WITH Good Beer Week in full swing here in Melbourne, we asked some students what their favourite beers from home were. Stephen Clarke has more.
In addition to Melbourne’s established coffee culture and ever growing tea culture, Melbourne has a great appreciation for beer with plenty of watering holes dedicated entirely to speciality local craft beers.
But what about the beers that students are already familiar with? Overseas students have their own favourite beers from back home too – some are available for purchase in Melbourne!
Hailing from China, Snow beer is believed to be the world’s best selling beer, having overtaken Bud Light. It is sold virtually only in China, and a solid 61 million hectolitres are washed down every year. That’s 6.1 billion litres!
It sale is restricted almost entirely to China, and any regular drinkers might have to give up finding it in Melbourne.
Chang beer is generally associated with the crisp white beaches of Thailand, and is usually enjoyed most when washing down a spicy Thai curry.
It’s common in Thailand to drink beer with ice, although this might not go over so well in Melbourne.
Whilst the local Chang in Thailand is generally brewed from rice, the export, which is also weaker, is a 100 per cent malt beer.
Chang is available widely in Melbourne, although it may not have the same taste as it would fresh from the brewery in Thailand.
The easily pronounced Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier is a German wheat beer and is recognised as one of the best of its particular style.
Germany is recognised as the home of some of the world’s best beers, and its German Beer Purity Law ensures that recipes have remained unchanged for centuries.
This wheat beer is found commonly around Melbourne and is best consumed with a bratwurst sausage if possible. Try some of the German bierhaus’s located around Melbourne for the best wheat beers.
French-influenced Hanoi in Vietnam has it’s own beer: the appropriately named Hanoi beer.
It is the beer of choice among locals in the northern parts of Vietnam, and like its counterpart in Thailand, is best washed down with some local food.
Hanoi beer can be bought at some cellars around Melbourne.
What are some of your favourite beers that originate from your home country? Do you know if its brewed differently for Australian consumers? And are they available in Melbourne? Sound off in the comments below!