Australia Day is fast approaching: 26th January 2014
It seems fitting that on this day beer drinkers should support an Australia Beer.
Not just one that is brewed in Australia but is still under the control of local ownership.
So in general what is the best value, best tasting, Australian owned and brewed beer that is nationally available?
The only real brand I can think of is Coopers. Is there another?
White Rabbit is made by Little World Beverages (Little Creatures) which is owned by Lion, a Japanese company. (Lion is owned by Kirin Holdings which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi).
See why this is so difficult!
Wow. Good research. OK, guess it is a tricky task.
I do enjoy WR though and have been to the Healsville brewery. Unfortunately many of these niche microbreweries have been gobbled up by the big foreign multinationals :(
Yeah they used to be a small micro brewery in Fremantle but when they became popular they sold out to the Japanese.
Balmain Brewing Company.
However, on Australia Day I wouldn't worry about necessarily buying beer that is owned by an Australian company. Australia Day is about having a great day; relaxing; celebrating; acknowledging everything that makes our very special country what it is today. You should be drinking a beer you love drinking.
VB and XXXX are not Australian owned.
Beez Neez! Made in Matilda Bay, Australia. Delicious, not cheap but a very smooth drink.
Nope.
Matilda Bay is owned by Carlton & United Breweries (Fosters Group) that is controlled/owned by SABMiller (United Kingdom)
Thanks, I didn't realise, my bad.
Next time research more!
impressive how much you know about your beers.
I found this Wikipedia page which begins to help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_breweries_in_Australia
I think Mountain Goat is a winner as it is widely available (in Vic at least).
Mountain Goat FTW.
Melbourne based and brewed. Great brewery and awesome bunch of guys.
Otherwise pick up some Mildura brewery, Kooinda or Boatrocker and support the micros!
True that. Great place to have a drink on a Wed/Fri, and they do specialty brews you can only get at the brewpub.
Nice one. I'll check them out :)
Though I guess when I posted the question I should have elaborated on "best value".
What I really meant by this is - a beer you can buy nationally (in most states & from the big distributors) for less than $60 per slab.
Still, coopers I think is really the only one you can buy everywhere.
If you like White Rabbit, the Holgate dark is nice.
We should check this thread next year to see if any of these are still Australian owned.
The only way you could get good Australian made (and owned) beer for around $60 a slab is if you set up a keg for the day.
Try here: http://www.kegsonlegs.com.au/keg-packages
Even then if 7 mates chip in $60 you get around 20 beers each- not quite a full slab.
It's a dire situation isn't it :(
Australia, the great beer loving country can't even control/own and make its 'own' beer anymore :(
at least production is staying in Aus, meaning Aus jobs - unlike the car manufacturing situation.
it would be worse if all our beer was imported too!
I don't think its only an Australian problem. :[
I would say that most people who drink beer in Australia enjoy the mass-produced lagers that companies like SABMiller are fond of producing. I know a lot of people who wouldn't want to drink microbrewed beer because "I just want something that tastes like beer".
Coopers Pale Ale + Sparkling Ale two of the best beers money can buy.
ALL COOPERS BEER is 100% Made In Australia.
And I also think, 100% Australian-owned but not sure.
I found this interesting piece from Wikipedia:
"In 2005, Lion Nathan launched a hostile takeover of Coopers, offering to buy Coopers shares at five times the price at which they had last traded. Although the 1995 negotiations resulted in Lion Nathan owning no Coopers shares, the section of the Coopers constitution, (which stated the circumstances under which shares could be sold), appeared to give Lion Nathan the avenue to buy Coopers shares"
As far as I'm aware (take a bit of a keen interest being a South Aussie and a Coopers lover and this takeover got a lot of local media coverage), the family fought off the takeover bid and Coopers is still 100% Family owned (by Australians).
I wish I could find a Coopers beer that I like. I really want to like them but I haven't found one that I really like yet.
Had any Vintage Ale?
It's expensive, probably hard to find out of SA, and high alcohol (6.9% I think), but very, very nice.
