Hey, mate!
Yes, let’s talk about Australia, the land of exotic and
dangerous animals! But Australia is also a very beautiful country with amazing
people. It is very isolated from the rest of the world and more than a half of
their territory is a desert, but this gives them some unique characteristics.
The Dutch discovered the continent, but the British claimed
it theirs in 1770 and initially settled
through penal transportation; the continent was
explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established. Australia is a constitutional monarchy . It uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen
Elizabeth II at its apex as
the Queen of Australia.
Anyway,
Australians don’t have a long history of brewing beer, since beer in the
country arrived with the British colonization. Captain James
Cook brought beer with him on his ship Endeavour as a means of
preserving drinking water. They do not have very famous beers either (ok,
maybe Foster’s – but this one is more produced for exportation than for consume
in the internal market) but they certainly like to enjoy it and it is a growing
market. Recent estimates suggest that there are now well over a hundred new
breweries operating in Australia, though the exact number is hard to calculate.
In 2004 Australia was ranked fourth
internationally in per capita beer
consumption, at around 110 litres per year.
The oldest brewery still in operation is the Cascade Brewery, established in Tasmania in 1824. The largest Australian-owned brewery is the family-owned Coopers Brewery, as the other two major breweries Foster's Group and Lion Nathan are owned by the British-South African SABMiller and the Japanese Kirin Brewing Company, respectively.
Last time I
was there, I was in Perth in West Australia (WA), one of the most remote cities
on Earth and also one of the sunniest.
There I tried a “local beer”; actually, this is not produced
in Perth anymore. It is the Swan Draught from Swan Brewery. The Swan Brewery
started in 1857 by Frederick Sherwood. He saw the Swan River as the ideal place
to build a brewery, as the Swan provided fresh, clean water for making the
beer, hiring convicts
as a source of cheap
labour. After so many ups and
downs from economy and administration, the brewery became in 2007 a subsidiary
of Lion Nathan. On 12 October 2012, Lion Nathan resolved to close the Canning
Vale operations of the Swan Brewery by March 2013 and move production
interstate. The Swan and Emu beer brands and keg production were transferred to
the company's West End Brewery in South
Australia and pack production moved to James Boag &
Son Brewery in Tasmania. So Swan Beer is not local anymore.
Swan Draught is a mild lager, aroma of rye
bread and slightly hoppy, with a
medium bitter flavour and full body.
ABV 4.5%My second choice was an Australian beer, but produced in the east coast. More exactly in Sydney and it was an American Pale Ale from James Squire. James Squire was the first to successfully cultivate hops in 1804. The Government Gazette from 1806 mentions that he was awarded a cowherd from the government for his efforts. In 1806, James’ brewery was built on the shore of Parramatta River at Kissing Point. He opened the Malting Shovel Tavern almost halfway between Sydney Town and Parramatta. Actually if you are curious, you can read more about the interesting history about James Squire and their other types of beer in their website: The Story of James Squire.
What made me choose for this one was more the witty name
than the type for itself – HOPTHIEF – is a specialty beer American Pale Ale
style. It does have the citrus aroma and slightly bitter but the final taste is
like orange cake and it is delicious .
ABV: 5,0%
Nevertheless, I don’t regret
this very good choice at all.
Cheers mate!!
