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Start here => What's your crime? Basic Discussion => Topic started by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 03:16:29 AM

Title: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 03:16:29 AM
Just taking a look at Australian pubs on Flickriver.  Some appear mainly like bars - very brash.  It's all lager and that.  Some of the ones in more rural towns look quite smart though, like this (https://flic.kr/p/KWzAb8) place in NSW.  In fact, the grand ones look quite ornate, a little bit like something out of a Western.  In fact, many look more like banks or corner shops rather than pubs with their bright banners and so on.

Australian pubs really can't be compared to their British equivalent it seems, they need to be taken on their own terms.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Minister Of Silly Walks on August 19, 2018, 04:40:30 AM
You won't find too many of those room temperature beers is Straya. It's almost entirely lager. Served as cold as possible.

I guess the pubs around The Rocks in Sydney would be about as close as you'd get in terms of style and atmosphere to English pubs. Some are pushing 200 years old. That's old for here.

Some pubs have a small range of ciders, even one or two on tap. And craft beers are increasingly a thing too.

Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 06:10:09 AM
Quote from: Minister of silly walks
You won't find too many of those room temperature beers is Straya. It's almost entirely lager. Served as cold as possible.

Cask just wouldn't be a thing in Australia I'd imagine?  It's too hot for that.  Might be a goer in New Zealand, where the temperature is colder.  I'm thinking of The Twisted Hop in Christchurch and so on.

Quote from: Minister of silly walks
Some pubs have a small range of ciders, even one or two on tap. And craft beers are increasingly a thing too.

Yes - I saw that some pubs have Bulmers on tap.  I was actually looking at a fish and chip shop frontage, and it looks really retro.  I can't remember the name or anything because there wasn't one there.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Eclair on August 19, 2018, 06:11:05 AM
http://heroofwaterloo.com.au/

most of the older pubs around Sydney, or any other capital city in Australia for that matter, are based on English architecture. Sydney, and most other cities basically have a traditional looking pub pretty much on every second corner. Even in the inner suburbs around Sydney.

English architecture doesn't suit our Summer climate in most places in Australia. Hence why more modern pubs/bars/hotels that have been built more recently, are more casual / indoor outdoor, with decks. Makes more sense in our climate than English Architecture overall.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 06:12:39 AM
Now that is nice!
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Charlotte Quin on August 19, 2018, 06:53:41 AM
The only pubs in Sydney CBD I've been to are the Lord Nelson and some other pub nearby, the Australian Heritage I think.
Me and and my first BF were together at the time and I remember his friend sneaking out a full schooner under his jacket. We ended up at Jacksons On George. It was a pretty ordinary night lol.

Yes, every pub in country Australia looks EXACTLY like that one in Narrabri. You'd be hard pressed to find one with the original decor though. Most have been 'revamped' inside to look a bit bland and contemporary (usually when new owners take over). I can understand why they do it though, especially if the pub had a prior reputation of being seedy or rough.
Funnily enough we have no really old pubs left in my town, the oldest was built in the art deco era.

Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Yuri Bezmenov on August 19, 2018, 07:10:32 AM
Funnily enough we have no really old pubs left in my town, the oldest was built in the art deco era.

I love Art Deco buildings! Do you have any pics?
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Eclair on August 19, 2018, 07:22:30 AM
I see Jacksons on George is getting a makeover.

https://www.timeout.com/sydney/news/jacksons-on-george-is-getting-a-futuristic-makeover-012218
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 08:38:34 AM
What's the beer like in the pubs?  I've had Victoria Bitter and Foster's (though I know you don't drink that stuff there), as well as Little Creatures Pale Ale.  I'd really like a pint of Old - you can get it online, but it works out at £4.80 a pint if I were to get it online.  It probably costs about that much in a pub in Australia.

Might be more cost effective to get the Tooheys Dark Ale kit - that works out at 37p a pint.  I wouldn't know the difference anyway.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 09:05:05 AM
The only pubs in Sydney CBD I've been to are the Lord Nelson and some other pub nearby, the Australian Heritage I think.

Ooh, very posh.  I'm impressed.  Originally the post was badly worded and probably quite insulting.  I had to get someone to run an eye over it.  I understand it's a very sensitive subject for us.

I know some Aussies living slag Britain off a bit, and that's alright, but there comes a point when it's not family.  We'd say "if you don't like it that much go back there".  And that would be alright.  Same thing with you there no doubt.

Me and and my first BF were together at the time and I remember his friend sneaking out a full schooner under his jacket. We ended up at Jacksons On George. It was a pretty ordinary night lol.

Looks like there's some decent ale on.  A pint of Old Admiral for me.

Yes, every pub in country Australia looks EXACTLY like that one in Narrabri.

That's a bit of a pisstake.  I can tell.  Some of them look nice, others less so.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Al Swearegen on August 19, 2018, 04:20:16 PM
I went to an Irish pub in Sydney when I last went there. The food was unreal. Best Roast Beef and gravy meal I ever had
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 04:25:50 PM
I went to an Irish pub in Sydney when I last went there. The food was unreal. Best Roast Beef and gravy meal I ever had

You have me intrigued.  Can you supply the name of the joint so I can look it up on TripAdvisor?  Privately, if you'd prefer.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Minister Of Silly Walks on August 19, 2018, 05:24:53 PM
Aussie beers in England are brewed in England and taste very little like their Aussie namesakes.

I would hazard a guess that 95% at least of beer drunk in Australia is lager.

Do English pubs still ask if you want ice in your lager?
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 05:32:38 PM
Aussie beers in England are brewed in England and taste very little like their Aussie namesakes.

I'm well aware of this.  I had imported VB and that was OK.

I would hazard a guess that 95% at least of beer drunk in Australia is lager.

About half of all beer drunk in the UK is lager.

Do English pubs still ask if you want ice in your lager?

No, but it is ice cold.  That said, there are some genuinely good lagers out there, but you have to search for them.  They don't have them at the pub.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Minister Of Silly Walks on August 19, 2018, 06:15:42 PM
In 1998 I was working in Essex and there was a pub called "Culpeppers" that the guys from work would go to at lunchtime.

The tap beer tasted horrible. Someone told me that it was because they didn't clean the pipes and that one should always order bottled beer there.

So one warm summer day I ordered a Heineken, in the bottle. I knew they had Heineken because there was a shelf behind the bar with a couple of bottles of Heineken on it.

The bartender reached around and gave me one of the Heinekens off the shelf. At room temperature, which was about 27 degrees celsius.

I asked if he had any cold beer, he pointed to an ice bucket at the end of the bar. I took a look in the ice bucket and there were about 2 tiny ice cubes that hadn't quite melted yet, in a pool of water.

So I drank my warm lager. All part of the English experience I guess.

So they have refrigeration in the pubs nowadays? And cold beer? Might as well stay home then!!!
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 06:18:39 PM
So they have refrigeration in the pubs nowadays? And cold beer? Might as well stay home then!!!

If the beer is warm, it's a bad bar.  Move on.  If the lager is in any way deficient, bad bar.  Forget them.  The point of lager is that it's constant.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Minister Of Silly Walks on August 19, 2018, 06:31:42 PM
In 1998/1999 it seemed like refrigeration was kind of a new concept in the UK.

I remember stopping at a petrol station on a hot day and thinking it would be nice to grab a coke from the fridge. I mean it looked exactly like the fridges we have at petrol stations in Australia, except it just a large glass cabinet for displaying drinks apparently. No refrigeration.

Same story in off licences (liquor stores). I remember going to an off licence and grabbing a few beers from the "fridge". Except it wasn't a fridge, of course, and the beer wasn't cold.

And a lot of pubs didn't have refrigeration. Beer pumped up from the cellar was usually a few degrees cooler than room temperature though.

I've heard that refrigeration has caught on now though.

Years ago in Australia there was a TV ad for a travel agency. There was a guy standing in front of a microwave, and the microwave went "ping" to indicate that the timer had finished. He opened the microwave and there was a large glass mug of beer in the microwave. He picked it up and took a swig... then couldn't keep it down and sprayed it out all over the kitchen.

Then the voiceover came on and said "Dreaming of England? Flights to London from....". 
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 06:42:27 PM
In 1998/1999 it seemed like refrigeration was kind of a new concept in the UK.

This is what the fridges look like in one of the local pubs.

(https://i.imgur.com/SoThB2o.jpg)

I remember stopping at a petrol station on a hot day and thinking it would be nice to grab a coke from the fridge. I mean it looked exactly like the fridges we have at petrol stations in Australia, except it just a large glass cabinet for displaying drinks apparently. No refrigeration.

Same story in off licences (liquor stores). I remember going to an off licence and grabbing a few beers from the "fridge". Except it wasn't a fridge, of course, and the beer wasn't cold.

And a lot of pubs didn't have refrigeration. Beer pumped up from the cellar was usually a few degrees cooler than room temperature though.

I've heard that refrigeration has caught on now though.

I very vaguely remember that.  I do remember being in my father's local in the mid-1990s and there being fridges then.  I remember they had wine upside-down in the fridge then too.

Years ago in Australia there was a TV ad for a travel agency. There was a guy standing in front of a microwave, and the microwave went "ping" to indicate that the timer had finished. He opened the microwave and there was a large glass mug of beer in the microwave. He picked it up and took a swig... then couldn't keep it down and sprayed it out all over the kitchen.

Then the voiceover came on and said "Dreaming of England? Flights to London from....". 

Ha ha ha ha ha!  LOL!  :D
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Minister Of Silly Walks on August 19, 2018, 06:52:20 PM
If your father's local had refrigeration in the 1990s it must have been a pretty posh pub.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 06:53:41 PM
If your father's local had refrigeration in the 1990s it must have been a pretty posh pub.

I live in a middle class-ish town.  Local people lead by presence, not by threats and violence.  It's a safe place.  They get respect.  Don't piss people about or off, and you'll be greeted with smiles.

Can this please be moved?
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Eclair on August 19, 2018, 09:37:37 PM
Aussie beers in England are brewed in England and taste very little like their Aussie namesakes.

I would hazard a guess that 95% at least of beer drunk in Australia is lager.

Do English pubs still ask if you want ice in your lager?

Maybe depends on the demographic. Ales are popular too. And craft beers are becoming more mainstream. From what I can tell, there's always some fad or another.

https://www.beercartel.com.au/blog/best-beers-in-australia-the-ultimate-top-50-beer-list-2017/

We tend to buy a bit of Heineken, Little Creatures, James Squire 150 Lashes...if we are entertaining as most people enjoy them. The last two are pale ales.

It's only my alcy relatives that drink lager all the time.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Eclair on August 19, 2018, 09:42:13 PM
Aussie beers in England are brewed in England and taste very little like their Aussie namesakes.



I think part of that is also to do with climate and ingredient origins. I can cook the exact same recipe here in Australia, and have a different result depending on the season too. Same with things I cooked overseas. Heat, humidity levels affect so many things, even our taste as we are consuming them.



Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Minister Of Silly Walks on August 19, 2018, 10:52:51 PM
My "95% lager" was way over. I forgot about Coopers which is very popular. When my friend was over from the UK recently he was drinking a slab of coopers in about 20 hours.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 19, 2018, 11:30:11 PM
Aussie beers in England are brewed in England and taste very little like their Aussie namesakes.


Nah, it's to do with them making them bad.  Industrial, gassy, an attack on the tastebuds.  A tremendously unattractive drinking proposition.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 20, 2018, 03:29:58 AM
Maybe depends on the demographic. Ales are popular too. And craft beers are becoming more mainstream. From what I can tell, there's always some fad or another.

