CougTek said:
I don't even remember what a Carlsberg tastes like.
Neither do I - when you buy that brand here you're buying some locally brewed muck with a Carlsberg brand stuck on it. Same goes for Heineken (who cares), Stella Artois (this pisses me off) and Kronenbourg (sob).
No, we don't have better stuff down here, or at least, not from our foreign-owned brewing duopoly that mainly produces swill.
Foster's Lager isn't very popular here, BTW, but it's quite unlikeable anyway (kind of sweet).
Victoria Bitter used to be the most popular beer in the country, but it's pretty terrible.
XXXX is big only in the state of Queensland and also pretty terrible. On a hot day, the Draft version is maybe not quite so bad.
Tooheys New is probably the most tolerable of the mass-produced beers, but I hate paying for it.
Crown Lager is the flagship beer of Foster's Brewing but for me is probably the minimum standard.
Hahn Premium is the equivalent from the other large brewer. My gripe is that it's a very poor descendant of the fabulous original product from when the Hahn Brewery was an independent company.
The duopoly also took over the Cascade Brewery and Boag's Brewery. I would not be embarrassed to offer a visitor James Boag's Premium Lager or Cascade Premium Lager as an example of Australian beer, particularly Cascade which has a unique hint of apple flavor.
There is one remaining independent large brewer - Coopers - but they seem to have struggled to move beyond their traditional offerings, which are frankly a bit primitive. Nonetheless, their Sparkling Ale is often my first on-tap choice in a pub. I also enjoy their rather bitter Pale Ale (complete with sediment) when it's ice-cold, but only in modest quantities. Considerably more upscale is Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale (7.5%) which is meant to be aged; it's very good indeed and I used to buy heaps of it years ago. But their best beer is actually a stout: Coopers Best Extra Stout (6.3%), which I once had every day.
After that it's over to the so-called microbreweries (or boutique brewers) who offer vastly more choice and often a superior product, but at a higher price and with less widespread availability. Two of the more successful ones (and now both owned by the duopoly) are Matilda Bay and Malt Shovel. The former makes Beez Neez (a bit sweet for me I'm afraid, Chewy), as well as Fat Yak (a triple-hopped full-bodied beer that I think is terrific) and Big Helga (a clean, Munich-style lager that is my eldest daughter's favorite). The former Hahn brewery I mentioned earlier was renamed to the Malt Shovel Brewery and it produces some very good beer under the James Squire brand, such as The Chancer Golden Ale and Four Wives Pilsener.
Little Creatures is a still independent microbrewery that produces a couple of excellent products. There are others, but they're probably just too exotic for anyone to find. My current favorites are Blue Sky Pilsner (from Cairns) and Lord Nelson Brewery Three Sheets (from Sydney).