Birthday Beers

When I woke up this morning I didn’t feel any different. I felt flat, but that was more a case of being disappointed that my top place finishing Rugby League team had been beaten in the biggest upset of the year by the eighth placed underdogs in the first round of the finals series.

As the system goes, the only difference is that we now play next week instead of having the weeks rest and forego a home preliminary final. A hand full of cold beers took the edge off the disappointment and life goes on. The Melbourne Storm are still more than capable of whipping any of the remaining finalists and in the AFL my Hawks are still a red hot chance of winning their prelim this week and advancing to the Grand Final on the last Saturday in September.

Which brings me back to the original reason for my post. September is something of a celebration month in the Pilsner house with three of the five members having a birthday as well as Father’s Day, Dr Lager’s birthday and a full month of sporting commitments. And, of course, the accompanying beers.

The ‘Week of Candles, Cake & Kegs’ began on Thursday with the middle ‘little’ Pilsner reaching her fifth birthday. I counted off the beers in the fridge and the fifth was a new/old brew Platinum Blonde from Six Star Breweries. Old because it is one of these low-carb beers that want you to think are health tonics of sorts. In reality, they are as low in taste as they are in carbs and I’ll pick this theme back up in a follow up post.

Sunday was prepping the place for the onslaught of a dozen four and five year olds for the party before heading out to Olympic Park to see the Storm outplayed by the New Zealand Warriors. Standing out on the ground to hoist the players’ run-through banner, I had the feeling that this wasn’t going to be our day. The beers I had pre-game were like summer and winter – opposites, not one hot and one cold – one was ‘ice cream’ and the other ‘tide out’. And this despite the fact that it took THREE servers to get it wrong! Sanjeet, Ardip and Sharmi managed to take the order, the money and the pour and because I didn’t speak Urdhu we didn’t chat much. And, to top it off, the Kiwi’s got their national anthem in but then the sound system packed it in before the Aussie shiela could warble ours and the good natured crowd sang it instead – a Capella and out of tune. Badly. Should have seen the omen then.

Sunday was also the good Dr’s birthday and I raised a glass of St Arnou Premium Blond – because it is a nice low carb beer for those pretending to be health conscious and lead a good clean lifestyle. Much as Dr Lager does. Pretend.

And today I manage to put yet another year behind me and the girls made sure I had a lovely breakfast and plenty of presents this morning. A tradition in our house is that the birthday person gets to choose dinner and have it made for them but as I tap away here the forecast nasty weather is just beginning to break. As I am a volunteer with the local State Emergency Service unit I expect that tonight might be interrupted by a few call outs from the public and dinner may have to wait for another day. Plus, I don’t fancy driving in this weather if I don’t absolutely have to and so it might just be left over party pies and ‘little boys’ from the party for us.

I’ll just have to make up for this with a special beer from the ‘beer crisper’ when the storms die down and the pager stops beeping. So, wish me luck, happy birthday to me and cheers!

Prof. Pilsner

Buying more beer – cheap

I watched a special on the telly last week which dealt with the retail duopoly which exists across Australia in the supermarket sector. The two big players, Coles and Woolworths sell us 70% of our dry goods and 50% of our fresh food as well as having a massive stake in petrol stations, pokie clubs and other businesses.

Where a decade or so back these supermarkets were selling just tinned tomatoes, milk, frozen peas and washing powders, they have now expanded and in many places have edged out small local butchers, bakers and probably the odd candlestick maker as well.

The other area of interest for visitors to this blog is that the two mega retailers also control a fair sized slab of the liquor market. With stores dotted everywhere across the city and country making use of massive floor spaces, the buying power that these giants have is unbeatable. Huge volumes and the ability to showcase hundreds of different lines means that the big two can dictate terms and pricing from the various suppliers. If you want to move a shed load of product, here’s how much you will get per unit and here’s when and how you’ll get paid.

For the humble punter this means a few things. First, we get to choose from a range we have not had ever before. Second, we can take advantage of bulk buy discounts and weekly specials on everyday mainstream beers – especially by the slab. Third, we are generally paying a lot less overall for beer because the biggies will always price beat their smaller independent retailers. And fourth, with liquor departments at the supermarkets as well as the huge stand alone booze barns access to liquor is easier than ever before. But is this all a good thing?

