Beer-loving Aussies are turning to a softer brew

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australians, long regarded as a nation of beer drinkers rivalled only by the Germans, seem to be turning soft, or sober.

After 113 years, the country's biggest selling beer, Victoria Bitter, or VB, is to be produced in a mid-strength version to keep pace with the country's fast-changing beer tastes.

VB, with its distinctive green label, has since 1894 been a staple of hard-drinking backyard barbecues, student revels and football games, not to mention healthy overseas exports.

Now brewer Foster's has decided for the first time to produce the beer in a weaker yellow-label version with 3.5 percent strength, down from 5 percent, as Australians abandon it for scores of more upscale "boutique" or craft beers.

"The change has been dramatic. The drinking habits of Australians have been changing over time and what we have found is that the markets in growth are the premium and mid-strength markets," Foster's Brand Manager Felicity Watson told Reuters.

Mid-strength and boutique beers are the new darlings of Australia's A$5.5 billion (2.3 billion pound) beer industry, with 12 percent annual growth against flat sales for mainstream beers.

New boutique breweries including Cascade, Boag's and James Squire have won huge followings in most city pubs, while so-called microbreweries such as Little Creatures, Mountain Goat and Blue Tongue have lured drinkers away from VB in droves.

"There is just a lot more choice and consumers are no longer attached to just one or two brands," Watson said. "They will have a different brand for different occasions, if you're out with a group of friends and you want to impress."