The real Oktoberfest may be well and truly over but that don’t let that stop you celebrating at home. To help you out we are putting together a few helpful tips on how to set up your own Oktoberfest in your own back yard. Firstly you are going to need a fairly decent space outside (a townhouse deck won’t do) a double garage or a party tent would also be handy as your beer hall. For furniture the standard Oktoberfest issue is trestle tables and long benches, remember to beg and borrow as much as you can from party gusts as someone is sure to have  plenty of stuff you can use. Directors chairs are an ideal substitute for the benches as you can borrow these easily. A picnic table with some butchers paper on it is also good for your tables or you can get a fold up trestle table from hardware or party hire shops fairly cheaply. For decorating, streamers or ribbon from one side of your hall to the other are a popular and cheap Oktoberfest choice. Flags are also a great choice as they can be easy to make or even got off ebay cheaply. If you are going to make them the color choices should be black, red and yellow for the German flag or blue and white check for the Bavarian state flag. (avoid making an all red flag and using a Nazi symbol on it, as it can freak out your neighbors and really isn’t that funny). To get an idea of how the real beer halls decorate try googling for Oktoberfest images to get an idea of what you want to do. Hopefully that’s enough to inspire you to get started,  our next posts will discuss Oktoberfest beer and food. Read the rest of this entry »

Here at Hoppsy we love our beer (if you hadn’t noticed) but we always remind people to drink responsibly and how much more responsible can we get to tell you to not drink at all. Life Education’s Ocsober campaign encourages participants to give up alcohol during the month of October to raise awareness of the issues relating to alcohol abuse and raise funds for health education for children. In its 2nd year Ocsober supports Life Education’s drug and health education programs that support and strengthen primary and secondary schools drug and health initiatives. The money raised will go directly to Life Education to teach more children the skills and the knowledge to say “no” to drugs and alcohol. For more info about Ocsober hit up the link below. Read the rest of this entry »

YouTube Direct 

Launched in Sep 2008, Budweiser American Ale is a fairly new product in the Budweiser range so it is receiving a fair bit of heavy marketing about the place at the moment with ads like the one above, a fancy website, a youtube channel and even an iPhone app. American Ale is an amber ale style all-malt brew made with caramel malted barley from Idaho and Minnesota, then dry-hopped with Cascade hops from the Pacific Northwest. The result is apparently more of a micro brew style of beer than the traditional Bud products. We haven’t tried American Ale yet but this sounds like good news to us, when in the States we drank a fair bit of Bud although it wouldn’t be our first choice when looking in the liquor shop fridge. If you have had this Bud let us know what you recon below. Read the rest of this entry »

You might remember a few weeks ago we ran a story about Blue Toungue Beer, well Tess at Blue Tounge’s advertising company was kind enough to send us a few interesting facts which we thought our readers might be interested in. – thanks Tess

The West Requests the Best; Bluetongue Supplies

Bluetongue Premium Beer expands into the Western Australian market following consumer demand

27th July 2009: Bluetongue Premium Beer is expanding into Western Australia (WA), a move driven by local beer drinkers’ thirst for distinctive premium beers. Bluetongue is seeking to capitalise on beer trends in WA which are being driven by consumers open to trying new beers and who want more premium beer brands to become available.

York Spencer, Bluetongue Marketing Manager, says, “Western Australians have a pretty adventurous appetite for new and interesting beers and are now embracing more premium beer brands in their market. Bluetongue is perfect for occasions that reflect a more sophisticated but laid back lifestyle, like the quintessential Aussie backyard barbie.

“We know that Western Australians are astute drinkers who appreciate a distinctive Aussie beer with real brewing credentials which compliments the Australian palate, food and lifestyle. Bluetongue is the perfect fit for WA’s warm, outdoor climate.”

