VB (unreviewed until now?!) and Thorpey’s comeback

Given the misery experienced in our northern and southern neighbour states lately, it seems churlish to whinge about the weather in Sydney, but seriously – it was hotter than a one armed Beirut bricklayer’s armpit. 3 of the saltiest seadog members boarded the BotF and we all struggled to recall a hotter day. Two BotF boys bucked convention the day before and travelled at the FotF just to enjoy the sea-breeze. They also enjoyed a splash as the bow hit a wind swell and covered them with the Pacific Ocean.

The priority was cold moisture and no discernment was shown at the bottlo – “Cold and wet, buddy”. pommy_ch and lamb0 in fact almost always imbibe the VB longie – complete with paperbag – so they were quite happy with their lot. bladdamasta, however, is always looking for something unique and was perturbed about drinking something old hat, until he realised that VB hasn’t been reviewed.

According to an article on news.com.au, one in every 4 beers consumed in Australia is a VB. That is a quite unbelievable statistic. In the ’80s I worked in a bottlo and a pub, and I’m sure that VB could only be purchased in a stubbies – there was no VB draught. For it to grow to a 25% share, when you couldn’t get it in a schooner 20 odd years ago is remarkable. John Mellion did a pretty good job. It’s potable, which is about all that can be said for it. It is actually fine for a hot day and as the ad goes – “The best cold beer is Vic”. It is hasn’t got the same prominence overseas as Fosters, but when you do find it (like I did in Beijing), the one difference is the bottle-top is printed.

The topic du jour was Ian Thorpe’s comeback. Quite a deal of conjecture about the common sense of the comeback and quite divergent views. In the end a $20 wager was made between pommy_ch and bladdamasta where pommy_ch reckons Thorpey will make the team and bladdamasta thinks no chance. Thorpey won’t go just as a relay swimmer – surely he’s too proud.