I just heard it said that Unibroue are stopping all exports to Australia! can any of the BeerMasons saff confirm or deny this??
AAAAARGH!!

If unibrew decide to make a corporate decision to pull out of Australia to concentrate on other markets I suppose that is their right. Personally I wouldn’t have thought though that such a decision would be consistent with the philosophy of craft/micro brewing which I would think would be to make beer for those likely to seek out the special brew rather than try to compete with the superbreweries and brew for the masses

But all that aside might I timidly suggest that this could be where organisations such as the Beer Masons come in and who might be in the position to source and acquire such beers for their members in spite of the importers or lack of them.

It goes without saying that this would probably make the beers more expensive but then who amongst the members haven't paid a premium price for that "Special Brew"

I would have thought that having a small quantity of a product sent independently wouldn’t have been impossible to arrange, after all I sent box of wine to Italy a couple of years ago, and if that is not "Coals to Newcastle" I don’t know what is. True it wasn’t a cheap exercise but I think it was worth the effort.

With or without a local importer I would have thought that breweries would be overjoyed to have even a small group of devotees sing their praises and keeping their corporate flag flying and would be glad to find some way to have their product showcased for them

Maybe the presence of beers like Unibroue and Rogue and others keep the bar raised

Requiring the local talent to keep their eye on the ball and make sure they don’t become complacent. I too believe that local product should be supported but not at the cost of quality. And there are certainly some quality beers brewed here. I also think quality comes in more than one form. I refer back to an earlier post where I mentioned the difficulty I have experienced in engaging some of these operations in communication, who didn’t seem interested in even positive feedback. I can get indifference from the big players; I don’t expect it from the small ones.  

An update on this.  Up until the end of this year you should still be able to find some Unibroue at the better beer stores, though stocks will vary from store to store - then our good friend Craig from Palais who brings it in directly from the brewers will probably run out of stock - mostly La Fin Du Monde will be the most widely available.  It is our prediction that some stock will still make it to Australia via US wholesalers reselling it to Australian importers - but it won't be through channels that we use - out of respect for Craig who spent many years supporting the Unibroue brand.

Thanks very much on an update to the situation.
Pleased to read that La Fin Du Monde will be the easiest one to find as it's on the top of my list as an all time favorite beer.

I will hopefully buy some more before the end of the year provided the good bottle shop I go to stocks it. Then will certainly cellar some.