PRESIDENT’S PAGE

It was great to see a small but enthusiastic group at our October meeting. More surprising was the first sighting of Spyros Repousis attending his first meeting, visiting on business from Sydney. Spyros has been a keen and active member over the last couple of years and it was great to see him. We look forward to seeing more interstate and country members down in Melbourne. Magic to put a face to a name. Remember, traveling and catching up with members doesn’t have to be at a gazetted meeting. Spyros also picked up a lot of “wants”. OK guys, make it a weekend.

On a financial note, a number of reminders have gone out to members for their 2007 subscriptions. Your Committee has discussed this at length and has decided that those members not having paid their subscriptions by the end of November 2006 will have their membership SUSPENDED pending further notice. This is only fair to all those that have promptly paid for the coming year. Further delays will have your membership deleted. If you have any issues then please direct them to your Treasurer, Secretary or myself.

I am very pleased to thank Umit for great progress in taking up the role of Editor, David in taking up the finances and more recently Ben Lawrence in upgrading our website. These volunteers are very professional and bring to your Society great skills to improve the VBLCS. We must remember Alex Freer set a great standard and we must respect that. Thanks guys for your input and support. Look forward to things to come. Again, the VBLCS is only as good as the input from its members so “what can you contribute?”. I know Umit is waiting for emails to include in the next edition so let us have your contributions. Ideas? New that you have tasted, travels that included touring breweries, special and elusive labels? Give it a go.

My wife, Rosslyn and I recently toured New Zealand to relax and enjoy the scenery. Yep, there they were, micro breweries, major breweries and a vast array of great wineries. A tour of the North and South Island is thoroughly recommended. More importantly, with limited time I managed to catch up with Chris Newlove, one of our keen members in Auckland. Chris introduced us to the micro brewery scene, which was great. There is no doubt NZ is thriving and the styles and quality was excellent. This is also proven by the results in the Australian and International Awards. I apologise to those members in NZ that I could not catch up with but I will try next time. The beers at Founders, Lighthouse, Macs, Dux de Lux and Hallertau were excellent. Great beers and friendship.

Club Tivoli offers a fine restaurant providing excellent German food and a range of beverages. Prices are very reasonable and the service is excellent. Give it a try.

Remember the next meeting is on 10 th December 2006, at the earlier 12.00 midday start with normal meeting and formalities in a fine social atmosphere. We will then progress to our Christmas festivities closer to 1.00pm hence please note the minor changes to accommodate the Xmas cheer.

Again a reminder, Subscriptions are now over due and payable to our Treasurer, David Dobney [address on the inside cover page]. Cheque or money order payable to VBLCS. We endeavor to provide a cheap but enjoyable hobby however with our prompt payment we will struggle to meet the costs of printing, postage and in some instances, payment of special label print runs. Please send your subscriptions in ASAP.

Cheers and happy collecting.

Rob Greenaway

OCTOBER MEETING NOTES

The meeting was held at the Club Tivoli and commenced at 12. 45 pm.

APOLOGIES:

John Long , Phil Langley and Jill Major.

WELCOME:

The club welcomes new member Fred Wheatcroft from the United Kingdom and also welcomes Spyros Repousis from Sydney.

MINUTES:

The minutes from the previous meeting were read and no comment was forthcoming.

FINANCE:

A full financial report was tabled by the new treasurer and will be included with this newsletter.

GENERAL BUSINESS:

A vote of appreciation was given from the floor to Umit for his excellent work in producing the newsletter.

Alex Freer's wife, Kerry has contacted the club regarding the disposal of Alex's extensive label collection. She stated that she wants the collection to be distributed to club members. This will be done in the future when she can pack it up and pass it on to the president and secretary for distribution. She has also requested that her privacy be respected and that she is not contacted by individual members.

The new Guinness book will be released by the next meeting and will cost approximately $56.00. Orders to be given to Jack Wilks or Rob Greenaway.

Comments were made regarding the Xmas function and it was decided that there be more variety and quantity of food this year.

Ron Barker from the Fire Brigade Museum tabled a very interesting collection of photographs of the Victoria Brewery and some very old labels that were brought into the museum by a visitor recently.

George Crompton tabled a collection of foreign beer label club magazines that he has recently received.

Michael Bannenberg noted that our club is the only club that he knows of that distributes labels with their newsletter.

