About sixteen years ago a friend returned from Ballarat with a couple of bottles of CUB’s Ballarat Bitter featuring Ballarat Bertie on the label. By this stage I was becoming well known for my willingness to try different beers. After sampling a bottle with some workmates the question was asked, ‘How do we obtain some of this stuff, short of going to Ballarat?’
Taking up the challenge I phoned the local CUB depot at Cardiff. The reply was negative at best. ‘No market for that stuff here and you have no liquor licence so we can’t get it for you. You’ll have to order it from Ballarat yourself.’
Undaunted, I consulted the Ballarat phone book and jotted down a few numbers. Ballarat Cellars was the first I rang and it proved positive. ‘No worries,’ said the proprietor, ‘I’ll send you ten cases and I’ll look after the transport this end.’
The beer duly arrived, the cost being shared by the number who were prepared to try the Ballarat drop.
Blokes being blokes, quite a number of bottles were shared by those who ordered it. The initial curiosity about this unfamiliar product was prompted by the Ballarat Bertie label, but the creamy smooth taste of the product produced more than a favourable reaction.
In about two months pressure mounted for another order, this time for twenty cases. Ballarat Cellars again delivered the goods.
In one quality control session the question was asked, ‘How about ordering a pallet? How do you think that would go?’
I replied, ‘No problem, as long as we have most of the money up front. By the way, how many cases in a pallet?’
I found out it was sixty-four.
I started to mobilise the order. With a firm commitment to fifty cases I ordered the pallet. Thus began a more serious association between my group and Ballarat Cellars which was to last for quite a number of years until CUB stopped making Ballarat Bitter.
I would like to think that our orders had an impact on CUB making Ballarat Bitter for as long as it did.
Shortly after the initial pallet order it was extended to two pallets which became the standard order, except for Christmas when we ordered three pallets.
The unloading of the beer truck was quite a social event. A group of blokes would converge on my house about twenty minutes before the scheduled arrival of the truck. It’s amazing how quickly a job can be accomplished when the workers have a common motivation.
I can only guess at the number of people who obtained Ballarat Bitter as a result of my orders. As I mobilised the larger order each person in turn could mobilise their own order of five to ten cases.
As I mentioned, the Ballarat Bitter deliveries became a great social focus; they also gave a reason to keep in touch with former work colleagues and to broaden the network of friends.
For at least five people Ballarat Bitter was the only beer they purchased. Often the initiative for an order would come from members of the group itself and not from me.
Two pallets of Ballarat Bitter, 128 cases each containing one dozen long necks, carefully stacked and arranged in a suburban garage is an impressive sight, but alas, that is the past!
More recently a group of five people formed the Adamstown Heights Gentlemen’s Club. It was formed at the suggestion of a friend and comprises three lower-middle-aged adult males and two young blokes in their early twenties.
The aims of the Gentlemen’s Club are to enjoy each other’s company whilst expanding one’s knowledge of beer in order to appreciate the range of different tastes and styles.
At each meeting a member takes it in turn to invite a ‘special guest’ and tastings are held on a special themes basis. Themes to date include: Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, North America, Asia/Pacific, General Europe, Belgium … Bertie, look what you started!