What Happened to Victoria Bitter? How Australia's Best Beer Got Destroyed

Welcome to Big Truck Time! 🚛 In 2004 one in every four beers sold in Australia was a VB. Victoria Bitter was not just Australia's most popular beer — it was Australia's beer. The shearers drank it. The jackaroos drank it. The truck drivers drank it. Every roadhouse from Darwin to Hobart had it on tap. Then the suits got involved. They cut the alcohol. They changed the slogan. They tried to make it fashionable. And they nearly destroyed the most Australian thing ever put in a can. It started in colonial Melbourne in 1854. A Scottish immigrant named Thomas Aitken stood at the threshold of something new. The city was raw, the summers harsh and the thirst of its workers unrelenting. His answer was not just another beer but a recipe crafted for the land itself — Australian pale malt, Pride of Ringwood hops, 4.9% alcohol. A lager built to quench the heat and reward the grind. Not a beer for sipping in drawing rooms. A beer for the end of a long shift — for the hands that built railways, sheared sheep and paved the streets of Melbourne. By the mid-1960s VB was a fixture in the daily life of working Australia. Then in 1968 a single advertising campaign transformed it from a local favourite into a national icon. A montage of shearers, bricklayers and truck drivers set to the soaring theme from The Magnificent Seven. Over it all the unmistakable baritone of John Meillon — "A hard-earned thirst needs a big cold beer and the best cold beer is Vic. Victoria Bitter." The campaign ran for over two decades. Meillon voiced it until his death in 1989 aged 55. It was later added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia collection. In roadhouses along the Stuart Highway, in the break rooms of Pilbara mines and in the backyards of country towns — VB was not just a drink. It was a badge of belonging. By 2004 — 25% national market share. One in four beers in Australia. The most popular beer in New South Wales, Northern Territory, Victoria and the ACT. Then July 2007 — without fanfare Carlton and United Breweries trimmed the alcohol from 4.9% to 4.8%. The motive was not taste. It was tax. Under Australia's excise system even a tenth of a percent drop meant millions saved. For every can the brewery shaved about two and a half cents in duty. For the drinkers who had trusted the green can for generations it was a crack in the promise of stability. The outrage was immediate. Sales began to slide. 2009 — the hard-earned thirst slogan abandoned. Replaced with VB — The Drinking Beer. A campaign called The Regulars. A brand website with a production line webcam. The attempt to modernise an institution that had never needed modernising. Market share fell further. 2012 — a rare admission. VB would return to 4.9%. The classic green can and black label restored. The Chief Marketing Officer said — the Vic Bitter drinkers have spoken. Some loyalists returned. But the wounds had not fully healed. Then the ownership carousel. 2011 — Foster's sold CUB to SABMiller for A$9.9 billion. 2016 — AB InBev swallowed SABMiller for over US$100 billion. 2020 — AB InBev sold CUB including VB to Asahi Group Holdings of Japan for A$16 billion. The beer Thomas Aitken brewed for Australian workers in 1854 now answers to shareholders in Tokyo. The green can still lines every bottle shop fridge in Australia. VB is still brewed in Melbourne and Geelong. Still poured in city pubs and country roadhouses. But the 25% market share is gone — closer to 20% now, with Great Northern surging ahead and craft beer carving out its own territory. The story of VB is a warning. National icons are easy to market but hard to mend once broken. If you love trucks, roadtrains, roaring engines, and everything that keeps the highways alive — you’re in the right place. From powerful machines hauling massive loads to the raw beauty of diesel engines at work, this channel is all about the heart and soul of trucking. 👉 Hit that Subscribe button so you never miss the latest videos from the world of big rigs and road power! 📨 For business inquiries or collaborations, feel free to contact me at: [email protected] #trucks #trucking #truckdrivers #truckers #roadtrains #roadtrainsaustralia #australia #outback