G'day Jaf,
[color=blue]
>... Re Ross McKay's comment about the Aussie beers in clean bottles, I
>heard that the processes the beer goes through removes the light sensitive
>components so the colour of the bottle becomes irrelevant. I'm guessing Ross
>is talking about Carlton Cold. I agree with him about the crappy taste of
>commercial Aussie beers available in Australia (inlcluding Carlton Cold) and
>I think the least of that beer's worries is the colour of it's bottle. I've
>heard Fosters tastes different in every country but I would be scared to try
>it. I'm guessing Ross is a fellow Aussie, and when he says
>"what-hop-I-don't-know-what-a-hop-is beers" I think he's talking about the
>flavourless and bitter as hell Pride of Ringwood. The only reason Aussies
>drink beer so cold is to dull the flavour of this horrid hop.[/color]

Actually, the process that these beers go through is akin to not letting
a real hop flower anywhere near the beer. They use isomerised hop oils
in the mega-swill beers, but the ones in clear bottles like Carlton Cold
barely get any of that either. As you suggest, these beers are designed
to be consumed bloody cold, straight from the esky, and as quickly as
possible before they get a chance to warm up. A post in rec.humor.funny
some years back talks about the end result, where beers like this get
warm, as being "suck point" - when they start to *really* suck! IMO,
Carlton Cold reaches suck point at opening.

There's been some debate about PoR hops over in the Oz Craft Brewers
list. I haven't ever used any, so can't comment, but IIRC the final
analysis is that they have their place when used appropriately. It's
just that Aussie mega-swill beers (like most mega-swills) are a pretty
piss-poor attempt at beer.

[url]http://oz.craftbrewer.org/[/url]
[color=blue]
>Stay clear of CUB and you'll do your taste buds a favour.[/color]

Too right. Generally. But realise that CUB owns a huge range of what
appears to be little breweries, including Matilda Bay (Redback), and
Lion Nathan / Tooheys own most of the rest including Malt Shovel (James
Squires).
[color=blue]
>Boag's, Cascade and Redback are
>the commonly available Aussie beers worthy of drinking, though the the rarer
>Mountain Goat beers are my favourite at the moment.[/color]

There are quite a few pretty good Aussie beers around now, but not from
your average bottle'o. Also starting to be a good range of imports, too.
Of course, in Australia, a "premium beer" means a green bottle, so many
beers will die under fluoro lights before you get to even open them. I
have an arrangement with the bottle'o down the road where they give me
bottles straight from the box out the back, away from the lights. Having
once arrived at a "beer party" with a range of expensive, imported and
*skunked* beer, I am grateful for this service.

cheers,
Ross.
--
Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd
"Since when were you so generously inarticulate?" - Elvis Costello