Carlton Dry

Carlton Dry (4.5% abv) is the latest low carb offering from the Fosters group. It tends to follow the American formula of high carbonation and very little taste and is what most people would describe as a lawnmower beer (ie. a beer that is cold and wet and goes well after a morning of mowing the lawns!). This trend in Australian brewing towards low carb beer is a little concerning as several brands have jumped on the bandwagon producing bland flavourless liquid and pricing it marginally cheaper than existing products to gain following presumably before jacking the price up. It seems like its the cold filtered/ice trend all over again and that Carlton dry is the new carlton cold ( a terrible and equally poor beer). I guess as Tooheys Extra Dry's market share has risen to close to that of Tohheys New, Carlton and United breweries have jumped on the bandwagon with their own offering. I wont bore you too much with my rant, but you can check out what the marketers have to say here:http://www.fosters.com.au/enjoy/beer/carltondry.htm

And what is it with 355mL bottles? The accepted Australian standard for the size of a stubby is 375mL. 355mL is just plain ripping people off by 20mL or more than the equivalent of a whole beer over the course of a carton (24 beers). Shame. Shame. Shame....