Spyros Repousis reported that Red Oak Brewery now have 12 different beers available at their restaurant.

He also reported that XXXX have a set of special neck labels for beach cricket on XXXX Gold and that St Peters Brewery have released a "beer, lime & bitters" beer.

RAFFLES: The raffles were then drawn and the lucky winners were:

1st. F21 David Dobney 2nd. E89 Michael Doulton 3rd. C45 Rob Greenaway.

There were several extra prizes of full bottles etc. that were kindly donated by Spyros Repousis that were won by members in the room.

A total of 28 members signed the attendance book.

The meeting closed at 1.50 pm.

Angus MacEwan

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Editor’s note: Spyros Repousis reported about the following new labels as well:

- Fish Rock Brewery has 2 labels (Leather Jacket and Red Emperor) - Bohemian Pilsener has 6 different labels - Green Star Lager from St. Peters Brewery (also Blonde beer coming soon) - Pigs Fly Bowral has several brews - Tooheys Dry in plastic bottles - Holgate Brewery has a round label - Heineken (Australian) has at least 7 different back labels - New Blond label from Carlton - New Mid label has lighter red & Carlton horses more pronounced

AUSTRALIAN SMALL BREWERY UPDATE—NOVEMBER 2006

Busy times continue in the Australian small brewery sector. The following is a selection of news from around the country. As usual, readers’ contributions will be gratefully received. If you have some news to share about Australian small breweries (e.g. your accounts of personal visits to new breweries, or discoveries of new products or new brewery websites, or newspaper and magazine articles about new breweries, or other such things) please send to the compiler (Brett Stubbs) at [email protected] or P.O. Box 5098, East Lismore, NSW, 2480.

New South Wales

Pig Dog Pilsener, the first line of bottled beer from the new (relocated) Five Islands Brewery at North Wollongong, was released in September. The second bottled product, Longboard Australian Wheat Beer, is expected to hit the bottle shops between Helensburgh and Gerringong soon. Watch for the red carton.

Ian Partland’s Steel River Brewery at Newcastle, brewer of Pig Iron Lager, launched its second product, Steel River Lager, in September.

Victoria

The Scottish Chief’s Tavern Brewery at Geelong has a new operator. Damian Nippard, through his What’s Brewing Company , started brewing at the Corio Street tavern in May. A pale ale, an amber ale, and a porter are produced, and they are available on tap and in bottles.

Have any curious Melbourne readers yet paid a visit to the James Squire Brewhouse at Waterfront City to see what’s going on there? Or dropped in to Gunn Island Brew Bar at Middle Park to investigate the fate of the brewery there? Much is happening beer-wise in Victoria, and it would be nice to hear some news from that quarter.

South Australia

Knappstein Wines has gone into the beer business by opening a microbrewery at its Clare winery. Fittingly, the winery is based in the former premises of Clare’s old Enterprise Brewery, which closed about ninety years ago. The new operation, also named Enterprise Brewery , launched its first beer, Knappstein Reserve Lager, late in September. Knappstein Wines is owned by Lion-Nathan, explaining why the producer’s licence for the new brewery is in the name of the Malt Shovel Brewery, another Lion-Nathan subsidiary. After some delays as reported in the September Newsletter , the Steam Exchange Brewery at Goolwa was officially opened at the beginning of October. The standard range of beers comprises Steam Ale, India Pale Ale, Southerly Buster Dark Ale, and Stout.

The Gulf Brewery has been operating for nearly a year, and I still don’t know where it is! An address in Seaview Downs was given in its notice of license application early in 2005, but the latest Yellow Pages says that it’s at Hackham. Have any South Australian (or other) members actually seen this brewery? Do any know for certain where it is?

Western Australia

Danial Wind’s Wicked Ale Brewery at Yallingup has changed its name. From early July it has been known as Bush Shack Brewery . One would suppose that with a new name would come new label designs.

An up-to-date list of Australian small breweries, as well as more information about most of those mentioned here, together with links to many brewery websites, can always be found by consulting The Australian Good Beer Directory (www. australiangoodbeerdirectory. com).

Brett Stubbs 20 October 2006

DID YOU KNOWTHAT?