You can "make your own" by cellaring Sparkling Ale for 12-18 months. In that time, the yeast settles and the usually cloudy Sparkling Ale clarifies and takes on a whole new (more commonly palateable) taste.
whilst aged sparkling ale is good and was the inspiration for coopers vintage, it's the poor man's substitute for the latter which is better especially with age :)
Agreed, but interstate, I imagine that finding Sparkling is much easier than Vintage.
I too face the same dilemma. If my mate only has Coopers in the fridge, I usually stick with water.
What beer do you normally drink, out of interest?
Whatever is cheapest usually.. :-)
bridge rd beechworth, picked up a six pack of one of their pale ales, pretty good though $20 at dan murphys
Can vouch for the quality and the fact they are Australian owned.
The pale ale is amazing. Never had a bad beer from them, and their pizza at the brewery is great.
Worth a follow on twitter too, @NakedNed
For clarity, I am not affiliated in any way with them, short of being a customer.
Tricky indeed.
What about Gage Roads?
Or Lord Nelson?
Burleigh Brewing Co.?
4 Pines?
If you have any info on these, please share! it's quite interesting :) but afaik, these are all quite accessible 'crafts'.
From wikipedia, Woolworths Limited acquired a 25 per cent share of Gage Roads. Still aussie though. The other 3 I couldn't find any information to suggest otherwise. Lord Nelson looks like a winner. $71 for a slab of their Three Sheets Pale Ale from Dan Murphys. Burleigh Brewing's 28 Pale Ale is $63 from Dan Murphys and received top reviews. 4 Pines is about $70 a slab and also looks favourable.
Australia day looks set!
I'm quite fond of hitting the Lord Nelson pub in Sydney for their brews on tap, too. Worth a visit for anyone in town!
Isn't it an english pub though? Went to watch the Wallabies play the Lions there and it was full of englishmen.
Burleigh Brewing's 28 Pale Ale is good stuff - it'll be my choice.
Pacific Ale is a great beer. Its been sold out at a few of my local Dan Murphy's.
Thought this was interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Australia = Cascade Brewery the oldest Australian beer company and the largest Australian beer company is Coopers, according to Wikipedia
Cascade = CUB = SabMiller
thanks copy/paste - SABMiller plc is a multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in London = sux
Murray's
Coopers (most easily found in all stores)
Redoak
Holgate
Red Duck
Not cheapest. Definitely good value though.
Coopers IMO is the best value Aussie beer - it's priced closer to VB than it is James Boag's, yet it has the same level of quality as the premium Aussie beers. And to know the profits are staying in Aus makes it even better!
+1
I found Coopers Pale Ale 6-pack for ~$12 before xmas. Nice drop.
coopers sparkling ale for $45-50 a case is good value and one of my fav beer.
Absolutely. And its higher alcohol content should make any Ozbargainer happy.
Let us know when you find a non-hipster mainstream Aussie owned & brewed beer.
Broo is a neo-bogan style beer. High quality and Aussie owned.
I gotta say, that's the first time I've heard the term neo-bogan. maybe it's time to update my dictionary
Was drinking LC Pale Ale at their Freo establishment from 2002. Before it became all popular and Japanese. Not since the sell-out though. Must be Australian.
I'm no hipster, but my tastebuds might be :p
lol @ carbonated nutmeg comment.
Homebrew. 100% Aussie made and owned, provided you are Aussie and you made it here.
Coopers are the no 1 supplier of home brew materials in the world. Aussie beermaking mayhem had by all!
And by far this is the best value on beer made in Australia. Support your local brewing shop.
(Although its almost too late to be drinking it on 26 Jan. It takes at about a week if you keg it, and 2 weeks if you bottle.)
Your own beer may be the best you have ever tasted.
Have a look at Papasian's book, "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing" for a primer on brewing and very good recipes.
Not really an option with less than a week to go.
Yes, but Aussie day is the same day every year… So start doing it now for the next year!
I have approx 9 cartons worth of beer stockpiled plus 2 each of gingerbeer and apple cider
And you are avoiding the large tax to support government actions that always inch closer to enslaving you. Holidays are a boon for government taxation. If a carton of beer sold for $44 then there would be a total of $17.30 in taxes, $13.30 of excise and $4 of GST. This is just over 39% of the price.
