German Helles Lager

[Johnwk]

There are traditional German lagers made here , sours are an expanding part of our market as well .
A friend of mine makes nothing but farmhouse and sour ales .
Where abouts in Australia were you ?

Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Geelong, Canberra, Brisbane, Bendigo, Port Macquarie, Coff's Harbour, Byron Bay, etc. I can't say that I made a strong effort to find beers, but just checked as I went along. Many bars told me they don't carry Pilsners, and many thought sour beers were beers with sour fruit in it! I spent most of my time in the Melbourne area where I went to several bars. The best common beer I could find was called XXXX, but it wasn't all that great. Most bars had lots of British style ales and American-style IPAs, but lagers and especially Pilsners were really frowned on. Most of the time I felt like an idiot asking for lagers and Pilsners, and I quickly learned to stop asking for sours..

 

[Mark D Pirate]

Wrong pubs then mate , had you asked while in Oz id have told you exactly where to go

 

[Johnwk]

Wrong pubs then mate , had you asked while in Oz id have told you exactly where to go

Any good ones in the Melbourne area? My son moved there last year and is still looking for some good pubs.

 

[Mark D Pirate]

Assume he has facebook ? Always groups called " Melbourne beer drinkers " and such that'll know of any local breweries serving quality lagers .

As an aside nearly all beer produced in Australia is actually lager .
Coopers is only major brewer making ales for mass consumption

 

[GFHomebrew]

Any good ones in the Melbourne area? My son moved there last year and is still looking for some good pubs.

The Great Northern. Carlton North.

they are even growing hops in their beer garden to throw i. a collaboration beer.

i recently visited Melbourne recently and i found a good little craft scene going on. i visited the food and wine festival whilst there went to a local market place and got a six pack made up of local beers. i saw some nice barrel aged porters i drunk farmhouse ales. saisons. IPAs. wheatbeers even traditional german Pilsner. I posted a few snaps in the What are you drinking right now thread.

as id gather anywhere else youve gotta ask the locals where they find their craft beers i was lucky the Missus sister is a craft beer affectionado so she led the way.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Assume he has facebook ? Always groups called " Melbourne beer drinkers " and such that'll know of any local breweries serving quality lagers .

As an aside nearly all beer produced in Australia is actually lager .
Coopers is only major brewer making ales for mass consumption

yeah just not traditionally hopped as far as i know Pride of Ringwood is the mainstay.

but ive not tried to emulate my local pub XXXX fair lol.

 

[Johnwk]

As an aside nearly all beer produced in Australia is actually lager .
Coopers is only major brewer making ales for mass consumption

I find that hard to believe. Most (almost all) of the beer menus that I saw in Australia were for ales, not lagers. An exception was Castlemaine XXXX, another major producer.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I find that hard to believe. Most (almost all) of the beer menus that I saw in Australia were for ales, not lagers. An exception was Castlemaine XXXX, another major producer.

Tooyes Extra Dry (Lager) VB Lager Great Northern (Lager) Fosters (Lager) Melbourne Bitter (Lager) Carlton Draught (lager). pure Blonde (Lager) XxXX Summer (Lager).
yeah most beer on tap at the bar of most pubs will.have lager on tap it just doesnt say lager on the handle.

as Mark said you want an ale well its Coopers Pale Ale. but Montieths are doing some ales That CUB Fat Yak and Stone and wood is another ale you can orer.

 

[Mark D Pirate]

I find that hard to believe. Most (almost all) of the beer menus that I saw in Australia were for ales, not lagers. An exception was Castlemaine XXXX, another major producer.

Marketed as ales but are actually lagers , much of it adjunct laden garbage as well .
Even some of the supposed crafty beers are brewed by AB- Inbev owned subsidiary as lagers with some ale like flavours and clearly state American pale ale on the label

 

[Johnwk]

Marketed as ales but are actually lagers , much of it adjunct laden garbage as well .
Even some of the supposed crafty beers are brewed by AB- Inbev owned subsidiary as lagers with some ale like flavours and clearly state American pale ale on the label

That would explain it! Can't say I enjoyed any. The lagers I did try all tasted like ales - at least several contained citrus-like hops, especially Cascade hops. What a way to ruin a good lager!

 

[Hawkbox]

Wrong pubs then mate , had you asked while in Oz id have told you exactly where to go

He can get a pint of VB!

 

[sbaclimber]

Where abouts in Australia were you ?

...and NZ? It's been a decade (wow, how time flies!) and I am keen to hear something new about the beer culture there.

 

[sbaclimber]

He can get a pint of VB!

oh.....I remember VB.
PS....not nearly as bad as CD!

 

[Hawkbox]

I did not know what VB was when I got there last year, so my friend over there that knows I like beer was really confused. I assumed a beer with the name bitter in it would be a bitter.

 

[Johnwk]

...and NZ? It's been a decade (wow, how time flies!) and I am keen to hear something new about the beer culture there.

We didn't have as much time or opportunity to try out different beers there.I do remember an Emerson's Pilsner from Dunedin, and a New Zealand Lager from Independent Breweries in Papakura. Of course we also tried the Hobbiton Ale (an English Bitter) in the Green Dragon, Hobbiton (Matamata). One of the best Pilsners I tried was in Tasmania. It was a Czech Style Pilsner from Iron House Brewery. I was late after visiting Richmond, so after drinking some of it on the way to the tour bus I snuck the rest of the bottle on the bus and enjoyed it there.

I had a list of good beers to try out, but did not have the opportunity to find them. Unfortunately, we had to rush through the Nelson area (on the way to the ferry to the North Island), where there were quite a number of hop farms.

 

[Mark D Pirate]

Oh , VB is made from river water , mud and cane sugar .....XXXX is called that since they cant write the real name on the bottles , give you a hint and its a four letter word the mods would edit out of my post

 

[Johnwk]

Oh , VB is made from river water , mud and cane sugar .....XXXX is called that since they cant write the real name on the bottles , give you a hint and its a four letter word the mods would edit out of my post

Even though it tastes like S**T, the four X's in Castlemaine XXXX actually refer to the strength of the ale. It was used as a grading system a century ago. Oddly, although they originally produced ales, now they produce lagers and the four X's no longer apply in the original sense.