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| A Brew From DownUnder: Outback Aussie Ale By Ale Clayson  Charlotte, NC - March 13, 2001If you’ve been lurking on our site in recent weeks you may have noticed the addition of our brand new recipe “Outback Aussie Ale”. Australian Ale ? What on earth is an Australian Ale!?! While we ponder this question we may want to look back on a little bit of history. Over the past couple of centuries it seems that the brewing world has shifted towards lagers with the only true die-hard ale countries being The British Isles and Belgium. About 400 years ago England was ridding itself of its criminal population by shipping convicted felons off to Australia. Meanwhile, we in the good old USA were trying to get rid of the British. In this sense, the USA and Australia share a certain “sister/brotherhood”. We’re renegades. Although we both moved on from Britain, we retained a certain bond for our ancestor’s love of ales.  When we think of an Australian Ale it’s most likely Coopers’ that comes to mind, since it’s probably the most readily accessible. Coopers’ Real Ale is very pale, slightly cloudy, well hopped with its native strains, but not over done and bottle conditioned (kind of like well-known American Pale Ale). Australian Ale yeasts tend to be fruitier than American Ale yeast. I don’t consider our Outback Aussie Ale to be a Cooper’s clone or even want it to be (like most British brewers they use approximately 20% refined sugar in their ales- something that horrifies most American craft brewers). We’re homebrewers. We don’t need to be making Coopers’. Coopers’ is making Coopers’. Outback Aussie Ale is more of a tip of the hat, a homage to a brewing tradition that lies somewhere in the middle of American craft brewing and British brewing tradition. As beer enthusiasts, we can appreciate and build upon these styles. As homebrewers, we have the freedom to brew it better.
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