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.

http://www.crownbeverages.com.au/

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.

Full Story

http://business.theage.com.au/business/low-carbs-in-line-for-vb-fightback-20090614-c7dp.html

]]> http://www.hoppsy.com/australia/low-carb-vb-may-be-coming-soon/feed/ 0 http://www.hoppsy.com/australia/ufb-unidentified-flying-beer-spotted/ http://www.hoppsy.com/australia/ufb-unidentified-flying-beer-spotted/#comments Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:10:04 +0000 Rocky http://www.hoppsy.com/?p=948

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. 

for more information on Geelong – the home of hoppsy Visit www.intown.com.au

Cascade Spicy Ghost Kit

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.

Cascade also have a really informative website for homebrewers which is well worth a look.

http://www.cascadehomebrew.com.au

Carlton Natural Blonde

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.

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.

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?

Back before cars, trucks and rail transport in Australia the beautiful Clydesdale was a familiar site working on the land and delivering goods around the towns. They were also used to transport beer from the breweries to the pub. Carlton and United Breweries in Melbourne used Clydesdales from 1864 until just after the Second World War and today still have a magnificent troop of these beautiful horses for marketing purposes which are loved by young and old. Their familiar clip clop and silky boots have become ledged and they are now proudly the symbol of Carlton Draught Australia’s favorite draught beer. The carriage is also protected by a Dalmatian dog who has developed a special relationship with the horses and he sits proudly upon the barrels. This is also part of tradition. There are 10 horses in all, and they take turns of pulling the beer wagon. The horses are always dressed for the occasion in lovely silk beer rugs and silver beer badges. The horses travel Australia visiting many agricultural shows, parades and of course the local pub Today’s photo shows us beautiful horses and carriage in the Pako Festa a multicultural street parade in Geelong Australia.

For more information:  http://www.fosters.com.au/Clydesdales/

Victoria Bitter or VB is Australia’s favorite beer and Fosters have gone back to their roots and released a heritage beer called VB Original Ale. This beer is beautifully packaged in retro style bottle and label and has a recipe not too far unlike the original 1894 drop. The beer is more than a bit of nostalgia it is quiet tasty and is sold not only in traditional bottle form but can also be found on specialty taps as a draft. The brewer has said the beer is a tribute to their founder Thomas Aiken and has a touch of roasted barley and traditional kettle hopping methods are used in it’s brewing process. The beer has a 4.6 % alcohol rating and is something different to try next time you are in an Aussie pub.

VB the true Australian Beer has put out some fantastic advertisements over the year, the recent VB Symphony is a great example. But a few years back they put out a few based on the classic Victoria Bitter ad… ‘matter of fact I’ve got it now’ This one features a big night out on the town with the boys and the classic Aussie nightcap the Kebab- the roasted rotisserie lamb and salad wrapped in a Turkish Bread all smothered in garlic sauce— Mater of fact I could go one now! A perfect way to celebrate Australia Day!

If you have any great nightcap treats, like a kebab, a pizza, a pie floater or hot dog or something even more special drop us a comment http://www.hoppsy.com/send-us-a-tip/

I think we have mentioned before on Hoppsy, everyone outside Australia thinks Fosters when we they think of Australian Beer, unlike the Aussies who really don’t care for the stuff. Fosters is the most successful Australian beer brand all around the world being sold just about everywhere. Today it is brewed in several countries  Australia, and is a huge seller expecially in the UK. We found this great Hong Kong Fosters ad which dates back to the early 1980′s which is a beauty and well worth a look, maybe enjoy watching it with a refreshing Fosters to celebrate our Australia Day week of beers.

Well plenty of people would disagree, but half of Australia think the best cold beer is Vic, Victoria Bitter. VB is Australia’s biggest selling draft beer and is available in just about every pub in the continent. Brewed by Carlton and United Breweries now known as The Fosters Group the beer has a reputation of being a beer for everyone especially the Aussie worker. Originating from Melbourne it was really Melbourne Bitter and Carlton Draft which were the beer drinkers choice, but after great advertising like this old You Tube ad, and marketing into new areas, VB has become the Australian favorite. Well a hard earned thirst needs a big cold beer…you know the rest.