Generic beer

[benoxr]

Generic (no name or home-brand) beer, would you buy it?
Coles are going to have a second crack at bringing in a no-name beer. Coles and Woolworths own hundreds of pubs and bottle shops where they could try to sell the beer. But Coopers Brewers refused an approach some years ago to brew a generic beer. They said a cheap price means a cheap beer.
Anyone who rolled up at a BBQ with a no-name beer would be branded as tight. Aussies are brand loyal so there is probably little market for this beer.

[walker]

proberly not all the other beers have allready establised them self, the only way would be if it was dirty cheap so then ppl will try it

[benoxr]

I suppose, as long as the alcohol content was the same, dirty cheap means you could consume more for less cost. Get drunk regardless of the taste.........that would appeal to some.

[Heffnic]

drink it at home hide it in the fridge when the mates come round make sure vb or carlton draught are on display that will save alot of fights until u run out and everyone is too drunk to care what they are drinking.

[rodderz]

Originally Posted by benoxr

They said a cheap price means a cheap beer.

And cheap beer means cheap ingredients

Those who have dabbled in homebrew or try a lot of beers from all over the world will know that if it's made with half baked products the beer will be crap

Making homebrew will still be cheaper than the cheap beer anyway!

[XRated]

I can only imagine the splitting headaches from a beer that's even cheaper than VB, Tasmanian etc.

[Hunter]

I would rather drink goon than touch home-brand beer... actually no wait, I'm not really sure which of those two would be worse...

I doubt there is much point in introducing a home-brand beer - beer is already still fairly cheap, its the bloody excise which kills you at the checkout.

[DDXR6T]

Originally Posted by benoxr

Get drunk regardless of the taste.........that would appeal to some.

Some = Toothless Port Adelaide Wharfies?

No name beer just wouldnt be right. I hate No-name ANYTHING that is sold at coles/woolies. And, If thats any sign of the kinda beer they'd be producing ... I'd rather no beer.

[MITCHAY]

No-name beer. Just when I thought there is nothing worse than VB or Fosters.

[bf tubs]

alcos and the homeless will rejoice at the news of this

[TURBOTAXI]

I'd try it. when I am out of Home Brew I buy whatever is cheap anyway.

[new2ford]

Actually this is old hat in Europe where they can sell alcohol in supermarkets. But there they choose some very good drops (wine particularly) and put their own label on it (e.g. Sainsburys). People soon work out which ones are good quality. Much cheaper and system works well. I can't see Coles and Woolies here coming up with the same quality though, not that it would be much worse than most Australian beers.

And could anyone possibly make anything worse than US Budweiser?

[Psycho Chicken]

Originally Posted by XRated

I can only imagine the splitting headaches from a beer that's even cheaper than VB, Tasmanian etc.

Light beer?

Originally Posted by new2ford

And could anyone possibly make anything worse than US Budweiser?

XXXX?

[Outbackjack]

Brewed in China???

[HLC]

Originally Posted by Hunter

I would rather drink goon than touch home-brand beer... actually no wait, I'm not really sure which of those two would be worse...

I doubt there is much point in introducing a home-brand beer - beer is already still fairly cheap, its the bloody excise which kills you at the checkout.

i drink goon out of preference. its not THAT bad.

VB is worse.

yes, i said it. VB sucks balls.

[[Tonko]]

Originally Posted by benoxr

I suppose, as long as the alcohol content was the same, dirty cheap means you could consume more for less cost. Get drunk regardless of the taste.........that would appeal to some.

That would apply to half of our customers, they walk in with $5 in change, dump it on the counter and say "how much can i get for this?"
or if they can afford a cask of fruity lexia, they try to get it on the cheap by just taking the bag, not the box. (one told me when he finishes the bag, he blows it up and sleeps on it)
random story: A guy came in with a bag of all silver coins, he smashed half a dozen parking meters to buy a flagon of vermouth, he was arrrested in the shop.

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by TonkoXR8

That would apply to half of our customers, they walk in with $5 in change, dump it on the counter and say "how much can i get for this?"
or if they can afford a cask of fruity lexia, they try to get it on the cheap by just taking the bag, not the box. (one told me when he finishes the bag, he blows it up and sleeps on it)
random story: A guy came in with a bag of all silver coins, he smashed half a dozen parking meters to buy a flagon of vermouth, he was arrrested in the shop.

Sounds like you live in the Alice. I could fill these pages of stories of desperate drunks trying to get their next bottle of grog. And the bladders from wine casks were used out here as pillows for years until they banned wine casks. We used to joke that somewhere at the end of the Todd river there is a pile of wine cask bladders that can be seen from the moon...... :

[uranium_death]

We already have a cheap, crap generic beer. It's called Victoria Bitter. In fact, Carlton and United Breweries have a full range of beers fitting this category. And that my friend includes Crownies..."Australia's Finest." (my ****)

Grand Ridge Brewery FTW! Coopers is also great.

