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.
Since 2008 Fosters has been releasing a special limited edition version of their Crown Lager. Known as Crown Lager Ambassador Reserve, the pricey beer comes in a special box with each hand crafted bottle numbered in a similar way to some of the more collectible wines are sold. 5000 bottles were made in 2008 and 6000 of the 2009 vintage beer have been released today. The very first bottle of the 2008 vintage was given to the Queen as a present on the anniversary of her coronation, so if you don’t want to pony up the coin for a bottle you may need to pop past her place and ask nicely for a taste. The 2008 Vintage sold for around 60 bux a bottle, it may seam a bit rich for a 750ml bottle of beer but we have noticed a bottle of the 2008 stuff on eBay already up to 100 dollars, so it may be a good investment. Check out the Crown Lager site below for the full story on how this beer is put together.
Back in May nearly 2000 people including some of Australia’s best known celebrities turned up in the streets of the historic gold town of Ballarat in Victoria to star in what is probably Australia’s biggest ever beer commercial. The shoot took two day and took over Lydiard and Sturt Street in Ballarat’s centre. The ad featured a parade with plenty of Australianisms, brass bands, cricketers, rugby and footy stars even a streaker all for one of Australia’s most popular beers VB. VB or Victoria Bitter is brewed by the huge Fosters Group and is Australia’s biggest selling beer and found on tap in most pubs around Australia. In recent years Australian’s started trying some of the more boutique beers and many imported brands, but VB has remained strong. A short while back the brand was grown to include a lower alcohol version called VB Gold and there are stories doing the rounds of a new low carb version not far away. The new VB commercial has just hit the Australian airwaves- take a look at our YouTube version and be on the lookout for someone famous.
Acording to this news article on Business Day Fosters Group is considering introducing a Low Carb VB after seeing a souring demand for low carb beers after the introduction of its Pure Blond range in 2004. The low carb VB will become the 3rd VB product if the plan goes ahead after the successful launch of VB Mid strength in 2007. Low carb beers have been late to catch on in Australia unlike in the US where their low carb equivalent (known as Lite Beer) accounts for one in every two beers drunk. Fosters first attempt at a low carb beer was back in 1995 with Carlton Diamond. If you cant remember it, its probably because it didn’t last long on the market and was a bit of a flop despite a huge marketing campaign at the time. Check out the video above if you need jog you memory. Read the rest of this entry »
On a warm summers evening in the beautiful city of Geelong in Australia last night there was a strange sighting of what some people are saying is a UFB an unidentified flying beer. Fortunately they came in peace and there are no reports of probing or cows being taken. The giant Carlton Draught beer was one of the highlights of the Skandia Geelong Week, a huge weekend of sailing and family events to celebrate Australia Day. The beer is actually a hot air balloon and is part of Carlton’s fantastic Skytroop advertising campaign we featured a few months back – take a look at the cool ad. After the traditional fireworks at the end of the evening the giant yellow beer started to glow in the distance attracting the attention of the thousands of spectators. Unfortunately it wasn’t full of delicious beer but it sure did the job and made your mouth water for some of the tasty golden brew.
Cascade the famous beer from Hobart, Tasmania now a subsidiary of the Foster’s Group has launched a wonderful range of premium brewing kits, where you can make some pretty tasty beer in your own home. One of our favorites is the Spicy Ghost Draught which has a real zesty spicy taste. The kits make 23 litres and all you need to do is add water and a kilo of sugars to the supplied can of extracts and yeast and a few weeks later you will be drinking a great beer. Cascade has a great range of beers to choose including a Chocolate Mahogany Porter, a pale ale and Golden Harvest Lager all which bring back some of the tastes of the Brewery’s long heritage dating back to 1824.
It looks like blonde will be the fashion statement of the Australian summer with yet another blonde beer hitting the market. This time Carlton has released another blonde after the huge success of their Pure Blonde, and now a newey- it’s simply called Carlton Natural Blonde. Again it is a low carb beer lager and if this six pack is any indication very tasty indeed. This isn’t the end of Carlton’s surprises for summer- there’s also a Pure Blonde Naked- we haven’t been able to get our hands on this yet- so watch this space. …. Anyway back to the Carlton Natural Blonde- it has a 4.2% alcohol volume, double hopped and 70% less carbohydrates than regular full strength beer- and carbs aren’t all its missing- there are no nasty additives or preservatives in what seems to be a theme to many of the new beers being released recently- which can only be a good thing. Read the rest of this entry »
Over 150 years ago dark beers were very popular and in recent times they have made a bit of a come back with people wanting to try something a bit different to the general draft beer, with a bit of flavor and richness. Well the Fosters Group in Australia is producing Carton Black which is very reminiscent to their beers of around 1835. This great beer contains drum roasted malts and uses traditional top fermentation to produce a gem. The beer is not a strong tasting beer like Stouts or other dark beers it is quiet fruity and even smooth. It uses top quality Pride of Ringwood hops and has some beautiful dark coffee aromas well worth looking out for when next in an Aussie pub. It is available both in bottle form and on tap at many good establishments.
Over 4000 years ago ancient civilizations like in Babylon and Egypt celebrated by adding honey to their beer brew. In fact the word honeymoon can be traced back to these times when the bride’s father would fill his new son in-law full of the honey mead which would give him all the energy he would require for his after wedding celebrations. It was believed the honey mead was an aphrodisiac. Today there are quiet a few honey flavored beers entering the market and Beez Neez from Matilda Bay in Australia is one of the best. It has a very tasty blend of premium malted barley and malted wheats forming a pale ale and the addition of some light honey added to the kettle. The beer is delicious remarkably fresh tasting with a distinct honey taste. The Matilda Bay Brewing Company started in the Western Australian town of North Fremantle, just outside of Perth in Western Australia, today it is part of the huge Australian Fosters Group. Read the rest of this entry »
Australia’s Fosters Group last year brought us the epic “big” beer ad which really raised the bar in beer advertising or advertising in general. Well they have done it again with their latest big budget commercial. This time the star attraction (other than the ice cold Carlton Draught) is the Carlton Skytroop entertaining the crowds at the half time at a sporting event, things didn’t quiet go to plan as you will see,- wonder if a little too much of the good nectar was the problem?
