In the early to mid nineteenth century, Australian beer was not particularly well regarded. Imported bottled brews were usually preferred. The reasons for this were that the brewing process was adversely affected by high temperatures and wild yeasts spoiled brews. To make matters worse, greedy publicans watered down their beer and spiced it up with additives. Slowly, with the development of improved technologies and breakthroughs with yeast cultures, things started to turn around.

Until the end of the nineteenth century, heavy, sweet, warm, top fermented ales were what was drunk in Australia. In the twentieth century, the icy cold, gassy lager - the beer that all Australians know and love today – became the national drink.  The first lager brewery in Australia was the Gambrinus Brewery which opened in Melbourne in 1885.  The Foster's Brewery was opened soon after in 1887.  From this point on lager steadily gained in popularity in Australia.

In 1882 the Australian Brewers’ Journal had made a remarkable prediction titled "The Ale of the Future":

"In our opinion the taste of at least a section of the public tends towards a lighter, less intoxicating, more gaseous, and better-conditioned ale than is brewed at present. Brewers must remember that in this hot climate men often want a long drink rather than a strong one, and that the light ale which we think will be asked for in the future is gradually driving the strong ales out of the market in much colder countries than our own."

The Australian Brewers’ Journal continued its uncanny predictions in 1886:

"As we have said over and over again, a beer of the lager type is, in our opinion, the beer of the future, a light, wholesome, non-alcoholic, fattening beer, drunk cold in high condition. The retailers of beer in Australia are so careless, so independent, and so grossly ignorant of their business, that the brewers are compelled to brew a beer that will stand all sorts of ill usage and to sacrifice economy, wholesomeness, and palatableness to this, but the time will surely come when the public in this hot country will demand their ale cold, full of gas, and a long drink for their money."

And today, this is what Aussies love – the thought of drinking a traditional warm ale on a hot summer's day is entirely incomprehensible. Although the Australian Brewers’ Journal predicted the future with great accuracy in its early issues, in 1897 it made a remarkable error of judgement stating: "There is not chance of lager becoming, as was at one time anticipated, the great national drink. … For a time the "bottled" lager certainly did enjoy public flavour, possibly from the novelty of the thing, but the public is going back to with a rush to its "old love" and soon there will be left for the two Melbourne lager breweries only the consumption that one alone could supply."

Cold gassy Aussie lager  What we love!

Thank goodness that this retraction of the earlier predictions proved to be wrong.

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