European settlement of Australia began at Sydney Cove in 1788. No doubt there were attempts to brew beer from the early days of the colony but the first recorded details of brewing were by a Mr John Boston, a free settler who arrived in Sydney in 1794. It must have been an interesting brew if reports of its main ingredients are correct - Indian corn (maize), and for bittering, the leaves and stalks of the Cape Gooseberry plant. It was a poor product and production soon ceased. In the same year, the first commercial brewery was established at Kissing Point.

Successive Governors encouraged both the establishment of breweries and attempts to produce the basic raw materials of malt and hops. Their aim was to break the prevailing habit of drinking rum and the "Rum currency" which dominated the economy.

The first - and last - Government brewery, established in Parramatta in 1804 and operated by experienced brewers, marked the start of the industry in Australia. However, this was also a financial failure and was bought by the Government brewer, Thomas Rushton, in 1806.

Source: http://www.fosters.com.au

In ancient Egypt beer had status - a keg of beer was considered the only proper gift to be offered to the Pharaoh by a suitor seeking the hand of a royal princess. 30,000 gallons a year was also offered as a fitting gift to the Gods by Pharaoh Rameses II (1,200 BC). It is recorded that a similar amount was also offered to appease the gods when they became angry.

Source: http://www.cascadehomebrew.com.au

MICRO BREWERIES – BRIGHT BREWERY

Officially opened in June 2006, Bright Brewery is owned and operated by two couples, Scott Brandon & Fiona Reddaway and David & Julia Cocks. David is the main brewer although Scott also brews.

David and Scott originally started brewing at Jamieson Brewery in December 2004. Their first brew, draught “ Pioneer Ale ” was launched in January 2005. It was a full- bodied English style ale with warming and strong malty characters. They expected to be able to enter the Microbreweries Roundup at Boyton’s Winery in January 2005 with this draught beer. However a few days before the show started they discovered that they could only enter the show with bottled beers. A label is produced and printed quickly in limited numbers, 300 labels to be exact, solely for this show and this label has not been used since then.

Their second brew was the “Hellfire Ale” which was followed by the “Blowhard Pale”, brewed at Jamieson Brewery in 2005. Hellfire Ale is an aromatic and moderately bitter amber ale with a clean, dry finish. Blowhard Pale is an American-style pale ale with a bracing citrus aroma, and crisp Cascade hop character. Both beers won a bronze medal in the Australian International Beer Awards 2006. They also won a gold medal for their eye- catching retail packaging.

Hellfire and Blowhard are now brewed in their newly opened brewery on Great Alpine Road, Bright. The labels are modified to reflect this change as well as the changes in beer names and addition of barcodes. The Hellfire Ale now is “Hellfire Amber Ale” and Blowhard Pale is “Blowhard Pale Ale” . A third beer “Staircase Porter” is now available since mid October 2006.

A typical brew batch is 12 hl although the brewery has the capacity to brew up to 16-17 hl. They intend to brew "Brewers Choice" beers seasonally, and eventually these will be labeled too, although only for sale at the brewery door. They have plans to expand to accommodate a restaurant.

Bright Brewery is located on Great Alpine Road, Bright. It is open daily from noon onwards and they have a “tour-and-tasting” program, which is an opportunity to discover how they use craft brewing techniques to create award-winning beers. Call on 03 5755 1301 to book.

Thanks to Scott Brandon & Fiona Reddaway from Bright Brewery for their contribution.

Umit Ugur, October 2006

DUCK SEASON IS OVER. TIME FOR A COFFEE (BEER!)

The latest ‘out-there’ beer from Matilda Bay has seen ‘Malt, Hops and Water Guy’ Brad Rogers combine his two favourite drinks: coffee and beer.

After the success of Barking Duck (judged third in the world) Matilda Bay’s Brad Rogers has been mad at work crafting the latest ‘out-there’ beer – this one, Crema. As the name suggests, it is a smooth easy drinking beer, brewed with premium organic, Australian grown Arabica coffee beans.

A self confessed caffeine addict, Brad recently installed his new pride and joy, his very own coffee roaster at the Matilda Bay Garage Brewery. Not content with just perfecting his morning espresso he decided it was time to create a coffee flavoured beer, using his own hand roasted beans.

"What we are trying to achieve with Crema is a latte style, rather than an espresso. It’s smooth and creamy, with a subtle hint of coffee. These days I’m drinking coffee in the morning, beer in the evening and Crema in between!" says Brad.

The idea of coffee and alcohol is not new, coffee itself, has been around for some 4,000 years, originating in Ethiopia, and with the red berries themselves having a high sugar content it was not long before people began fermenting coffee. The first coffee drink was almost certainly alcoholic!

