It`s very Australian to drink beer , living in a hot dry country provides an excuse to consume large amounts to quell a ferocious thirst .
Beer and alcohol run hand in hand through the history of Australia , in the 18th and 19th centuries a daily portion of beer , rum or wine was often offered and deemed part of one`s wage.
In the Australia of the 50`s and 60`s my childhood years , drinking was a national past time , there were pubs on most corners and multiple pubs to each town .
Governments tried to limit drinking by closing all pubs at 6.00pm , this led to the 6 o`clock swill .
As closing time neared men guzzled their glasses of beer and then bought 2 or 3 bottles to drink outside or to wander home with to finish off .
Back then pubs never opened on Sundays , but there is no stopping an Australian from getting a beer .
A private club could serve beer to its members and any pub could sell a beer to a bona fide traveller .
Anyone arriving at a pub on Sunday signed a guest register , claiming they had travelled 10 miles and the local copper was free to consult the register if the need be , and wasn`t at the bar with a glass in hand .Because of this law , the roads on a Sunday night were full of bona fide travellers who could barely walk let alone drive .
Alcohol was always present throughout my childhood . My parents typified a lot of parents who routinely socialised with friends at the pub , leaving my brothers and me to wait outside in the car , sometimes for hours with an occasional small glass of lemonade offered to quench our thirst ....
Many , many years later when I was a student at an Institute of Education , I was invited for a drink and I asked if we could go to a nearby town with a well known pub , as I had spent so much time outside the pub ...I was curious to see the inside .
Being part of society change ` the baby boomers `regarded beer as vulgar at the time Australia was being seduced by sweet , fizzy white wine qualities that women favoured ....who can forget `Cold Duck`and `Barossa Pearl `?
Then the glass flagons over flowed with rough reds , as did the casks of Coolibah Moselle and bottles of Ben Ean and Mateus Rose .
Thank God for the Barossa Valley and the immigrant winemakers who settled in South Australia and grew grapes that evolved ino the most sought after reisling wines , of course there many successful varietials ....but reisling is my choice of wine .
Over the years Australia has transformed wine from being the drink of the elite and `shielas` into being accessible and acceptable for both men and women .
Beer and alcohol run hand in hand through the history of Australia , in the 18th and 19th centuries a daily portion of beer , rum or wine was often offered and deemed part of one`s wage.
In the Australia of the 50`s and 60`s my childhood years , drinking was a national past time , there were pubs on most corners and multiple pubs to each town .
Governments tried to limit drinking by closing all pubs at 6.00pm , this led to the 6 o`clock swill .
As closing time neared men guzzled their glasses of beer and then bought 2 or 3 bottles to drink outside or to wander home with to finish off .
Back then pubs never opened on Sundays , but there is no stopping an Australian from getting a beer .
A private club could serve beer to its members and any pub could sell a beer to a bona fide traveller .
Anyone arriving at a pub on Sunday signed a guest register , claiming they had travelled 10 miles and the local copper was free to consult the register if the need be , and wasn`t at the bar with a glass in hand .Because of this law , the roads on a Sunday night were full of bona fide travellers who could barely walk let alone drive .
Alcohol was always present throughout my childhood . My parents typified a lot of parents who routinely socialised with friends at the pub , leaving my brothers and me to wait outside in the car , sometimes for hours with an occasional small glass of lemonade offered to quench our thirst ....
Many , many years later when I was a student at an Institute of Education , I was invited for a drink and I asked if we could go to a nearby town with a well known pub , as I had spent so much time outside the pub ...I was curious to see the inside .
Being part of society change ` the baby boomers `regarded beer as vulgar at the time Australia was being seduced by sweet , fizzy white wine qualities that women favoured ....who can forget `Cold Duck`and `Barossa Pearl `?
Then the glass flagons over flowed with rough reds , as did the casks of Coolibah Moselle and bottles of Ben Ean and Mateus Rose .
Thank God for the Barossa Valley and the immigrant winemakers who settled in South Australia and grew grapes that evolved ino the most sought after reisling wines , of course there many successful varietials ....but reisling is my choice of wine .
Over the years Australia has transformed wine from being the drink of the elite and `shielas` into being accessible and acceptable for both men and women .
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