VICTORIA BITTER

'Victoria Bitter', or 'VB', as it is commonly called, has the highest market share of all beer sold in Australia, both on tap and packaged. Victoria Bitter is brewed by Carlton & United Beverages, a subsidiary of Foster's Group, brewers of the Fosters brand beer. Despite its name, it is technically a fairly standard commercial lager rather than a bitter, although perhaps slightly more bitter than many. It is available in New Zealand, the UK, and to a limited extent, other countries abroad. VB, like most Australian Lagers, is made using a wortstream brewing process, and uses a portion of cane sugar to thin out the body of the beer, apparently due to drinkers preferences.
As of August 2007, the strength of Victoria Bitter will change from 4.9% ABV down to 4.8% ABV due to potential tax savings.

Contents

History

Change in strength

VB Midstrength

Marketing & Promotions

References

External links

History

The beer dates back to Victoria Brewery founder Thomas Aitken but gained wide popularity in the mid 1960s with an innovative television advertising campaign featuring the orchestral score from the film The Magnificent Seven, images of working-class Australians at work and play, and a voice-over by notable Australian actor John Meillon. The campaign was used until quite recently. Paul Hester, late drummer of Crowded House once appeared in a VB advert. Ads now consist of the slogan "For a hard earned thirst, you need a big cold beer, and the best cold beer is Vic, Victoria Bitter". The most recent advertising campaign features David Boon, although a number of other ads are occasionally screened, such as one which promotes Australia's love of barbecuing meat, including its national emblems, the kangaroo and emu.
Currently one third of the packaged beer sales in Australia are of VB. It is available in cans ("tinnies"), short necked 375ml bottles ("stubbies"), 800mls bottles ("Long Necks" or "King Browns") and "Twisties" or "Throwies" (250ml bottles in the State of New South Wales). As of 2005 VB also comes in 500ml tinnies ("Lunch Greens"), which are commonly drank by trade workers on lunch, being just enough to quench their thirst.
In a testament to its long history and popularity, VB has acquired a number of nicknames, ranging from the abbreviated "Vic Bitter", polite "Very Best", "Vitamin B" and "Victory Beer", for after a win in the footy. People who dislike the beer may refer to it as "Vomit Beer", "Vaginal Backwash", or "Visitors Beer". The distinctive green cans may also be referred to as "Boonies" or "Green Cans".

Change in strength

In 2007, The Foster's Group who make Victoria Bitter are planning to change the strength of the beer from 4.9% ABV to 4.8% ABV to cut the amount of excise Foster's pays on the beer it brews. The Age reported on 4 July 2007 that this move that will save Foster's up to $20 million a year in tax payments^[1].
The spokesman for Foster's, Ben Wicks said the change would not affect the taste of the beer.

VB Midstrength

In 2007, Fosters launched a new, midstrength version of VB called 'VB Midstrength' with an alcohol volume of 3.5%, in order to capitalize on the growing market for midstrength beers, currently dominated by XXXX Gold^[2].
TV builder Scott Cam, a self-confessed VB fan, is the appointed VB Mid Ambassador.^[3]
On 24 July 2007, The Australian reported that within three months of Fosters launching VB Midstrength, market share for the full strength VB and mid VB had increased.^[4] Foster's regional marketing director Anthony Heraghty hinted at further VB brand extensions, saying Foster's was ''"trying to see past the big green giant"''. It has been confirmed that a premium strength, 7.7%ABV version of VB is in the cards. Originally slated to be called "VB Premium", this name was knocked back as research suggested the majority of drinkers do not, and would never, percieve VB to be a premium beer. The current title, expected to be used when the product goes on sale in May 2008, is "Veebs".

Marketing & Promotions

In 2005, VB had started a promotion where David Boon became the face of Victoria Bitter (VB) beer for its 2005/06 summer advertising campaign, called 'Boonanza'. Part of the promotion was the sale of a talking David Boon figurine with purchases of cartons of beer, which would make comments when prompted by Channel Nine commentary. In New Zealand, VB is considered a lower class beer and often drunk by students as a cheap way to become intoxicated. It has had little media exposure in New Zealand and is therefore drunk by mainly Australian expatriots and not by working class New Zealanders.
In 2006, this promotion had returned for the 2006/7 Ashes series now called 'Boonanza II' which now included former England cricket captain Ian Botham and a talking figurine was created for him to interact alongside the David Boon figurine.

References

1. Weaker VB to save brewer millions in tax - The Age, ''4 July 2007''
2. Beer-loving Aussies are turning to a softer brew
3. The best cold beer is… VB MIDSTRENGTH - Fosters Group website
4. VB midstrength spin-off does the trick - The Australian, ''24 July 2007''

External links

★ Official webpage

★ Review of VB

★ John Meillon ad