Crema has a pale light straw colour and is cloudy in appearance from being unfiltered. The beer is hand crafted using malted and unmalted wheat then fermented with an ale yeast, with the addition of Australian Arabica coffee beans to the brew. Crema has a really aromatic toasted, nutty, coffee character and is smooth, soft and creamy on the palate.

"Our ‘out-there’ brews are all about encouraging people to think differently about beer. Matilda Bay continues to push the boundaries of the Australian beer landscape and Crema is our latest offering to the inquisitive Australian drinker" said Brad.

Crema is available on draught at selected pubs and hotels across Australia as well as in 750ml bottles at Matilda Bay partner venues for a limited period – check www.matildabay.com for regular updates.

Source: Article and photo supplied by Brad Rogers of Matilda Bay Garage Brewery.

STORY OF THE LETTER “X” ON LABELS

It is believed that the use of the letter “X” in the labeling of beers goes as far back as medieval Europe. In those times, many monasteries brewed beer and made wine, some still maintain these functions today. To display the purity and the strength of these brews it was common practice to indicate the sign of the cross in the waxen seals atop these monastic drops. Hence light ales may have been marked with a single X while a heavier porter may have had a few more X’s on its label.

However for most of the brewing world, the use of the X has faded with time. In Australia there were quite a few brews that boasted X’s on their packaging (some of which are shown on the back cover), however, most of these brands have all but disappeared. XXXX is the most outstanding example of this distinctive style of labeling still remaining. Although the use of XXXX in the case of Queensland’s famous brew, cannot claim to be original by any stretch of the imagination, it is nonetheless, the most eye-catching and memorable brand in Australia, perhaps the world.

Another Australian label using X’s is the “Boags XXX Ale” from Tasmania.

Around the world, Mexico’s XX Dos Equis, Ireland’s Wrassler XXXX Stout, from England Donnington’s XXX, Bateman’s XXXB Ale, St Austell’s XXXX Mild, Hyde’s 4X, Wadworth’s 6X, King & Barnes’ XXXX Old Ale, Badger’s XXXX Old English Ale are examples of labels using X’s in their names.

Source: parts of the article are from Bond Brewing World, Issue No. 6, June 1988.

BAVARIAN BEER RIOTS

Over the last 160 years Bavarian beer drinkers have felt sufficiently oppressed to revolt openly seven times. The catalyst in all but one instance was a price increase. In terms of today’s inflation, it’s hard to imagine people rioting because they’re paying a couple cents more for a brew. In 19 th century Europe, however, beer prices were fairly accurate political barometers to which the population paid particular attention. Opposition to price increases wasn’t necessarily out of concern for the family budget. In most cases, a lot more was at stake.

The first revolution took place in May 1844, when the price of a beer was raised from 6 to 6-1/2 kreuzer. The public expressed its opinion on this matter by destroying tables and chairs in pubs. The windows of Munich’s Lowenbrau Keller were broken. Some taverns never recovered from the damage. Two people were shot during the riot, and the increase was dropped only one day after it had been announced.

Four years later, in the summer of 1848, the waters were tested again. This time the riots were answered by a show of force. Soldiers and policemen erected barricades, and 24 people were injured. The unrest was eventually quelled, only to erupt again a few months later. In October of that year, angry mobs roamed the streets, leaving gutted taverns and demolished brewery wagons in their wake. The director of the Lowenbrau brewery barely escaped the crowd’s wrath, using a rope to lower himself to safety from the brewer’s third floor.

More riots followed in 1866. The increase in beer prices came as Bavaria, siding with Austria, was mobilizing against Prussia.

In June 1874, yet another price increase was in the works, and an additional two pfennings were being demanded. Recalling history, the breweries braced themselves for the ensuing riots. But this time, the public discovered a new tactic: boycott. For six weeks the citizens of Munich refused to drink anything but milk. The breweries, stuck with large amounts of a perishable product and convinced of the customers’ resolve, were taught a hard lesson in economics and had no recourse but to reinstate the old prices.

