Birdsville - will the old bus make it?

Raffi Balmanoukian a
wrote in
news:BD0319CF.25404%walkabout@TAKEOUTTHETRASHTOREP LY.ns.sympatico.ca:

snip

Yeah, yeah, yeah....speaking as a Canuck for whom "foreign beer"
consists of Fosters and Heinekin - don't count, do they Frank?!


Fosters *is* a foreign beer. Only foreigners drink it

Les in W.A.

Sry Frank, but who's fault is it?

Being a Pom, born in London and fell in love with Fosters - the only Oz beer
you could get back then (I'm talking about a time when Barry Humphreys hadnt
started to wear drag (publicly) and was editor/founder/author of Private Eye
and Bazza McKenzie was a cartoon character in that mag - I mean - waaaay
back when) - I came to Australia mainly *because of the beer*.

Ended up in Sydney drinking Reschs (with a dash of lime to make it
drinkable) before I realised life had to mean more than this and went to
Adelaide and discovered Southwark, and a cloudy little brew called Coopers.

Now I'm planning to move to Qld - *because of the beer*. XXXX - you're
right, Raffi, it does spell beer! Frank, what are you doing in the land of
the midnight sun? Come home to the sunshine - and *the beer*!!! You know you
want to!

Grandad

"Frank Slootweg" wrote in message
...
"Grandad \(Derek\)" wrote:
Thanks for all the responses. Much better informed now about the area.
Doing
some research into our trip while the missus is in Sydney with her
sister.
To which end I've put a slab of XXXX bitter in the fridge - and all
those
QLDers who've told me over the years how good that beer is - they're
right!
Basically wanted to try it so I wouldn't spit it over the bar at first
sip
with remarks about horse **** - and arouse some QLD ire - but no risk.
XXXX
is to beer what stilton is to cheese. (That's a level way above the
average,
I mean) Except for that cloudy drop of heaven, SA's Coopers!

Till my next stupid question - cheers!

Grandad

Come on, mate! Do you *have* to be so bloody cruel? A large part of
the audience is not from Oz and can't get their hands on the great
Aussie beers you're mentioning!

Frank "Totally frustated (and bloody thirsty) in The Netherlands!" :-)
Slootweg

Just by the by. Four X originated on the gold fields of Victoria in the
1860's.

The water the brewer used was local (of course) and contained a high level
of Magnesium giving it it's characteristic bitter taste.

As the gold petered out the brewer moved to Brisbane about the turn of the
century. The local water did not have the required level of Magnesium and
his brew (which was deignated, using the traditional English classification
of a first class ale viz. XXX) was not very popular.

He then teamed up with an industrial chemist who was able to identify the
missing ingredient. Castlemaine Perkins (the company) was formed and the
new bitter ale that tasted very much like the "Victorian" brew was an
immediate success.

The rest, as they say, is history. The new brew was designated XXXX even
though no such classification existed - not in English brewing, anyway. But
XXXX Bitter Ale was extremely popular.

Castlemaine Perkins invested heavily in hotels (beer outlets) and was ripe
for a takeover when in stepped Alan Bond, in the 1960's, who sold up
(stripped) all the assets of the company and then sold the brewing business
to New Zealand Lion Nathan.

Personally, I think they changed the brew. It has never been as good since.
So much so, in fact, I now prefer to drink good Australian red wine.

If you're a red wine drinker, believe me, there are some really good wines
out there at very reasonable prices.

I like nothing more than to open a bottle of red, admire its qualities and
remember where and when I bought it a few years before.


Ross


"Raffi Balmanoukian" a
wrote in message news:BD0319CF.25404%

Yeah, yeah, yeah....speaking as a Canuck for whom "foreign beer" consists
of
Fosters and Heinekin - don't count, do they Frank?!

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 16:54:54 +1000, "Ross" wrote:
snip
Personally, I think they changed the brew. It has never been as good since.
So much so, in fact, I now prefer to drink good Australian red wine.

If you're a red wine drinker, believe me, there are some really good wines
out there at very reasonable prices.

I like nothing more than to open a bottle of red, admire its qualities and
remember where and when I bought it a few years before.


Ross

I'll drink to that - now what will I choose tonight? Ahh - the Barossa
Valley Estates 2000 Shiraz - affordable and lovely.

Maybe the Merlot tomorrow?

Please ignore everything we just said - I don't want the prices to go up
too much!


Cheers, Alan
--

I'll drink to that - now what will I choose tonight? Ahh - the Barossa
Valley Estates 2000 Shiraz - affordable and lovely.

Maybe the Merlot tomorrow?

Please ignore everything we just said - I don't want the prices to go up
too much!


