As part of my recent
trip to Australia, I thought I'd sample as many beers as possible in
order to compile a list and figure out what is happening with the
craft beer scene down under. With only a month give or take, and
fairly limited finances I tried my best.
My adventure into
antipodean beers originally began with 'Coopers Pale' in bottle about
maybe 10 years ago. Then it was only right that I tried the 'Coopers
Sparkling' which was directly after as the shop that they were bought
from had both. At the time Coopers was such an exotic beer, there
were numerous American beers, and the usual continental stuff along
with some regular favourites from Belgium and Germany. Coopers
however was extra special, where and when could you find an
Australian beer on the shelves in England. I'd say roughly ten years
ago to the present day. Things changed over the years with the
introduction of 'Stone and Wood', 'Pacific Ale' and then shortly
after, 'Little Creatures', Pale Ale. Drifting in and out of knowledge
of beers and Australian beers to be precise, I don't know when the
Little Creatures disappeared from our shelves, all I know is that it
is nigh on impossible to find it in England now. Stone and Wood has
fizzled away too, which is a real shame as both were exceptional
beers and so different to what was available at the time. Stone and
Wood is still available for purchase at shops like 'Real Ale' in
Twickenham and possibly some others. I have not seen Little Creatures
for a long long time but I feel it may be available somewhere. Some
Coopers varieties are available in 'Real Ale' and other outlets.
Hopefully they will all become more readily available and more beers
will find there way over a couple of continents and onto our shelves
and into our fridges.
When I left Australia
three years ago to come back to the UK, the craft beer scene was on
the up in a big way. Breweries like '4 Pines' and 'Little Creatures'
where pretty much in one in five pubs. Coopers Pale was the craft
beer of choice for most main stream pubs with the slightly fancier
places choosing something a little less common like the 4 Pines or
Little Creatures. In the year that I was in Sydney I saw the
popularity of craft beer sky rocket. It quite literally was in the
process of taking off. There were other beers and breweries such as
the 'Lord Nelson Brewery' producing typically Australian Pales like
'Three Sheets', you couldn't get more Australian than that. I noticed
the main beer style was either of the Lager variety or Pale Ales. The
Pales differed to the ones in the UK, Australian ones having a
lighter body, more pronounced hop notes and with the introduction of
very punchy, tropical fruit hops like Galaxy, much much more fruit
notes than the herbal and vegetal tastes you often get from classic
British styles. The Australian Pales were very similar to those being
produced across the Pacific in America. Not as hopped, not as boozy
but in my opinion fresher feeling, lighter and more balanced. Pales
being the beer of choice kind of makes sense, given the hotter
climate and recent abundance of one of the tastiest hop varieties. It
was an ideal situation, with so much of the market open for the
taking it was theirs to get out and grab it.
In the years since I've
been away, I can picture what it might have been like. This next bit
is a fictitious account of what happened to the craft beer scene in
Australia. It began the moment I turned my back to board my Korean
Airlines flight to England (which was a very pleasurable flight with
lovely food and all-you-can-drink-beer). I didn't want to go back to
England and in hindsight should have really put my foot down and said
'NO', but I didn't and I went back.
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