Having two players in the market effectively setting the price of beer means that the small independent is pretty much at the mercy of the duopoly when it comes to competing on price alone. The 4 Corners special heard from some retailers who were actually buying their stock from one of the bigg’uns because their cost price from the brewery was more expensive than the giant’s retail sale price! Some may argue that the small retailers offer a better level of service but for the average shmo trollying out his week’s supply of ‘Good Piss Lager’ or a slab of bourbon and cola cans, he could care less about service and range.

For those like myself, I prefer to shop at my friendly small guy (see entries on Cloudwine and Swords Select) because I know I can get a chat as well as a better selection of hard to get beers and special orders are taken care of with pleasure rather than annoyance. Personally, I can also request an odd-ball import or check prices and upcoming new arrivals on the beer retailer’s blogs. These things are more important to me than knowing I can get four ‘torpedoes’ of no-name bourbon flavoured rubbing alcohol mixed with sugar and cola infused lab syrup for around the price of four really nice beers. Plus, I wear shoes when I go shopping for drink and I don’t tip half of my purchase down my neck on the way home. But that’s another story.

Here is the big question; two mega-ginormous retailers controlling the market, keeping the smaller players at arms length from competing and calling the shots to the suppliers – what happens next? If more and more independents fall by the wayside and the big just get bigger, do the leaders go all ‘soup Nazi’ on us and say; “No specials for you!!” or does the fact that there are still two players at the top of ladder ensure that neither wants to shake he ladder or risk cutting some rungs? In the UK the supermarket players are being blamed in part for the decline in patronage at traditional English pubs and while the situation is different in the way that pub drinkers buy their booze, the omens are there.

We have more choice and more variety and more opportunity to easily buy what we want. We are probably paying less overall for many garden variety beers. We are convinced by the marketing that we are getting the best value for our drinking dollar. Should we just enjoy it all while we can or do the signs point to a future where the rules surrounding the business of buying beer is determined by the retailer and not the customer?

I’m off to buy some beer and I will drink some and have a think about it. I’ll get back to you soon.

Cheers,
Prof. Pilsner

Ale Stars at the Local Taphouse

On the middle Tuesday of each month The Local Taphouse has a terrific beer night known by its attendees as ‘Ale Stars’, a celebration of beer, style by style.

For the bargain basement price of just $25 punters can not only sample the finest beer drinking surroundings, music and atmosphere, they can also sample four beers all linked by style or type or region, matched with a delicious selection of expertly prepared finger foods.

The brother-in-law and I made our way out last month for a night devoted to stouts. Beginning with the entry level Guinness in the widget powered can and moving through Export and Imperial style stouts and finishing with a chocolate stout, the night was well paced and hosted capably by Shandy who introduced each beer, gave notes on other like beers as we sipped and chatted and provided good tips and tricks for appreciating beer in general.

A highlight of this second Ale Stars evening was a guest spot by the very talented craft brewer, David Golding from Red Hill Brewery on the Mornington Peninsula. Sharing his brewing knowledge and fielding questions that ranged from the simple to the scientific, he managed to fill the room with a sense of the love and dedication a brewer needs to not just produce a good beer but to stay true to the principles you set for yourself. Sticking to producing beers of a higher standard with smaller margins and growing their own hops, Red Hill is striving to ensure that finer beers are available to those willing to try something a little outside their price comfort zone. Being able to chat to David afterwards and chatting all things beer was a bonus for the professor.

This is a great environment for beer-heads who love their ales and lagers but don’t really want to take it all too seriously. The night is a great opportunity to mix and mingle with others who share your passion and no one is out there trying to ‘one-up’ each other or argue whose favourite beer is best.

The next Ale Stars night is next Tuesday September 16 and coming into their special tap beer extravaganza, ‘Spec-Tap-ular’ which will be an Oktoberfest themed weekend, they will feature an all German line up of interesting beers. For all the good word, check out their link at the right hand side of the Beer Blokes blog.

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner