Posted on 05/01/2007 7:22:22 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - Australians, long regarded as a nation of beer drinkers rivaled only by the Germans, seem to be turning soft, or sober.
After 113 years, the country's biggest selling beer, Victoria Bitter, or VB, is to be produced in a mid-strength version to keep pace with the country's fast-changing beer tastes.
VB, with its distinctive green label, has since 1894 been a staple of hard-drinking backyard barbecues, student revels and football games, not to mention healthy overseas exports.
Now brewer Foster's has decided for the first time to produce the beer in a weaker yellow-label version with 3.5 percent strength, down from 5 percent, as Australians abandon it for scores of more upscale "boutique" or craft beers.
"The change has been dramatic. The drinking habits of Australians have been changing over time and what we have found is that the markets in growth are the premium and mid-strength markets," Foster's Brand Manager Felicity Watson told Reuters.
Mid-strength and boutique beers are the new darlings of Australia's A$5.5 billion ($4.5 billion) beer industry, with 12 percent annual growth against flat sales for mainstream beers.
New boutique breweries including Cascade, Boag's and James Squire have won huge followings in most city pubs, while so-called microbreweries such as Little Creatures, Mountain Goat and Blue Tongue have lured drinkers away from VB in droves.
"There is just a lot more choice and consumers are no longer attached to just one or two brands," Watson said. "They will have a different brand for different occasions, if you're out with a group of friends and you want to impress."
In April boutique breweries in the state of Western Australia demanded the government provide them with tax breaks enjoyed by the country's global wine industry to help them grow further.
Hundreds of craft breweries are opening and aiming to rival small European makers, turning Australians away from traditional lagers and on to more complex beer styles.
Watson said the new yellow VB would be backed by a A$35 million advertising campaign.
"We think the competition is a positive thing to be honest, because what it means is there's a lot of interest in beer," she said.
($1=A$1.20)
A bottle of Foster's beer stands near a freshly poured glass of beer on a bar of a hotel in Sydney, in this February 10, 2004 file photo. Australians, long regarded as a nation of beer drinkers rivaled only by the Germans, seem to be turning soft, or sober. (Will Burgess/Reuters)
Is nothing sacred?
Say it ain’t so … Aussies going light.!
The world as we know it is gone, gone I tell you, gone!
Will mean an end to the beer wenches?
(or one of the best. The fighting chicks one is probably the best)
Suds ping.
That’s good
Oh my.
Less alcohol content......"THAT DOES NOT COMPUTE.....DANGER, DANGER..... 
Hmmm. Better mark me for he quaffing column...
Agreed.
L
That’s like making love in a canoe: f’n near water.
I understand making the move inasmuch as it may produce different flavors. The flavor difference between a 5% beer, and a 8 or 9% beer, even of the same type can be significant.
But I don’t understand the significance of the 5 to 3.5 move. I don’t think it will change the flavor and don’t think it is what the brewer is going for. Will it make you less drunk? Not seeing that either-most people when faced with that scenario drink more and faster.
I smell marketing for marketing’s sake. Time to sic the Arrogant Bastard guys on them.
http://www.arrogantbastard.com/
Considering the classic green can sales have remained flat I think this just means people are varying their selection. Sometimes I get tired of Guiness and need a Young’s or Boddington’s.
Guiness and Boddingtons are good though.
Young’s Oatmeal Stout is like getting beer and breakfast all rolled into one!
What’s next? “Foster’s Gay?”
So now Australia has stopped raising men. The world is doomed!
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