🚀 go-pugleaf

Chris Shaw says:
> Can you say "brewers monopoly"?

B-R-E-W-E-R-S M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y.  Yup. I can say it. And it cheeses me off
too!  I know it doesn't do any good to flame in the news about beer.   We
had a "Save the Stubbies" debate in the news a couple of years back (Can't
recall exactly when), and look where we are now!  Complete chaos! However,
knowing that it is all futile effort hasn't ever stopped me before, so I'll
flame anyway.

A case :-) in point:  Foster's Lager.  I don't really care if Maarten
Veerman thinks I am a beer snob.  I'm not.  I just like to try lots of brews
from lots of breweries.  Occasionally I get a beer that I enjoy.  Enjoyment
in this case is measured as a tradeoff between cost and taste.  I enjoy some
expensive imports because they taste good.  I enjoy some more-average
tasting beers because they are cheap and I can drink more %-).  Imported
Foster's was closer to the later.  It was a good beer for a modest price.
As soon as it had been available in BC for a few months, however, Peter
Molson smelled a profit and bought the marketing rights.  So now all we get
is more Molson's:  They installed a new spigot at a different level of the
Vat.  Now we will never get a chance at the real stuff that no self -
respecting Australian would leave home without.  Our loss.

Another one was Guinness Stout.  Not that we ever got the real stuff there
for very long either.  However, the domestic imitation wasn't awful, so I
would occasionally have a jar.  Then what happens?  It gets taken off the
BC shelves so that we could have a domestic imitation of "Coors" or "Miller
Lite" [sic] or some other such gnat piss.  Yuck!

At least it isn't all Molsbatling and American beer yet.  BC has a number of
independents that can stand on their own.  Granville Island Lager is
delightfully un-chemically-treated.  They also make a Bock periodically
which stands up well with any imported Bock.  A few of the neighbourhood
pubs are now brewing their own.  You may have heard of the Troller, at
Horseshoe Bay, just north of Vancouver.  Their "Bay Ale" and "Royal Ale" can
both be good.  They have some problems with quality control, and will serve
them while they are ages too young, but have a try if you are there.  I
Understand that some Victoria pubs are serving their own too.  Does anyone
have more information on house brews in Victoria or anywhere else?

BTW - Thanks, Scott Campbell, for reminding me of India Pale.  It was a good
one.  Unfortunately I left the Maritimes before you could even get it there.
Had to go to Newfoundland to get it.  Did you ever try "Blue Star", also
from Newfoundland?  Does it even still exist?

Time to go have one.  These flames have made me thirsty.

---
Marc Majka