The next uprising was little more than a fistfight. But what a fistfight it was. It occurred in 1888 when the directors of the Paulaner brewery, with exquisitely bad timing, chose the first day of their annual Strong Beer Fest to announce higher prices. This did not sit well with the 4,000 visitors, who instigated a full-scale, knockdown, drag-out, free-for-all that engulfed the cavernous Salvator Keller beer hall and spilled out into the surrounding beer garden. The fight was limited to the grounds of the beer hall, but the news reports echoed around the world.

The most destructive beer protest occurred in the town of Dorfen, just east of Munich, in 1910. Having faced bankruptcy for more than two years, the new German Reich, headed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, called for a surcharge on the price of malt. Bavarian breweries offset the increase by raising the price of a beer from 24 to 26 pfennings. Protests were followed by boycotts, and the brewers in Dorfen received letters threatening arson. Meanwhile, a lengthy heat wave was doing a good job of trying tempers on its own. On June 5, just after 1 pm, two

of the town’s taverns - Zum Jakobmeyer and Soafa - burst into flame. The fire rapidly spread to neighbouring buildings.

Firefighters, volunteers and opportunists arrived on the scene, all hoping for some free beer. The breweries, sensing their dilemma, readily obliged. Six hours later, the fires were under control, but tempers, fuelled by alcohol, continued to rage. The firemen kept drinking, with beer being carried to them in buckets, milk cans and literally any container available. Arguments stemming from perceived insults during the day were settled with fists. High- pressure hoses, still at the ready, were turned on the firemen by local police in an attempt to break up the fights. The irony of the situation infuriated the firefighters all the more. The police, in short, had to barricade themselves in the Bachmayer brewery for their own protection.

At this point, attention shifted to the Bachmayers, who sought refuge in their own house and were prepared to shoot anyone who tried to enter. After a maddening period of anticipation, Josef Bachmayer, brewery owner and agricultural councilman, took it upon himself to defuse the powder keg. He cautiously made his way to his tavern, climbed onto a chair, and announced a return to the 24-pfenning price. His family and the policemen were saved, but two breweries were completely destroyed, and the streets were filled with debris. A number of people were later sentenced to several months in prison for their roles in the fracas. The story lives on in popular legend and has been the subject of numerous songs, books and plays. The town of Dorfen marked the 85 th anniversary of the “Beer War” in 1995 with an open-air play based on the event, and theatergoers were treated to a specially brewed dark beer. The price? Twenty-four pfennings.

Beer drinkers have been quiet in Bavaria since 1910, but tempers flared again in April 1995 over the Bavarian Higher Administrative Court’s decision, in response to neighbour’s complaints about noise, to force open-air taps in Munich’s outdoor beer gardens to close at 9 pm.

Many, including Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber, saw the court’s decision as an attack on Bavarian traditions and the Bavarian way of life. Beer garden foes had set a precedent and could now, it seemed, close down any establishment virtually at will. How could something like this happen in a city where weather forecasters had actually provided a meteorological definition for the vernacular phrase “beer garden weather”? (For the curious, it’s any sunny day when the temperature stays above 20 degrees Celsius until after 10 pm.) More importantly, what could be done about it?

Enter the Society for the Promotion of Bavarian Beer Garden Culture, a well-organised lobbying group which incredibly, garnered the support of each and every political party in the Bavarian parliament. More than 199,000 signatures were collected, well over the number that responded to Munich’s last petition effort, which sought more democracy for its citizens. The society called for a demonstration, and on May 12, 1995, more than 15,000 protesters filled the square in front of Munich’s city hall.

The prime minister promised demonstrators not only an overturn of the ruling, but also a new noise ordinance. Both were delivered by the end of June. Accordingly, Munich’s beer gardens are now permitted to remain open until 11 pm. Beer must stop flowing 30 minutes

before closing time, and music must cease by 10 pm. The city breathed a collective sigh of relief: Oktoberfest, after all, could well have been the next target.

Source: article by George W. Berkheimer, “Beer, The Magazine“, December 1995

NEW BREWERY IN WAGGA WAGGA

Wagga may soon be raising its glass to a former resident, who announced an ambitious plan to open a boutique brewery in the city.

Riverina United Breweries (RUB) will be the first brewing operation in Wagga for more than 80 years, and RUB director Craig Wealands is hoping to cash in on the success in recent years of hundreds of microbreweries across Australia.