Cheers, Alan
--

Sigh, those were the days - now pensioned off, and a decent bottle is a rare
thing - but there's always the old Stanley cask - rough red aint rough
unless you get a good shudder out of the first sip. I see that Stanley is
bringing out a range of different boxes - Claret, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Shiraz - shame the red stuff inside is all the same
Grandad

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 09:33:27 GMT, "Grandad \(Derek\)"
wrote:

I'll drink to that - now what will I choose tonight? Ahh - the Barossa
Valley Estates 2000 Shiraz - affordable and lovely.

Maybe the Merlot tomorrow?

Please ignore everything we just said - I don't want the prices to go up
too much!


Cheers, Alan
--

Sigh, those were the days - now pensioned off, and a decent bottle is a rare
thing - but there's always the old Stanley cask - rough red aint rough
unless you get a good shudder out of the first sip. I see that Stanley is
bringing out a range of different boxes - Claret, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Shiraz - shame the red stuff inside is all the same
Grandad


Hi Grandad

I'm also retired. Check out the one I just mentioned; you may get a
pleasant price surprise for the quality if you can find it. Ring the
winery in the Barossa if you can't.

And after drinking the vin very ordinaire in Spain, France, and Italy,
the Stanley is pretty good stuff for plastic-encased vin
not-quite-as-ordinaire.


Cheers, Alan
--

Bloody Old Soaks the lot o' ya!!!

Dunno I'd want to be at Birdsville at the same time as any of ya' - it's a
difficult enough logistic operation to keep the pub stocked as it is!!!




"Alan" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 09:33:27 GMT, "Grandad \(Derek\)"
wrote:

I'll drink to that - now what will I choose tonight? Ahh - the Barossa
Valley Estates 2000 Shiraz - affordable and lovely.

Maybe the Merlot tomorrow?

Please ignore everything we just said - I don't want the prices to go
up
too much!


Cheers, Alan
--

Sigh, those were the days - now pensioned off, and a decent bottle is a
rare
thing - but there's always the old Stanley cask - rough red aint rough
unless you get a good shudder out of the first sip. I see that Stanley is
bringing out a range of different boxes - Claret, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Shiraz - shame the red stuff inside is all the same
Grandad


Hi Grandad

I'm also retired. Check out the one I just mentioned; you may get a
pleasant price surprise for the quality if you can find it. Ring the
winery in the Barossa if you can't.

And after drinking the vin very ordinaire in Spain, France, and Italy,
the Stanley is pretty good stuff for plastic-encased vin
not-quite-as-ordinaire.


Cheers, Alan
--

"A Mate" wrote in message
u...
Bloody Old Soaks the lot o' ya!!!

Dunno I'd want to be at Birdsville at the same time as any of ya' - it's a
difficult enough logistic operation to keep the pub stocked as it is!!!




"Alan" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 09:33:27 GMT, "Grandad \(Derek\)"
wrote:

I'll drink to that - now what will I choose tonight? Ahh - the
Barossa
Valley Estates 2000 Shiraz - affordable and lovely.

Maybe the Merlot tomorrow?

Please ignore everything we just said - I don't want the prices to go
up
too much!


Cheers, Alan
--

Sigh, those were the days - now pensioned off, and a decent bottle is a
rare
thing - but there's always the old Stanley cask - rough red aint rough
unless you get a good shudder out of the first sip. I see that Stanley
is
bringing out a range of different boxes - Claret, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Shiraz - shame the red stuff inside is all the same
Grandad


Hi Grandad

I'm also retired. Check out the one I just mentioned; you may get a
pleasant price surprise for the quality if you can find it. Ring the
winery in the Barossa if you can't.

And after drinking the vin very ordinaire in Spain, France, and Italy,
the Stanley is pretty good stuff for plastic-encased vin
not-quite-as-ordinaire.


Cheers, Alan
--


As the missus says (quite often) "You can't still be thirsty!" When has
thirst ever had anything to do with drinking?

Grandad

in article , Grandad (Derek)
at wrote on 6/30/04 3:20 AM:


As the missus says (quite often) "You can't still be thirsty!" When has
thirst ever had anything to do with drinking?

Grandad

Quite often - alcohol is a diuretic!

"Raffi Balmanoukian" a
wrote in message
news:BD083543.2557A%walkabout@TAKEOUTTHETRASHTOREP LY.ns.sympatico.ca...
in article , Grandad
(Derek)
at wrote on 6/30/04 3:20 AM:


As the missus says (quite often) "You can't still be thirsty!" When has
thirst ever had anything to do with drinking?

Grandad

Quite often - alcohol is a diuretic!


That's why it's called ****, mate!
Grandad