Thread: The Coolest Thing I've Ever Seen

Originally Posted by MickRussell

Fosters ... as in Australian Fosters?

Look, I'll do you yanks a favour and let you in on a little secret. Fosters is our practical joke on the world. Seriously, it's used here for stripping grease off bbq plates, it's not intended for drinking.

You know, I've heard that about Foster's, that it was, shall we say, somewhat low brow beer in Australia. I find it an excellent hot weather beer but don't generally drink it in the Fall/Winter. Then again, my tastes are pretty pedestrian anyway, I'll often drink Natural Light and/or Pabst Blue Ribbon and lots of folks here consider that pretty low brow. But alas, even I have standards, I'll not drink Keystone, Shaffer's, or Miller High Life.

Originally Posted by Legion

I have honestly not seen an Australian drinking Fosters since I was a child. Most stores here don't even bother to stock it, it is all exported. And good riddance.

I like the mixed six pack idea. I wish we had a store here that did that. Every night could be like a little boozy trip around the world.

Legion, you can get mixed six packs here marketed as beers of the world or some such title. I think it's BWS that sells them. Some good ones in the pack, but some nasty ones too.

Fosters is dogs pee as far as I'm concerned. The last time I had Fosters was when I was in the US. And I only bought it as I was under the illusion that we exported the best Fosters over seas. Well, I've learnt that Fosters is Fosters regardless of where you can buy it. The beer I finally settled on over there as the closest thing to home was MGD (Millers Genuine Draught). All the rest I tried apart from some micro brewery stuff was utter garbage.
I did appreciate the offer that was made to me in New Orleans by a resturant owner. She said she was going to find me a beer that I would like and that I would be trying them all if I had to. If I didn't like it she would drink it herself and I wouldn't pay a cent. She got a little dunk that night, but she finally found me a micro brew that was palatable. Truth be told I just couldn't stand to inflicked any more bad beer on her .
Can't beat the food though...Cajun is good gear.
But back to Fosters, I wouldn't even use it to strip the grease of the BBQ. It taints the taste of the onions and snags too much .


Mick

Mick, can you get San Miguel in Australia? When I was stationed in the Philippines that's pretty much the only beer I drank. Good beer and dirt cheap too. Although I suspect they had some quality control issues. You never knew from one beer to the next what the precise alcohol content would be. If you bought a case, you might drink the first 10 or 12 in a single setting and feel nothing. Then the next night you could drink two and have absolutely no business being out in public. When I first got back to the states, it took several months to get used to American beer.

On a couple of occassions since I left the Philippines, I've been able to locate San Miguel but alas the import version just seems to have a very different taste. And oh yeah, Cajun food is fine eats for sure.

Can't say that I have seen San Miguel at the local Bottle-O, but then I haven't looked for it either. I'll be sure to hunt for it next time to try it out. After-all, if it's called Saint Michael it must be good stuff...


Mick

Are there any American beers sold in Australia?

Originally Posted by Wintchase

Are there any American beers sold in Australia?

A few, though we tend to be a little critical of brands like Budweiser. The term "canoe beer" gets bandied about a fair bit.

Around here a couple supermarkets and large liquor store has build your owns. The liquor store is called Friar tucks and is usually the only place to get micro brew or anything besides you tipical bud, miller, keystone, and PBR. Most of them dont even carry Samuel Adams.

1OldGI, we don't consider it "low brow", that would apply to Toohey's New or Victoria Bitter, among others. We mostly consider Fosters Lager to be cleaning solvent of the coarsest order. Most Australians would rather drink tap water than Fosters, and we're rather known for our beer consumption. I don't think the two bottle-Os that we frequent even stock the stuff.

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

Mick, can you get San Miguel in Australia? When I was stationed in the Philippines that's pretty much the only beer I drank. Good beer and dirt cheap too. Although I suspect they had some quality control issues. You never knew from one beer to the next what the precise alcohol content would be. If you bought a case, you might drink the first 10 or 12 in a single setting and feel nothing. Then the next night you could drink two and have absolutely no business being out in public. When I first got back to the states, it took several months to get used to American beer.

On a couple of occassions since I left the Philippines, I've been able to locate San Miguel but alas the import version just seems to have a very different taste. And oh yeah, Cajun food is fine eats for sure.

We can get San Miguel here, but it tends to be on the pricey side, being an "imported beer". Yeah, I know.

Most of the American beers we get here are the mass produced stuff, Budd, Coors, Miller, etc. Again, cost a fair bit and... yeah, not the best. They often try promotions to get us to try it, like the other day I was in the bottleshop and saw that they would give you a free Budweiser basketball if you bought a case of the stuff. Even the guy who ran the bottle shop told me "Don't bother. The basketball is not that good."

I've been finding a lot of cheap Euro beers that I enjoy, from places like Poland, Holland, Austria. I think they must be the "bottom of the vat" generic stuff over there, because it is the same price as our cheaper domestic stuff, but much nicer.

In Australia, much like the USA, there is a world of difference between our mass market beer and the boutique stuff. And the good stuff isn't really exported much.

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

You know, I've heard that about Foster's, that it was, shall we say, somewhat low brow beer in Australia. I find it an excellent hot weather beer but don't generally drink it in the Fall/Winter. Then again, my tastes are pretty pedestrian anyway, I'll often drink Natural Light and/or Pabst Blue Ribbon and lots of folks here consider that pretty low brow. But alas, even I have standards, I'll not drink Keystone, Shaffer's, or Miller High Life.

I'm often given a hard time for my love of PBR. Not only is it cheap, it has a flavor that isn't half bad. AND it won a blue ribbon! How can you go wrong with it? PBR, Yuengling, and Rolling Rock are my go to beers (the rolling rock is only for when some place is too high brow to keep the PBR around). After that, I'm a sucker for decent Lager or, more prefferably, a Heffe. But I'm a cheapskate so I usually drink PBR.