On February 15 Foster’s Group reported declining profit on the back of falling beer sales. CEO Ian Johnston attributed this partly to “unseasonal weather in peak consumption months”. We might call this seasonally adjusted profit.

As a lapsed retailer I can vouch for this phenomenon. In research to understand the effect of advertising on beer sales, Liquorland marketing department once discovered that sales rose and fell with the thermometer. Advertising merely redistributed the brand mix.

The seasonal blip noted by Foster’s comes on top of a long-term decline revealed in recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures. The bureau says we now drink about 107 litres a person, well down on our peak of 176 litres almost forty years ago.

Despite the overall decline, though, premium beers, including imports, and those bland low-carbohydrate beers enjoyed double-digit growth in recent years.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2011

In Australia, ice-cold beer’s a given. From scorching Marble Bar to frosty Thredbo, beer flows from bar taps at a chilly two degrees or so. But too much chill kills flavour. It doesn’t matter so much drinking standard lager. Icy cold hits the spot.
But as you move up the quality ladder, enjoyable aromas and flavours emerge at slightly higher temperatures.

Top-notch lager – for example, Urquell Pilsen, James Squire Pilsener and Weihenstephaner Pilsen –reveal more of their pure, malty richness and delicate hops character at around six to eight degrees than they do at two degrees.

For high quality ales, serving temperatures can be even higher – around ten degrees, say, for English-style real ales where fruitiness adds so much to the rich, underlying malt flavours. These make particularly good, warming winter drinks.

But even our own popular bar ales, like Tooth’s Old and Toohey’s Black – served widely (always arctic cold) at South Coast pubs – deliver more rich, maltiness and fruitiness as they warm up, even by just a few degrees.

There’s be riots if Australian publicans turned beer temperatures up. But over Christmas in our own homes we can get more from our premium beers by letting them warm up a little.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

I’ve not visited the original Duckstein Brewery in the Swan Valley. But the Margaret River operation, housed at Saracen Estates, produces beautiful German style beers in a magnificent setting – with live music on weekends and German-style food.

During a Sunday lunchtime visit, the places buzzed with families, streaming through the large function area to the lakeside garden setting.

Surprised to see beer outselling wine at cellar door, we joined the mob and tasted through the range of beautifully made, ultra fresh brews.

The Hefeweiss, delivers the lightness, freshness, high-toned fruitiness (banana like) and fresh acidity of the southern German wheat style.

Duckstein Pils reflected the best of the German style – crisp, pure and tasty with the stunning, clean bitterness of Tettnanger and Hallertau hops.

Dunkel delivered warm, chocolate and toffee richness, offset by delicious and bitter hops.
A beer labelled simply as Seasonal offered a rich, malty flavour with a dry, assertively bitter hops finish.

We finish on the opulent, copper coloured, powerfully, pungently hopped Altbier – and love the clean, lingering, refreshing bitterness.

If you’re touring Margaret River, Duckstein Brewery is a must-visit. It offers the beers in 5-litre party kegs at cellar door.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Australia’s craft brewing industry owes much to the west. The comparatively large-scale success of Matilda Bay, and later Little Creatures, fanned widespread consumer interest in beers very different from mainstream styles.

Matilda Bay’s Redback popularised the highly distinctive flavours of wheat beer to a lager-quaffing nation. And Little Creatures spread the gospel of highly aromatic, late-hopped ale.

The fact that both operations sold out, or partly sold out, to Australia’s two big brewers, doesn’t diminish their contribution to our varied beer scene. Matilda Bay, now owned by Foster’s, continues to make distinctive brews and distribute them widely. And Little Creatures, partly owned by Lion Nathan (itself wholly owned by Japan’s Kirin), continues to excite with its compact range, still brewed at the orginal Fremantle site.

But the Western Australian brewing scene isn’t limited to these two larger operators.

There’s Gage Roads, partly owned by Woolworths, and nationally distributed. But perhaps more excitingly for tourists, there’s now a flourishing of small regional operators in Bridgetown, Bunbury, Capel, Donnybrook, Dunsborough, Fremantle, Ferguson Valley, Pemberton, Perth, Margaret River, Mindarie, Myalup, North Fremantle and the Swan Valley – note the crossover with wine producing regions.

We’ll report back on some of these brewers over the next few weeks as we visit tour the southwest.

Copyright © Chris Shananan 2010

Paradoxically, as consumer interest in exotic beers grows and the number of microbrewers in the premium market expands, the mass market demands ever-blander beers.

Faced with a declining market share, Foster’s recently announced plans to regain momentum. And the focus seems to be largely on plugging gaps, or creating new opportunities, in the lighter-flavoured end of the market.

The approach suggests that wide swathes of Australia’s population doesn’t like traditional beer and perhaps never will.

Of the new products Foster’s plans, perhaps the nearest to traditional beer is said to be a mid-strength lager to be launched in Queensland under its new Great Northern Brewery Company brand. It’ll be brewed at Foster’s existing Yatala brewery and targeted square at Lion Nathan’s XXXX Gold.

From there, the beeriness of the new products declines.  There’s hope, perhaps, for Pure Blonde White, if it truly resembles the Belgian wheat beer style. But several sips of its low-carb cellar mate, Pure Blonde, point the other way.

And the new citrus-flavoured Carlton Dry Fusion Black seems also to be targeted at non-traditional beer drinkers.

We’re witnessing one of the biggest shifts ever in brewing – as brewers are asked to straddle two worlds: the ancient craft of brewing and the new world of manufacturing beverages to meet shifting consumer tastes.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Canberra’s two ever-inventive brewers have a few new beers and a bit of news to share.
Christoph Zierholz (Zierholz Premium Beers) recently launched a new 5.6 per cent lager – made in the robust Oktoberfest style. It’s on tap at the Fyshwick brewery now. And in a few weeks, says Zierholz, he’ll be distributing five-litre kegs of his brews to retail outlets around Canberra. They’re similar in style, he says, to the Heineken kegs already available in some outlets.

The Wig and Pen, Civic, offers two new brews, the light (3.1 per cent alcohol), floral-citrusy Marv’s Man Mild and a 5.8 per cent seasonal Flemish Red Ale. The Flemish ale passes through the Wig’s “hopinator” (an infuser), acquiring the exotic tastes of morello cherries and whisky-barrel oak chips.

And there’s a wheat beer, brewed with whole apricots, ready to replace the Flemish ale, says brewer Richard Watkins.

Watkins has plans, too, for a summer cider, brewed from delicious apples, a perry and a Trappist-style ale inspired by the beers of Orval Abbey, Belgium.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

It seems to be raining new beers. The latest – Endeavour Reserve Amber Ale 2010 (reviewed here last week) and Endeavour Reserve Pale Ale 2010 – have been released through Coles’ 1st Choice and Vintage Cellars outlets.

These are both interesting, reasonably complex beers with no rough edges and a seamless drinkability usually associated with larger, professional brewing operations.

The website (endeavour.com.au) describes the venture as “three blokes having a go” – the three blokes being a former viticulturist, a marketing and sales specialist and a chartered accountant.

There’s no talk of the scale of the operation. But the professional packaging, smooth-edged beers and launch through a national chain suggest serious ambitions.

While it may be very good, initially,  for the three blokes to be off and running with Coles, I wonder how far down the track they’ve looked and if they’ve really considered the vulnerability of having all their eggs in one basket.

The supermarkets have more of a record for exploiting brands than building them. And there’s the downside of alienating what’s left of the independent trade; and, oh, the little matter of Woolworths, which is even bigger in liquor than Coles. Can’t imagine them climbing on board any time soon.

However, the beers are good and add to the diversity on offer.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010