Mr Wealands told the Advertiser of his plans for RUB, which he hopes to run from a premises in Fitzmaurice Street. RUB will produce three regular beers, including its flagship drop Wagga Draught, which Mr Wealands hopes will become a standard in pubs across the city. Others are Coutry Blond, an English style pale ale and Lake Albert Dry, a toasty Vienna lager. There'll also be a selection of seasonal beers rotating throughout the year.

"This will be a tremendous gain for Wagga and the brewery will provide an added tourism dimension for the area," he said. "By offering a variety of fresh quality brews that are interwined with our strong customer service skills and innovative promotions, the brewery will be here for a very long time."

Wr Wealands said he was confident RUB would be a success.

"Hopefully once people get used to drinking something different they'll enjoy it."

Mr Wealands hopes the brewery will open in early 2007.

Souce: article by Ben Smee, Wagga Daily Advertiser, 1 July 2006

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

The oldest active food law in the world is the German Purity Law of 1516, which mandated that beer be made with only barley, hops, and pure water. Britain outlawed hops during those centuries, then later relented in the face of common sense. At the time of the Purity Law, it wasn’t known that yeast provided fermentation. Brewers, many of whom were working from home, were relying on airborne yeast.

Source: http://www.lewrockwell.com/

THEMATIC COLLECTIONS: CHRISTMAS LABELS

The theme for this issue is Christmas labels which is one of the most popular themes. Below is a small selection of labels depicting Christmas scenes from different countries.

Clockwise from top left:

Jouluolu (Estonia), Bofferding (Luxembourg), Julebrus (Norway), Christmas (Belgium), Julabjor () and Gutmann (Germany).

Clockwise from top left:

Noel Christmas Ale (UK), Biere de Noel (France), Festbier (Switzerland), Christmas Beer (Australia) and X-mas (Greenland)

Clockwise from top left:

St Feuillien (France), Thor X-mas Beer (), Primator (Czech Republic), Ceres X-mas (Denmark), Riva Christmas Ale Beer (Holland) and Julol (Sweden)

FROM THE EDITOR

Thanks to Rob and members for their kind and encouraging words regarding the September 2006 issue of the Newsletter.

Over the years many microbreweries have come and gone. Average life of these breweries seems to be about 3-5 years. There is not much information about microbreweries that had very short life spans.

Alan Richards suggested we should feature a new microbrewery in each issue of the Newsletter, so that collectors or beer enthusiasts in future can have something to refer to for basic information. I thought it was a great idea and started this new regular page with Bright Brewery, which is located in the heart of Victorian Alpine Region. The labels shown in the article are the complete set as of the end of October 2006.

Any member can contribute to this page by writing an article about a microbrewery including photos and scans of labels and sending them to my e-mail address given on the inside cover page. Our first priority is labels, therefore emphasis should be given on them. If possible a complete set of labels would be great to help members so that they know what to chase for to fill the gap in their collections. However articles and photos about breweries that have only beer on tap are also welcome. The photos and scans should be in “jpeg” format.

As I mentioned in the previous issue, “Thematic Label Collections” feature Christmas labels coinciding with the Christmas issue of the Newsletter. Unfortunately Black & White photos do not do justice to the colourful labels.

A regular meeting of any collectors’ club is an opportunity for its members to trade or swap for whatever they are collecting. However, not much swapping or trading is going around in our meetings. In case our members prefer to do it in the comfort of their homes, instead of bringing their spare labels to meetings, and for the benefit of our country and interstate members who are not able to attend meetings, I will gladly include their trade notices (buy/sell/swap) in the Newsletter starting with the next issue.

I am updating the “Membership List” and aiming to distribute it together with the January issue of Newsletter. The alphabetical list will include the names, membership numbers and addresses of members. However, as the most efficient way of communication is by telephone and e-mail, I urge members to send their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to me ASAP so that I can include them in the updated membership list.

Many thanks to Rob Greenaway, Angus McEwan, Michael Bannenberg, Brett Stubbs, Jack Wilks, Clive Windley, Spyros Repousis, Peter Simpfendorfer and Alan Richards for their contributions to this issue of the Newsletter.

