Beers of Australia

The people of Australia like to enjoy themselves and part of this often involves enjoying a nice cold beer. The wine industry has expanded rapidly but Australians will always be known as beer drinkers to the point of rivaling Germany.

The majority of Australian beers are unlike the English beers as they are all pretty much of the lager variety. They are kept cold and are carbonated. If you see a bitter in Australia, don't be fooled as it is probably a lager. A good example is one of my favorites and that is VB or Victoria Bitter. It is not an English Bitter and that is just fine by me. It is a cold, fizzy beer as opposed to a flat, uncarbonated beer served at room temperature.

The normal strength beer is about 5% alcohol and the light beers are less. Light beers in Australia are not the same as the the American light beers as the "light" refers to a lower alcohol concentration. Aussie beers also have flavour which is something that some of the main U.S. brewing companies forgot to include with their product. You know the ones that I am talking about.

To be fair, I have to say that there are some good brews in the United States. However , they are not the main stream light beers which are really only suitable for watering your plants but I am not that cruel and plants are expensive these days.

All right, by now if you are American you are waiting to read about Fosters. Do all Australians drink Fosters? NO! I don't mind it but it really is the flagship export product for Carlton United Breweries. It is my humble opinion that they make much better beers than Fosters. The first one that comes to mind is Crown Lager or "Crownie" to the natives. This is a great beer. It is more expensive than others but is worth it.

Another thing that you really need to know is that Australians drink "stubbies". A stubbie (stubby) is really just a beer in a small bottle that is about 12 ounces in volume. It is a little shorter and fatter than the American 12 ounce beer, hence the name. If you are in a bar there is no doubt that people will be drinking stubbies.

Here are some recommendations of beers you should try if you are traveling to Australia and this is just my opinion:

  • Crown Lager
  • Coopers
  • Boags Premium
  • Victoria Bitter
  • Melbourne Bitter

One word of caution! If you are driving in Australia be careful. The police are very aggressive when it comes to drinking and driving and have random breath traps. Also, the limit is 0.05 which is lower than the United States. Some U.S. States still have a 0.1 legal alcohol limit. A good tip is to not drink if you are driving in Australia. Many a friend has lost their drivers license for having 4 or 5 full strength beers and trying to drive home. Enjoy yourself but take a taxi. Blow the froth of a few for me while you are in Australia. Cheers.

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