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

We already have a cheap, crap generic beer. It's called Victoria Bitter. In fact, Carlton and United Breweries have a full range of beers fitting this category. And that my friend includes Crownies..."Australia's Finest." (my ****)

Grand Ridge Brewery FTW! Coopers is also great.

I would have to agree with you here, but each to their own I guess. You would be amazed how many VB tree seeds are left out in the desert out here. One sacred tree that just wont grow.

I would reccommend to any VB drinker to go and buy a crate of James Boags premium. You will never look back. Probably the best lager made in Australia.

[new2ford]

The book "Beer" by Ben Canaider and Greg Duncan Powell is a good guide that puts Australian beer in perspective. Glad to see some people saying the truth that much Australian beer is absolutely lousy. Once you would have been shot for that!

I can't agree with the comment about Chinese beer. Tsingtao has always been an excellent drop.

The whole concept of generic brands has been bastardised here by Coles and Woolworths. When Franklins introduced No Frills it was like the UK/European approach (eg Aldi, Sainsburys) where it was good quality stuff from the good brand producers but hidden under a generic label. Franklins and Aldi still generally follow that line but Coles Woolworths and IGA market foul rubbish under their generic labels and give the whole thing a bad name.

Anyway because of our laws, liquor can't be sold in supermarkets here and bottle shops are unlikely to go into generics in a big way so i don't think it'll catch on for alcohol in Australia.

[The Yeti]

I'll try it, if I like it I'll buy it again if I dont I wont, either way it would have to be bad to be worse than Toohies new

[Kenaz]

I'd give it a go.

It couldn't be any worse than VB.

[Van D]

Kids these days drink goon or cheap bottles of wine, or things like passion pop regularly, so there's a chance they'll try a cheap beer.

I do dissagree on the generic brands though lately.. I've found the 'select' and 'you'll love' brands from safeway/coles to actually be pretty good at times.

[holmsy]

simple fact it doesnt matter what brand it is. people will buy either what tastes good for a good price. or cheap crap to get ****ed.
if i went and got a slab of vb for $33 and my mate rocks up with a slab of homebrand brew he paid $20 for and it tastes just as good then i would be ****ed i didnt get the homebrand.

[oneredED]

If they were under 25 bucks a slab, then I'd probably have a crack and try to get used to them. Beer can become a very, very expensive habit if you don't have the space for a homebrew kit... Yesterday alone cost me $210 (St Kilda Festival, 6 bucks a VB tinnie, the bloody thieves!)

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by new2ford

I can't see Coles and Woolies here coming up with the same quality though.

But the certainly do have the money to come up with one though

[jaikai]

Gotta agree with the poster who said Grand Ridge...up the road frommy place too. also the poster who mentioned James Boag...usually it`s too dear, other day it was same price as VB, so I bought 4 slabs :evil_laug

I can remember Franklins selling no frills beer years ago...was`nt that bad, even Tooheys Red tastes better than VB...just look like a git walking into mate`s sheds with it...

JAIKAI

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by jaikai

Gotta agree with the poster who said Grand Ridge...up the road frommy place too. also the poster who mentioned James Boag...usually it`s too dear, other day it was same price as VB, so I bought 4 slabs :evil_laug

I can remember Franklins selling no frills beer years ago...was`nt that bad, even Tooheys Red tastes better than VB...just look like a git walking into mate`s sheds with it...

JAIKAI

I mentioned Grand Ridge. They make good stuff all round.

Also, James Boags premium is good stuff. I must agree there too.

I find the No Frills brand interesting. Sad how as soon as the big guns enter the market, they screw it up.

[MickyB]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

We already have a cheap, crap generic beer. It's called Victoria Bitter. In fact, Carlton and United Breweries have a full range of beers fitting this category. And that my friend includes Crownies..."Australia's Finest." (my ****)

Grand Ridge Brewery FTW! Coopers is also great.

Couldn't agree with you more, each CUB beer is a horrible cesspool of chemicals, which I will only drink at weddings and 21st birthday party's. Grand Ridge, Mountain Goat, Holgate and Little Creatures are a but a few of the excellent boutique breweries we have in Australia.

Aldi already have a generic beer brand, I tried their Shipstone Amber Ale, which tries to imitate the James Squire Amber Ale and fails badly IMO. Working in a bottle shop part time for the best part of 7 years I have seen that some people are driven on price, and price alone, and will always buy the cheapest slab available (eg Tooheys Red, Hahn Ice etc..). However there are far more customers who will have a brand preference and only drink the one type of beer (Carlton Draught, VB usually). For the chains to defeat this attitude with a generic beer I believe they face an uphill battle - one that they would eventually fail in.

[05MkIIFutura]

It cant taste any worse than Toohey's New or Fosters so why not!!!