Why the heck are only lagers and pale ales sold at most places?

[drewbert]

Today was the second time I have had this happen to me.

I was at Ris and Rumps, and at the bar. I asked what stouts and porters they had. The bartender looked at me like a dead fish. then said no they dont have anything. 

I realise its a resturant bar, but I also had this at a proper very large bar in North Ryde called te Ranch. Im sure i could have gone into the bottlo part and bought some, but to get a glass filled with a guiness or similar seemed alien to them. Am i going mad? or is everything mainstam riding the IPA fad?

I suppose im most annoyed as i dont want to wait forever for my stout to age, and its not even been a week since it went into bottles...

[Otto Von Blotto]

I'd imagine it's simply because those are the biggest sellers. More people like those beers than porters and stouts. Still, they could have a few bottled ones available even if they don't have any on tap. 

[MitchBastard]

I’ve sadly seen the slow demise of my two locals weeding out such options. Both used to have Guinness on tap, then just cans, now not even a sniff of anything black in site.  In an even lower blow, They’ve recently taken coopers pale off tap there also. I’m sure that’s probably more of a rotational thing (even though it’s been a staple since forever) but it’s been replaced with furphy. 

Tough times out in the wild people. 

Edited June 28, 2019 by MitchBastard

[Naughty Corner Brewing]

1 hour ago, MitchBastard said:

been replaced with furphy

That’s definitely not a replacement. Not even close!

[MitchBastard]

22 minutes ago, NewBrews said:

That’s definitely not a replacement. Not even close!

Ya not wrong m8

[Malter White]

It's all about turnover. Beer is heavily taxed and so it is mighty expensive to even buy it wholesale. The restaurant buys a slab of popular beer and he gets a return quickly. If he holds too much slow moving beer he has money sitting in his storeroom doing squat for his business. Might not be so good for the discerning consumer but it's better for his/her bottom line.

[drewbert]

Yeah I can begrudgingly understand the restaurant, but the massive pub with like 15 taps and a wall of fridges like 20m long having trouble understanding the word stout hurt my soul

[The Captain!!]

In my opinion, If your a pub selling beer then I believe that it is in your best interest to stock at least something dark like a stout or a porter. 

It'd be like having a car dealership and saying nah we only sell 4WD's. Actually, its worse than that ha ha ha ha

My wife loves a good dark beer and will always go the darker option when out at establishments. It'd be fair of me to say that we frequent places that carry dark beers more often than places that don't carry dark beers. 

Im the same with Saison's. Theres a few places locally that carry saison and are proud to. We go to these places all the time.

 

[Marty_G]

13 hours ago, drewbert said:

Am i going mad? or is everything mainstam riding the IPA fad?

My guess is stouts and porters have never been mainstream in Australia and are a niche market ... The only bar in Australia i have been to that has stout and porter on tap has been the" James Squire Bar" on Grey St South Brissy  or every Irish pub which all have  Guinness on tap ...  mind you I have, apart from a short stint in Perth in my 20's, always lived in either Sydney and SEQ  and with the warmer climate in those regions Stouts are not really a big seller, Black and brown ales yes Stouts no  ... maybe different in the frozen and wet wastelands of the Southern States where aerial ping pong is worshipped  ...  

Edited June 29, 2019 by MartyG1525230263

[Otto Von Blotto]

Nothing wrong with aerial ping pong. But yes the climate here doesn't really work well with big heavy ales like stouts. I only really drink them over a 3 months period from mid May to August. The rest of the year I prefer easier drinking beers.

[YeastyBoy]

Always a good Stout or two on tap at Saint Johns Bar in Launceston. 

Happy place so keep it in mind in travelling in Tassie. 

[Marty_G]

12 minutes ago, YeastyBoy said:

Always a good Stout or two on tap at Saint Johns Bar in Launceston. 

I rest my case ... perfect climate for it ... 

[Marty_G]

14 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Nothing wrong with aerial ping pong.

Correct, have been a fan for a long time but went off it a bit with the advent of possession footy way to many hand balls for my liking in that style ... good to see long kicks return to favour in the last few seasons ... 

[Hairy]

In my younger days, each pub at least had Tooheys Old on tap. Some had Carlton Black.

At least it was something different.

[Otto Von Blotto]

48 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

Correct, have been a fan for a long time but went off it a bit with the advent of possession footy way to many hand balls for my liking in that style ... good to see long kicks return to favour in the last few seasons ... 

I guess those long kicks are more prone to turnovers. Done right, a chain of handballs could get a team from one end to the other with little risk of turning the ball over. The long kicks are a better spectacle though. I'd just like to see more attacking play instead of being overly defensive. Scores have been lower overall this year than in previous years.

