Beers that are no longer with us

Nothing good lasts forever...

This week I want to write about beers that are sadly no longer on bottle shop shelves, are no longer in advertisements and our taste buds are left with a bitter sweet feeling that we won’t taste them ever again.

I have no doubt that there are a lot of beers that have come and gone, but I have only been on the legal side of 18 for a few years and so far there are only three beers I dream about but will never get to drink again.

Boag’s Strongarm Bitter (1997 – 2006? unconfirmed):

A cool label

First of all I never got to even try this beer. It was phased out about the time I came of legal age and to this day wonder what it was like. The history behind the beer is interesting as it was made to represent the breweries arm wrestling team. A pale lager at 5.4% I bet it would have packed a punch. It was originally brewed in the early 1900’s to celebrate the achievements of the breweries arm wrestling team. The labelling was in my opinion encouraging. It was quoted to be a beer that blended gutsy malt flavours, rich hop characters, and a refreshing bitter finish. In 2004, Strongarm Bitter won four awards at the MADC Awards. In 2006, Strongarm Bitter was among many of the Boag’s range of beers to win a gold medal at the Monde Selection in Brussels – the world’s most prestigious beer awards. I couldn’t find any reference to what year that production stopped for this popular product. I visited the Boag’s Brewery Centre for Beer Lovers and asked them about it, even though the staff were very happy to help there was not one employee there that could answer my question.

Boag’s St. George (2004 - 2011):

Good times

The only Boag’s beer of my time to ever be bottled in clear glass, this was a unique design of a beer, made with citrus hops and brewed for gallant gentlemen at 4.8%. It was an easy drinking beer with a unique crisp flavour. Brewed exclusively with Tasmanian pale malts, the straw colour of the subtle lager has an exceptionally smooth finish. The beer was crisp, clean and dry. This in addition to Boag’s Premium were considered the two upper class beers, I remember it was about $7-8 a stubby out on the town but I was happy to pay that much for it. The advertising campaign reflected the nature of the beer, gallant men in suits, opening doors and helping ladies to their seats. I remember drinking an entire carton of this beer one Christmas Day and still had room for scotch afterwards. I kept the last stubby that I ever drank of it, but I think someone threw it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UitNTgc6vxk

Those were the days

Gallantry is back!

James Boag’s Pure (2009 – 2013?):

I'm lost without you...

This beer took a part of me with it when they stopped brewing it. An amazing but simple beer that I was proud to buy by the carton and sadly is only in our memories now. Boag’s has been trying to compete with VB on the Australian market, so when VB released VB Raw – a new design of beer with only four main ingredients – hops, barley, water and yeast, it was only natural that Boag’s would release their own version (Boag’s used only Tasmanian ingredients to make Pure). What they created was another amazing, great tasting beer that came in simple dark green bottles. The stubbies didn’t have labels at all, all that was needed to be said was printed onto the glass itself. This has been the only Boag’s beer that I know of that required a bottle opener. VB Raw disappeared from shelves and mind very early while Pure continued to be brewed. It broke my heart to return from Japan to discover that Pure was no longer available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoGT-DlQEFo

It was beautiful

Only four simple ingredients were used

Two of these three beers were of my most highly regarded drinks (I never drank Strongarm Bitter so I can’t speak on behalf of it). I do hope one day that these beers can possibly be re-introduced back into the market, or even if Boag’s could brew them exclusively for me? For now though I must settle with other beer (not that I’m complaining about any other beer).

P.S If anyone from Boag’s Brewery ever reads this, PLEASE let me try these beers one last time.

If there are any beers no longer available that you miss, please let me know and I can share in your pain.

I guess I can’t keep dwelling in the past, there is a world full of beer out there for me to consume, until next time.

Cheers!

Dave “The Beer King” Claridge