager etc, and instead got seriously into wine for a long time (well, I still am). I did love Guinness on tap in Perth when working there during the 1990's. When back in Sydney discovered the James Squire range, and LCPA etc, and finally found beers worth drinking for their quality, flavour and aroma.
When son and daughter gave me a HB kit for my birthday, it opened up a whole new world of all sorts of beers. Love the AG brews, which leave most commercial stuff for dead. And its a lot of fun to do, and a helluva lot cheaper than buying commercial stuff all the time. I got tired of paying $50 for a slab of Coopers, or $16 for a 6 pack of JS or LCPA etc.

[scanman]

Have to admin to. like others, when i started drinking I was a VB drinker for a number of years. Then I don;t know what they did to it, but the taste went off, or my taste changed in a matter of hours.
Never liked the stuff now for well over 15 years.
Married into a family with a brewery truck driver for Lion Nathan, so was almost forced to tooheys after that, but did my own brews now and then. Now I have been brewing full on for almost 12 months now, and would never look back.
There are still many great commercial local and import beers out there, but if I can I prefer a home brew nomatter what...

[lethaldog]

Yep im with ya there scanman, i used to drink a fair bit of carlton draught back in the day ( never a vb drinker though i guess i still had a little taste even as a young bloke ) but now its my beer all the way unless i get stuck going out to the pub then i will still have a carlton or a squire, lcpa or a coopers if its on offer.

Still amazes me how many ppl drink vb religously, i dont even think its fit to be called beer, maybe some sort of twisted cider but deffinately not beer

[rwh]

You know, I think I've come full circle. I used to drink Carlton Draught all through my student years, and shuddered at the price of anything else... so I guess it was mostly a matter of getting as much alcohol for the cash as possible. Now that I'm gainfully employed that's not so much of an issue. When I started homebrewing, I got into the Ales in a big way. Just a whole new world of flavour that the megabreweries have completely eschewed. But now after a good 18 months of brewing, I've come right back around and now I can appreciate just about anything, from light lager through to heavy stout. And you know what, that includes VB. A cold VB can be great, and you really don't need to go much further to get a good gob full of PoR! Mind you, one every couple of months is enough.

You know what? Carlton Draught is just filth though! I still drink it with my student mates at the pub; I just wish I had a good homebrew.

[Kevnlis]

And you know what, that includes VB. A cold VB can be great

Just keep up the brewing mate, you will get there eventually

[rwh]

I knew I was asking for it.

[Kevnlis]

I knew I was asking for it.

If it is any consolation to you, I still enjoy the odd Budweiser and MGD

I must admit it is getting harder to "enjoy" them every time!

[earle]

Budweiser and MGD

What cracks me up is that the labels of both these products proudly state that they are 'genuine". Are there people out there try to pass off fakes of these????

[gremlin]

When i first got into beer, my mates and i would skull down cartons of Coopers Stout and Becks (before lion nathan started making it)... for some reason i can barely touch the stuff these days, (plus now i'm into ales) Becks no longer tastes as crisp now that its made from aussie water, and i tend to prefer stouts that have more cocoa aromas and aren't so damn thick/soupy... i still hold Coopers Stout close to my heart tho, even the smell of it brings back awesome drunken memories

[MOFO]

I grew up in a household where, whilst I knew early on in life I found my drink of choice for life (beer) - My dad bought a beer I did not like, DB Export Dry. It was awful, and now no longer exists in NZ (no surprises). At school/uni when I could get hold of beer myself I drank DB Export gold...it was the beer for students, and priced at that market too.... drink a slab of that no worries. I also tried all sorts of awful Ready-to-drinks... they were pretty new, and if you think they are sickly and awful now... well, back then.

Coming to Australia for holidays I had some great nights out, and I associated this with VB... I didnt get hangovers, so I bought it, voluntarily, in NZ...
Anyway - I soon learnt the way of the wise-man.. and the look on my face when I drink a VB is akin to a bottle of hemlock. I try not to be snobby, and so if someone passes me a carlton/new/VB I will try, but often I won't drink it... I felt awful the other night when someone came aroudn ot mine with a 6er of Pure Blonde, but I was drinking Budvar and there is no way you can go to PBs after that!

Homebrew is the only answer to drink without it getting stupidly pricey, as unfortunately I now have the taste for what beer should be. Whilst I am trying to educate the girlfriend - and it may be too late for that.. if I have kids, their lessons will start early and I promise not to put them through the pain that I had to go through to find enlightenment

[Tipsy]

I can appreciate just about anything, from light lager through to heavy stout. And you know what, that includes VB. A cold VB can be great, and you really don't need to go much further to get a good gob full of PoR! Mind you, one every couple of months is enough.

I've always thought along the same lines, though I would never voice such an opinion on an anti-VB forum such as this

[Kevnlis]

I must say, an ice cold VB does not taste all that bad, but damn if even a half a can doesn't make you feel crook as a chook! It does to me anyway, within minutes...

[lethaldog]

You guys are mental, whats happenin here.....

VB is disgracefull, horrible sewer water, shite and really really bad.. END OF STORY


Are we all gettin a soft spot for it or something like a picked on tossa, it deserves the bad rap dont feel bad for it