[Lab Cat]

Most pub goers aren't really into beer. It's something cold and wet that you drink in warm weather. It's the only explanation for the popularity of Carlton Anything and VB.

I grew up in the North of england, and the pubs there were all milk stouts, porters, mild bitter and various ales. Then when we moved south, the beer went that way too - Carlsberg, Kronenbourg and Hofmiester pubswill took over everywhere, and eventually this type of stuff decimated real beer. Great for the breweries that owned all the pubs and turned them into beer sheds (most UK pubs are like cottages with extra toilets).

Beer is just living out the same adage as everything else. not everything popular is good and not everything good is popular.

[RepSpec]

tap contracts...end thread.

Have to remember that when it comes to "real beer" (and im talking craft here which i believe stouts and porters will fall into), many people just dont want to try something like that, its too weird.

"Give me a pot/schooner/pint of *insert megaswill brand here* thanks mate, Anything else isnt worth drinking". So therefore it doesnt make money, and only takes up valuable room where a VB, Draught or the like can be sold and actually make money.

 

The other thing to consider is that Lagers and Pales are "lighter" styles and easier to market/sell to people who have never ventured into the world of craft beers. Go to any Micro-brewrey and watch people who only drink Megaswill, they will only drink something like that. Then places that only sell their beer, will mainly sell those styles. Case in point Mornington Peninsula Brewery...their core range is: Lager, Pale, Brown and IPA (only recently in cans). They tend not to release anything else in big runs, because it doesnt sell as easily...   

[Lab Cat]

Yep, the average punter is pretty average. Guy I work with is US born and not 'into' beer. I always bring him in a bottle of my latest to let him try different things, as when he buys beer, he goes with advertising and tries stuff like Great Northern.

He's loved all the hoppy pales and last one was the Hopgobbler. Very different for him and he liked that too, but his daughter hated it. If it's not a yellow beer she won't drink it.

[Hermoor]

My local RSL has Guiness on tap and at a good price to.

with the coopers pale being replaced with furphy I wonder if that is more to do with the deal being done by the distributor.

the pubs I go to serve the beer I like, if they don't I don't go back.

[The Captain!!]

1 hour ago, Hermoor said:

the pubs I go to serve the beer I like, if they don't I don't go back.

I feel exactly the same. And is what I do. It’s the first step in changing Australia’s beer culture

[ben 10]

I rarely go to pubs but will hunt down a bar that has good beer. 
Massive brewery venue around here, plus another brewery  with taps and another tasting room.

[Beerlust]

There are commercial agreements in place with most establishments tied in with the 3 major breweries in this country. To be fair to Coopers, I should say 2 as Coopers have had to fight hard for the ground they have made in a similar way that a craft brewery has to, to get a beer on a shelf, or a beer on tap.

Put simply, it's a hard slog for an establishment to dismiss the mainstream beers & go it alone with no buying incentives & no rebates on purchases etc. & survive.

The current taxing system on craft breweries & their volumes does not make it easy to compete. Something I had explained to me when I did a bit of repping for a craft brewery a few years ago. Nothing appears to have changed in this area since. 

Just my 20 cents, "Two bob" died when Bob Hawke passed away recently (in my eyes)

Lusty.

[The Captain!!]

Craft breweries in WA have recently had some changes made making it easier but it’s still not a level playing field

[karlos_1984]

The general public are too ignorant to try anything different the majority of the time. They're also brainwashed by advertising or just stubborn and set in their ways. I suppose for a few of the older generation it's just become habit because back in the day most pubs only had 3 or 4 beers and they didn't know any different. This would vary from state to state. I recall working in a regional NSW brewery/taproom a few years ago and they made some cracking beers, and also had a side bar which had guest beers from other nearby breweries, which they'd always rotate to keep things interesting. It was awesome. Although the amount of old blokes that would come in and say "give me whatever tastes like Carlton dry" then turn their nose up when you tried to describe the beers available, their style, ingredients etc, used to really piss me off. I'd feel like telling them to bugger off down the road. It was hard work sometimes, try something new FFS.

I've managed to convert my old man over the years. He loves going to breweries now. We had locally brewed beers at our wedding awhile ago and the old fella liked them that much he made the special detour home via the brewery just to pick up a carton. The old girl wasn't impressed with the pricetag, but you get what U pay for.

[Hairy]

5 hours ago, karlos_1984 said:

I've managed to convert my old man over the years. He loves going to breweries now. We had locally brewed beers at our wedding awhile ago and the old fella liked them that much he made the special detour home via the brewery just to pick up a carton.

Please don't tell me you married your dad!!!!