Anyone old enough to remember Matilda Bay? Redback was the flagship but my favourite from them was Dogbolter, a dark lager. By far the classiest beer I'd drunk to that point, or for many years after! So I was delighted the other day to find Dogbolter on tap at the Mint Hotel in Melbourne CBD. I can't remember what it used to taste like (except, malty) but I can tell you that I was very impressed. A REALLY good beer. Young BCurious had some taste! So do you think I had any luck buying it in a bottle-o? Nope. If Matilda Bay ain't dead yet, it may as well be. Washed up and forgotten. A neglected CUB brand. Such a shame for Australia's original craft beer pioneers. Any other reminiscences out there in BA land?
What CUB did to Matilda Bay was an absolute disgrace, but not surprising given the general lack of vision that company has shown over the years. The beers that were coming out of 'The Garage' around 2008 were fantastic - Rooftop Red, Barking Duck Saison, Dogbolter, Alpha Pale Ale. Hell, even the first batches of Fat Yak (Little Al or Easy Tige) were good. Ah well, they'll screw up with Goose Island too no doubt. Useless. On Dogbolter, Danno's may stock it still.
From CUB: "Thanks for taking the time to get in touch with us at CUB. We are continually reviewing our product range and unfortunately Dogbolter is now only available on tap in selected venues."
yes it simply beggars belief the way they pissed that brand away, The Alpha pale was a very good beer, and much of the time, much better than LC pale, some fo the 750ml bottles of smoked beers etc that they made were terrible but, at least it was experimental funnily enough a wall at the old north Fremantle brewery blew over a few weeks ago and nearly killed a woman all that money they put into that brewery /bar in the docklands in Melbourne, is that place even still open?
They had a brewery in Port Melbourne from 2012-15. Operations were then moved to CUB's Cascade Brewery in Hobart.
It is now the Colonial Brewery. Cool space. Across the road is Starward Whisky distillery, very worthwhile to visit if you're in Melbourne. Those 2 things and North Port Oval are the only reasons to go to Port Melbourne really.
It's a sad thing and it's been a lingering death. I remember their Premium Pils as one of the best beers of the first go around of micro-boutique-craft in Australia. The pricing of the (still excellent) Alpha Pale is emblematic of their problems. Because most of the beer in the CUB portfolio is less than spectacular but the dominance of the big players is such that they can charge high prices, actually good product has to have a premium that makes it very expensive on the local market. This meant that (15+ years ago) a 4-pack of Alpha PA was the same price as a 6 pack of Little Creatures PA. They still persist with this even as it gets to be a harder and harder sell: as of now, at Dan's, a 4 pack of Alpha PA is the same price ($19.99) as a 6 pack of Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA.
I didn't realise you could still buy Alpha, and the other issue with its invisibility in the market is that its almost certainly stale on the shelves I wonder if any one has even had a bollocking over the brands failing, or if they simply don't care
From what I understand they couldn't be bothered with it. CUB has always seen craft beer as a passing fad/ annoyance from what I've seen.
