Seeing a lot less Fullers in Aus

Fuller's and Sam Smith's lost their long time importer at the start of last year, someone they used to deal with for years. I am out of that part of the game, but I imagine it is a importer/distributor issue of some sort.

 

I was at a party in Enmore yesterday near the Kingston Rd, Camperdown Cellars store. Saw they had pretty well the entire range, all in the new bottles.

 

Noticed London Pride is a regular on tap at a couple of pubs these days (which is great).

Could do without the $8.50 or whatever it is per bottle at the bottle shop though.

 

What are some of the UK upstarts you're getting? I hazard a guess Brewdog is one of them?

 

On the contrary, I rarely see BrewDog anywhere anymore either...although it might just be the shops I happen to go to

I think some of the issues with the English beers included: freshness and that they were displaced by US imports, which often offered higher ABVs (I think mostly we lacked for high ABV English offerings), stronger flavours, and were often better value in terms of volume/alcohol content.

I saw a 375mL of some Barrel Aged English Barleywine going for about $35 the other day...that's even more than most local equivalents.

 

I like beer but at that price you could buy a decent gin or port! I'm just curious to know what's representing the UK overseas these days.

 

what pubs are they? I loved everything Fullers did when I was over there

 

Sherlock Holmes and Charles Dickens.

 

Be nice if we could get Landlord on tap eh?

 

Quite a few of the more newfangled things have become available here: Moor, Arbor, Siren, Thornbridge, Wild Beer, Tiny Rebel, Cromarty, Beavertown, Crouch Vale, Oakham, Buxton, Redchurch, Durham, Ridgway, Magic Rock, Marble, Harbour, Camden Town, Bristol Beer Factory. As well as more established stuff like Traquair, Harviestoun, Orkney, Hook Norton, Williams Bros, Celt Experience and (shudder) Innis and Gunn.

 

Oakham! Wow. That's my local brewery. I wouldn't have believed my eyes if I'd found them in Sydney four years ago. They've since gone nationwide in the UK. In all my years of drinking UK beer I've never had an Innis and Gunn.

 

Or better still, on cask!

 

Good brewery, I'm a fan of their stuff, alongside Moor, Buxton, Harviestoun and Thornbridge. Bristol are promising but I've only had one of their beers. Also quite like BrewDog.

 

Well, tastes over there are veering towards the hoppier stuff, and it's not only faux American craft beer that's being produced. I see new wave British ale as being divided into two types: thoroughly Amercian inspired keg & bottled beer (Brewdog and Kernel) and traditional cask ale that incorporates American/New-world hops - which makes up the vast majority - and yet still retains Britishness (Oakham & Thornbridge). We should be exporting more of the latter.

I understand about people wanting more bang for their buck when buying bottled beer, and I'm in that majority. A 12% Belgian or 9% Double IPA is more appealing than a 4% pale ale.

It's interesting how Sam Smith's are so representative of UK beer overseas. Not to disparage them but they're just not that common or particularly popular in the UK. You certainly won't hear people raving about SS Oatmeal Stout like the Americans do on here. I enjoy their beers but they have something of a cult status overseas which they don't have back home, and to a lesser extent, so do Fullers. I honestly don't think I've ever seen Sammy Smiths in a supermarket, and the Tesco near me has a gargantuan selection. In Japan though, I could find them all over the place, even occasionally in a mom & pop shop. Interesting.

Shame you're getting less Fullers but sounds like you're getting some decent stuff, regardless.

 

Similar story with Orval but for different reasons. They can't meet the demand. I was told in Belgium last year that they will be exporting a whole lot less to look after the Belgian/Euro market

 

Head Brewer from Fullers is out for the AHNC, key note speaker i think ...

 

Oak Barrel has Black Cab, ESB, 1845, Imperial Stout and one other off memory.

 

Seen quite a few kegs lately (relatively speaking). London Porter at the Taphouse a month or so ago. ESB at the Forest Lodge Hotel a fortnight ago & ESB at the Welcome Hotel in Rozelle last Saturday afternoon.