Carlton Draught

Order "a pot" in a Melbourne front bar and the odds are good that what lands on the towel is Carlton Draught — the city's default pub lager, golden, unpretentious, and poured across Victoria in volumes no craft brewery will ever see. (A pot, for visitors: 285 milliliters, the Victorian half-pint.)

It has carried Melbourne brewing history since 1864, but its modern fame is advertising that refuses to take beer seriously. The mid-2000s Big Ad — a deliberately absurd, choir-backed epic in which an army of robed extras assembles into a giant man drinking a giant beer — became a worldwide internet hit before going viral was an industry, and the brand's long-running tagline cheerfully admits the product is made from beer.

Carlton & United Breweries still brews it, these days under Asahi Beverages, and its role hasn't moved an inch: a cold pot of Carlton on a sticky bar towel, ideally within earshot of the footy.

Bright gold under generous foam — the brand has always sold the pour itself. Soft grainy malt, mild sweetness, a low rounded bitterness, and a smooth finish that doesn't linger. Nothing spikes, nothing offends: on tap and properly cold it tastes like the exact middle of the Australian palate, which is precisely the job.