Bluetongue Premium Lager is the fastest growing traditional lager brand in the Australian premium beer market, with off premise sales figures outstripping those of their key competitors including James Boag’s Lager and the Coopers range. Bluetongue Premium Beer’s brand growth is up by a staggering 127.6% Year on Year , according to figures from AC Nielsen, within a market in which some big name brands are in decline.

Spencer says, “Our drinkers are modern and appreciate premium quality but are still unpretentious, it’s about what’s inside that counts. Bluetongue is being really well received around the country because it is genuinely a great tasting, premium Aussie beer that doesn’t take itself too seriously; it’s an engaging brand with a sense of humour that translates across all states. No doubt Bluetongue will be warmly received in WA as well.”

We got this great tip from Melanie at Bitter and Twisted.

How will you escape into Maitland Gaol over the first full weekend in November? Some people are going to seriously twisted measures to attend the best damn beer festival! Bitter and Twisted International Boutique Beer Festival will be held inside the walls of the ex-maximum security prison. Weekend detention will include over 50 craft beers, a nationally recognised entertainment line-up and the best prison food you’ll find! People everywhere are doing anything they can to get into the Gaol…what’s your escape plan!

Tickets available from www.bitterandtwisted.com.au or by calling (02) 4931 2888

We got sent this interesting link from Carolyn. It shows beer consumption using pilsner glasses per country. There’s a few countries which sure know how to enjoy a beer or three and we are talking about you the Czech Republic! And as for China and Brazil you need to lift your game and knock down a few more of those  Tsingtaos or  Brahmas.

http://snippets.com/how-much-does-beer-consumption-vary-by-country.htm

We got a mail from Matthew Freeman he has written a novel called “Beer Money” which sounds pretty interesting and might apeal to some of our Hoppsy readers.
A brewery executive has gone missing – or has he? Joe Abbott is paid by the man’s wife with a beer-sodden cheque to find out the truth.

In doing so he locks horns with dodgy nightclub owners, a toupeed beer baron, and endless assorted ratbags – and, of course, a wild pig – all in the twisted pursuit of a stash of missing money. Plus he has time for a beer or ten along the way.

What the critics said about Beer Money:

“Our hero is suitably scruffy, cynical and dogged …. In a word, quirky” – Herald Sun

“A laugh-aloud crime frolic” – Sydney Daily Telegraph

“The perfect bit of beer-soak fiction” – Beer and Brewer Magazine

“A rare and entertaining yarn” – Beers of the World

Anyway, it’s a wacky kind of read.

More details are at:
www.zeus-publications.com/beer_money.htm

We got this recomendation from Mark about Skinny Blonde.  After a bit of research  we found that there seems to be a bit of controversy around launching this new beer, with quiet a few people up in arms over the label and the name of the beer, claiming it is degrading to women.  We think the 50’s style Daisy is quiet all right, but thats when she is wearing her red bikini. Word is she might be a bit bold for some when the beer level drops a bit in the bottle- might be one for the stubby holder.   The beer is brewed by Brothers Inc andwhich includes as their master brewer Hamish Rosser who is drummer of the Vines.  The beer comes from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, in Australia and has been on the market since about December last year. Be on the look out for Skinny Blonde Beer depending on what happens in the market place it might become a bit of a collectors edition. We would love to hear your thoughts on the packaging and marking campain of Skinny Blonde- drop us a line and let us know what you think. mail us

Find out what all the fuss is about here – http://www.skinnyblonde.com.au/site/ (warning adult content)

We came across this unique label from a beer that was brewed in the late 196o’s and early 70’s Australia’s Carlton and United breweries. The Carlton Pilsener was brewed at the CUB in Melbourne Australia and was marketed as a lighter style of beer “Light in Colour and Light In taste, A bubbling aide to light conversation”. The beer was sold in steel cans and a 26lf bottle, as trends changed and newer recipes came onto the market the Pilseber was pulled from market during the mid 1970’s who knows- it might pop it’s head back one day as one of the breweries special runs. Over the past few years they have brought back a few of the favorite old names for a short while like Abbots and Richmond Lager a few months back.