Homebrew carton cost of about $20 with GST under $2. Finally a legal and pleasurable way to keep the government out of our pockets and purses.
I think you got lost on the way to the OzLibertarian site.
Start with something light. Hassle Hop (QLD) Pale Ale.
Move onto something with more body. 28 Pale Ale (QLD).
Graduate into the more hoppy variety. Beechworth Galaxy IPA (Vic).
Grand Ridge brew some of the best beer I've had. They're Australian owned and their beer is brewed in Mirboo North, Victoria. You should be able to find their range at Dan Murphy's.
supershine 11% :)
If you really want to support the local economy (for a premium), you can buy Moo from Hobart. It's brewed on the grounds of MONA, which is an awesome museum which has effectively been given to the local population for free, by a very rich man (not so wealthy post MONA). Well worth supporting, and a fantastic drop (albeit an expensive one).
Vale Ale
Coopers
Vale Ale is a very nice beer.
Good taste but a bit stingy on the alcohol content for the price.
and the alcohol content matters? :)
YES!
the Vale Ale IPA weighs in at 5.5 and is an excellent drop!
I'm not a fan, taste's too homebrew-y given the price (don't get me wrong, I'm happy to drink homebrew, but hate paying $60-70 for someone's homebrew).
Firstly way too many criteria which rules out a lot of beers. How about we just stick to Australian made and owned?
I love Stone and Wood's Pacific Ale, which only discovered a few weeks ago after holidaying in Byron. Not sure re nationally available but it is an amazing tasting beer. Seriously good. They also do an Ale and a lager. They're 2 young blokes from Byron.
agreed, my life is good when I'm knocking back schooners of the Pacific Pale Ale at the Railway Hotel on a sunny afternoon!
Or if in Syd (darlinghurst) or Melb (St Kilda) just go to The Local Taphouse for Aussie craft beers Galore!
Like others here, my pick is Mountain Goat, Stone and Wood and Coopers :)
Get a dog up ya!
No good to me… never had a beer in my life
Why not?
Could be sarcasm. Username is 'Grog' ;)
haha
If you live in Melbourne, Thunder Road make a few great drops. Don't sell packaged beer though, just 2L refillable flagons direct from the brewery or on tap at pubs. Not as cheap compared to buying slabs though.
Definitely Aussie owned, chat to the owners regularly, they have taken CUB to court a few times to try and get back some of the local beer names
I'm all for a locally made and owned beer, but those that come in four-packs? Thats almost un-Australian.
This is from an article posted on AdelaideNow recently…
If you order a craft beer or cider at the pub thinking you are helping a microbrewery somewhere, you're probably wrong. Chances are that drink you are drinking is owned by one of the big beverage companies.
Little Creatures is owned by Lion, which itself is owned by Japanese brewery company Kirin. Lion's other beers include Toohey's, XXXX, Hahn, Heineken, James Boag's, and Beck's.
Fat Yak is owned by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), the same company that owns Carlton, VB, Foster's, Crown Lager, Pure Blonde and Cascade. CUB also owns craft cider label Dirty Granny, along with Strongbow and Bulmers.
Yes, and none of them would be classified as craft beer as a result.
What abut woolies brands of beer surely they are Australian owned an made?
Vale Ale is pretty good
Our team has grown from just one craft beer pioneer to over twenty and we are extremely proud that over 90% of our team were born mighty South Aussies, over 95% live in SA, and the company is majority South Australian family-owned.
Bit late for this year but make your own next year!
Not Australian but imo the best bargain beer, ottinger slab, 24x 500ml cans at Dan Murphy's
Fails the 'best tasting' criteria too.
Not a bargain.
Buying rubbish because it's cheap is not a bargain.
A bargain is getting something at less than what it is worth.
There's far worse tasting beers! and they're sold at a higher price.
There are loads of microbrews brewed in Australia. Just go to a bottle shop that carries more microbrews and check them out. My personal favourite (I like dark beer) is White Rabbit, brewed in Healsville, VIC.
Best tasting? That's very subjective.
Best value? Smaller beer companies tend to be more expensive so nope.