Coasters Collected in the Wild (October 1997)
Anyone who knows me understands that I like fine tasting beers. Naturally we had to visit brewpubs and breweries, and try as many different varieties as available.
Lord Nelson
The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel bills itself as the oldest hotel in Sydney, dating back to the 1840’s (map). We found it after a short walk up from “The Rocks” using the Argyle Cut. They made the best beer I tasted in Australia, and would be worth a visit if you happen to be in Sydney. My wife and I went there one evening and sampled several of their beers. We returned the next day for lunch and sampled the rest. My personal favorite was the “Old Admiral,” a dogbolter-style dark lager. It packed quite a punch, too.
The Beer With Four X’s
Locals pronounced the name of this beer as 4X. However, I don’t dare type its actual name with all of those letters because someone using a search engine might think this is one of those websites. The beer seemed to be a pretty typical mass-produced light lager, made by a very large company, Castlemaine Perkins Ltd. in Brisbane, Queensland.
Overall Impressions
We had difficulty finding Australian-brewed beers other than lagers, pilsners, or variations on those themes. Even the bitters lacked much distinction. This made our visit to a bottle shop (a place to purchase alcohol for off-premises consumption) rather depressing. We did find an extra stout and a brown made by the Coopers Brewery of Adelaide. During our visit we saw numerous advertisements featuring American actors pitching Australian brews. I found it amusing to see Americans selling Australian beers to Australians.
What was cheapest beer we found in Australia? Old Milwaukee. Even though it had to be shipped all the way across the Pacific, it was still less expensive than the domestic product. That should tell you something. We also saw a six-pack of Budweiser cans for $20 (Australian). This frightened us greatly.
NOTE: We returned to Australia in 2018 and found the brewery scene much improved!
Articles from the 1997 Eastern Australian Tour Series
- Sydney Skyline
- Along Sydney Harbour
- Australian Brewery Coasters
- Australia’s Blue Mountains
- Jenolan Caves
- Brisbane at Sunset
- Atop Mt. Coot-tha
- Noosa National Park
- Glass House Mountains
- Tweed River & Mt. Warning
- Cape Byron Lighthouse
- An Australian Banana Plantation
Readers may also be interested in my 2018 Australasian Adventures Series.
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