Restaurant & Pub Reviews

[Booney]

You can add anything you like, that's ok to like what I like, yes?

[Wedgie]

There's a few issues here.
If you say all craft beer is shit, it would be like having a bad experience at an Indian Restaurant at Munno Parra and claming all restaurant food is shit while you're quite happy to go up the road to McDonalds as you're used to the taste of it and its cheap.

Costs of ingredients have gone up by more than a third in recent times, throw in the increase in taxes and its hard to pass that onto the consumer especially when the Japanese owned beers have crazy good profit margins because of the way they mass produce.
The Japanese owned beers are very crafty (pardon the pun) about locking smaller breweries out of pubs, they've already been taken to the ACCC about this.
Also companies like Pirate Life and Little Creatures hardly fit into the craft beer category anymore and are owned by the Japanese too so are now getting exclusivity into pubs like their other brands.

Personally I like trying an array of craft beers and as an example I love spending days up at the Woolshed past Renmark watching the river go by trying some nice beers BUT I have been to the Big Shed twice and its hardly appealing and a lot of other craft beer makers are similar such as Shapeshifter. Sitting in a big tin shed with a cement floor on metal stools with my knees up around my ears doesn't really appeal to me and some of the food trucks or food supplied can be pretty damn ordinary. There's no TAB, no Foxtel, no Keno, no pokies, no carpet, no comfortable stools or chairs too. The Big Shed on Old Port Rd is hardly going to get much walk up traffic, not really an appealing spot. Shapeshifter when I went there only had parking for 8 cars and the nearest spots were a fair way away being on a busy road.
Having said that I have no idea of the profit margins from selling the beer on the market as opposed to having people come walk in the door.

Usually I drink Pirate Life South Coast Pale as I love the taste of it, I don't buy beer because its cheap, I buy beer because I enjoy it.
As I usually go out most weekends a box of 16 will do me for most weekends, usually costs me $40-50 (delivered).
It was an eye opener working at a pub the amount of people that would come in and ask for the cheapest beer, proclaim it tasted like piss and then proceed to buy another 10 of them. Save themselves $5 in an afternoon while they punt away $200 on the TAB or poker machines.

Talking about the Fruchoc Stout, the weirdest one I had was at the Woolshed, a Villis Meat Pie Stout. Could handle 1 but that was about my limit.

[amber_fluid]

I still drink WED and Carlton Draught as a norm but I always try any new beer that I see.
So far none have been better than the 2 mentioned.
I’ll keep trying though!

[Vamos]

Or the fact the craft beer is awful shyte. One of the two.

What, not a fan of Plum Pip & Truffle Shavings Sour Ales?

[Dutchy]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

[amber_fluid]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

True but no different to your local butchers or fruit and veg store who get screwed over by Coles and Woolies.
Not sure what the answer is but they need help also

[Mr Beefy]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

Not really, they charge more because it costs them more per litre to produce. Small or large brewery, they both pay the same excise rates.
Either way, us beer drinkers pay the excise for them.

[heater31]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

Not really, they charge more because it costs them more per litre to produce. Small or large brewery, they both pay the same excise rates.
Either way, us beer drinkers pay the excise for them.

5000 litre stainless steel tanks wouldn't be cheap to have fabricated.

[Vamos]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

I reckon it's more simpler than that. It's a cycle, the hipsters who drove the industry are now drinking less as they age and the youth coming through are drinking Red Tins, Northerns and the like.

[Booney]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

I reckon it's more simpler than that. It's a cycle, the hipsters who drove the industry are now drinking less as they age and the youth coming through are drinking Red Tins, Northerns and the like.

I'd say it's very much cost of living pressures. A trip to a brewery or distillery with a significant other for a few and a feed means $120+ at best. 5 or 6 drinks at $10-12 each, couple of $25 burgers. It's an enormous amount for probably 2-3 hours of entertainment/socialising.

Takeaways are $30 / 4 packs or $90 bottles of gin. It's a costly exercise.

[Corona Man]

Yep I agree the cost of living is biting deep.

The "drop off" rate at my local pub is really noticeable. At close to $9 for a Schooner (Pint to you Crowies) blokes are choosing to grab a carton at the bottlo & head home.

Pubs are getting a reality check over here.

[Pseudo]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

I reckon it's more simpler than that. It's a cycle, the hipsters who drove the industry are now drinking less as they age and the youth coming through are drinking Red Tins, Northerns and the like.

Oh the follies of youth...

[Dutchy]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

True but no different to your local butchers or fruit and veg store who get screwed over by Coles and Woolies.
Not sure what the answer is but they need help also

Completely different, butchers and fruit/veg stores in the main do just fine, they work hard but they are generally successful businesses despite Woolies and Coles.

[Dutchy]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

Not really, they charge more because it costs them more per litre to produce. Small or large brewery, they both pay the same excise rates.
Either way, us beer drinkers pay the excise for them.

Exactly right, the big breweries have much lower costs per litre due to their scale, Craft brewers don't have this luxury, a simple answer would be if your turnover was <$10m then excise is discounted significantly, its goes up to the big boys level when you hit $10m+. This would encourage entry into the industry and look after the smaller ones.

Dunno about others but when Im going to a regional town the first thing I do is google if they have a local brewery.

[amber_fluid]

Excise kills the small breweries, that is why they need to charge more than your mass produced beer. The government really need to look after them (wont happen though) as they are great tourist attractions, great for local communities and employ a lot of staff.

True but no different to your local butchers or fruit and veg store who get screwed over by Coles and Woolies.
Not sure what the answer is but they need help also

Completely different, butchers and fruit/veg stores in the main do just fine, they work hard but they are generally successful businesses despite Woolies and Coles.

Which ones do you know who are doing fine?
My local butcher and fruit and veg are just about done as can’t compete with the big boys.

[Brodlach]

Local butchers have to be a bit more competitive, local butcher has scotch fillet $49.95, Speciality Foods at Hindmarsh $26.95 and it’s a fantastic cut. Ridiculous price difference.

Loin Chops butcher $24.99, SF $14.99

[Booney]

Local butchers have to be a bit more competitive, local butcher has scotch fillet $49.95, Speciality Foods at Hindmarsh $26.95 and it’s a fantastic cut. Ridiculous price difference.

Lion Cops butcher $24.99, SF $14.99

Feline police?

[Brodlach]

Local butchers have to be a bit more competitive, local butcher has scotch fillet $49.95, Speciality Foods at Hindmarsh $26.95 and it’s a fantastic cut. Ridiculous price difference.

Lion Cops butcher $24.99, SF $14.99

Feline police?

No idea how that came out like that

[Wedgie]

Local butchers have to be a bit more competitive, local butcher has scotch fillet $49.95, Speciality Foods at Hindmarsh $26.95 and it’s a fantastic cut. Ridiculous price difference.

Loin Chops butcher $24.99, SF $14.99

What's specially foods like in general?
Live 5 minutes away and never tried them.

[Brodlach]

Local butchers have to be a bit more competitive, local butcher has scotch fillet $49.95, Speciality Foods at Hindmarsh $26.95 and it’s a fantastic cut. Ridiculous price difference.

Loin Chops butcher $24.99, SF $14.99

What's specially foods like in general?
Live 5 minutes away and never tried them.

I go out of my way to go there.

Dingy looking place but boy the meat is good and so well priced. Great steaks, never had a bad one.