Umit Ugur

A NEW BEER FROM THE UK - FOSTER’S TWIST

Foster’s Twist is brewed (by Scottish & Newcastle) to give the beer a hint of citrus-lime. Twist will make its appearance in the UK off-trade after the excitement over the World Cup dies down. S&N wouldn’t comment on which hop variety or varieties will import Twist’s citrus-like qualities. It does, however, say that there is no limejuice or extract added: the beer’s fruit flavour is derived solely from the hops. Tim Seager (S&N UK Marketing Director), for one, wasn’t interested in giving comfort to the enemy, so to speak. “I’m going to avoid anything about the recipe,” he vowed. “We have invested quite considerable amounts of time and effort and money to get where we are. Until we are available I don’t see the advantage.” Self-evidently Twist was in development months before the Foster’s transaction was announced. Much more in the way of post-transaction NPD excitement is promised but specifics aren’t available at this point in time.

There are a couple of packaging innovations, with changes to the secondary packaging in France to bring it into line with the UK. Thermocromatic ink is also coming into play in France, with the addition of a temperature sensitive emblem on the back of bottles in the shape of that most Aussie of animals, a kangaroo. “It is another step in our continuous journey to keep pace with the times in the industry and consumers: young, dynamic, modern,” says Dimitry Shirshov (S&N Brand Development Director). Seager, too picks up on the need to innovate, now more so than ever in a hyper-competitive marketplace. “The more the category innovates, the more the companies that are prepared to innovate will prosper,” he notes. And it’s cyclical, he adds, with consumers used to innovate expecting, demanding more and more frequent product improvements. What has been agreed as sacrosanct is the Foster’s logo, with the red letter and blue background retained. The logo appears on the neck label of Foster’s Twist but, notes Robert Ballantyne (S&N Head of Corporate Communications), “there’s a very clear difference in Twist which shows how much we have been released from restrictions.” Source: Brewer’s Guardian, May 2006 by Advantage Publishing Ltd.

RAFFLES

st As at October 20 th 2006 In the December raffle, 1 Prize will feature a Matilda st following members have credit Bay Brewing Company 21 birthday label which as listed: includes the back label. This label, 1500mL, was a Not-For-Sale label, and the bottles were for special Larry Ross Apr 2009 trade customers only. Colin Murphy Oct 2008 nd Voldemars Legzdins June 2008 2 Prize will have a Queensland Brewery Ltd, Red Peter Lawson June 2008 Top Invalid Extra Double Stout, no contents, smaller Bruce Lorisch Apr 2008 size label for the half size bottle (13 fluid ounce). A.R. Elliot Feb 2008 rd David Ellison Dec 2007 3 Prize will have a Queensland Brewery Bulimba Alister Graham Oct 2007 Lager Beer label, no contents, with neck label. Alan Colclough June 2007 Sue Plant June 2007 All prizes will contain over 100 labels, a selection of Mick Davis Feb 2007 Australian, New Zealand and various overseas labels. Rod Hogan Feb 2007 Ivor Nicholson Dec 2006 Tickets are $1.00 each with a maximum of two tickets Phil Buckley Dec 2006 ($2.00) per member. Available from Jack Wilks 65 Craig Moxey Dec 2006 Tiverton Drive Mulgrave Vic. 3170

LABELS INCLUDED WITH THIS NEWSLETTER Owing to frequent shortages of micro brewery labels and occasional different quantities of matching neck and back to main labels, the label issue may not always be the published list. James Squires Hop Thief Ale+neck Victoria Bitter 375+2 back labels James Squires Porter+neck Carlton Draught 375+neck James Squires Original Amber Ale+neck Carlton Crown Lager (full set) Carlton Empire Lager+neck James Squires Australian Strong Ale+neck +neck Hahn Pale Ale+neck Mildura Brewery Storm Cloudy Ale+back Carlton Mid Strength 800 new style Mildura Brewery Stefano’s Pilsener Carlton Mid Strength 375+neck, new style Mildura Brewery Night Porter Carlton Mid Strength 375+neck, old style Three Ravens WhiteAle Southwark Bitter 750 Tooheys Old 750 Southwark Bitter 375 Tooheys New 375 West End Export 375 Tooheys New 250 Coopers Extra StrongVintagwAle+neck TooheysExtra Dry Platinum+back Old Botanic Brew Kirin Ichiban (Lion Nathan) Little Creatures Bright Ale+neck Beck’s Beer+back (Lion Nathan) James Squires Pilsener+neck Plus assorted Australian labels from George James Squires Golden Ale+neck Crompton’s Australian Spares Collection James Squires Rum Rebellion Porter+neck and New Zealand labels from Monteith’s James Squires IndiaPaleAle+neck (Original Ale, Summer Ale, Celtic Ale)