Many craft beers are ales.  There's some excellent-looking microbreweries in the major cities.  If you tell me where you are, chances are I could direct you to somewhere decent if you're Australian.  I could help with the bottle-o too, but I won't know Australian beer.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 20, 2018, 05:07:20 AM
My "95% lager" was way over. I forgot about Coopers which is very popular. When my friend was over from the UK recently he was drinking a slab of coopers in about 20 hours.

Have you tried the Coopers Dark Ale homebrewing kits?  What do you think?
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Minister Of Silly Walks on August 20, 2018, 05:38:54 AM
I think home brewed beer is awesome.

I also know that I'm beer intolerant. Ciders all the way!!!
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Eclair on August 20, 2018, 05:40:55 AM
Maybe depends on the demographic. Ales are popular too. And craft beers are becoming more mainstream. From what I can tell, there's always some fad or another.

Many craft beers are ales.  There's some excellent-looking microbreweries in the major cities.  If you tell me where you are, chances are I could direct you to somewhere decent if you're Australian.  I could help with the bottle-o too, but I won't know Australian beer.


Thanks Tequila. I am quite OK at using Google myself, plus I travel around Australia for work, it's all good. Besides, I personally don't drink beer.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 20, 2018, 05:47:55 AM
Thanks Tequila. I am quite OK at using Google myself

You're a bit stuck-up?

RateBeer is where it's at.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Yuri Bezmenov on August 20, 2018, 08:00:46 AM
Maybe depends on the demographic. Ales are popular too. And craft beers are becoming more mainstream. From what I can tell, there's always some fad or another.

https://www.beercartel.com.au/blog/best-beers-in-australia-the-ultimate-top-50-beer-list-2017/

Jesus tapdancing Christ!! half of those "top 50 beers" are IPA's!  :thumbdn:  :puke:  IPA's taste like you're sucking on a pine tree.

Quote
We tend to buy a bit of Heineken, Little Creatures, James Squire 150 Lashes...if we are entertaining as most people enjoy them. The last two are pale ales.

Pale Ale is one of my favorite styles, provided that they aren't too hoppy.

Heineken and Stella Artois are white trash beers, basically the PBR of Europe.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 20, 2018, 08:52:59 AM
Jesus tapdancing Christ!! half of those "top 50 beers" are IPA's!  :thumbdn:  :puke:  IPA's taste like you're sucking on a pine tree.

(https://i.imgur.com/kLM534S.png)

Here's the top beers for Australia as voted on by RateBeer.com users.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Charlotte Quin on August 22, 2018, 06:57:40 AM
Funnily enough we have no really old pubs left in my town, the oldest was built in the art deco era.

I love Art Deco buildings! Do you have any pics?

(https://publocation.com.au/sites/publocation.com.au/files/styles/large/public/pub-images/port-macquarie-hotel-1383-1.jpg?itok=vwrL12r-&slideshow=true&slideshowAuto=false&slideshowSpeed=4000&speed=350&transition=elastic)

It' a bit obscured by the trees to the left but it has one of those curved multi-paned windows.

Come to think of it the cinema across the road to the right is art deco as well.

Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Tequila on August 22, 2018, 08:33:34 AM
I notice that a lot of them are on street corners.  Most pubs are not like this in the UK.
Title: Re: Australian pubs
Post by: Yuri Bezmenov on August 22, 2018, 12:30:42 PM
Funnily enough we have no really old pubs left in my town, the oldest was built in the art deco era.

I love Art Deco buildings! Do you have any pics?

(https://publocation.com.au/sites/publocation.com.au/files/styles/large/public/pub-images/port-macquarie-hotel-1383-1.jpg?itok=vwrL12r-&slideshow=true&slideshowAuto=false&slideshowSpeed=4000&speed=350&transition=elastic)

It' a bit obscured by the trees to the left but it has one of those curved multi-paned windows.

Come to think of it the cinema across the road to the right is art deco as well.

Awesome!!   :2thumbsup: