Australia is ranked 4th in the World on Beer consumption per capita basis whilst the USA is ranked 12th, so I guess you could say we like our Beer even better than you guys
We do have a number of boutique style Brewers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_beer and Beer Importers from which I guess I could get Coffee Stout.
However in reality I can't see a big market for Coffee Stout downunder because Beer in Australia is almost always served icy cold largely due to our mild Winters and all round warm-hot climate, which is why Lager styles are so popular here.
This means that any beer traditionally served at "room temperature" will meet considerable consumer resistance downunder. I don't know what the tradition is in the US and UK etc, but even Stout and other Dark Beers are served cold here. Heck, our "room temperature" is so warm there are plenty of Aussies who keep their Red Wine in the fridge.
Don't be confused by the ingredients, Digger, coffee stouts aren't drunk warm, but cold. It's just that coffee beans are included in the mash, to impart their flavor to the beer. The chocolate stout I'm working through has had cocoa added during mashing. But the base is still a dark roasted malt.
Our native beers are meant to be drunk at colder temperatures, too. The only beers that drink well at room temperature are those that ferment at those temperatures, like the classic English still ales.
German beers, too, are fermented at lower temperatures, and they're best served at those temperatures. Too warm, or too cold, and you don't get the right head on the glass, and the flavor can be off, too.
As to our variety, we're enjoying the benefits of a renaissance in homebrewing that started back in the mid-80s or so. More and more people were brewing their own and educating themselves about different styles, that some started making the jump to commercial brewing, opening microbreweries, or brewpubs, restaurants that brewed on premesis. Then the big breweries smelled the profit and started coming out with their own "craft beers". Then there are smaller breweries that managed to survive Prohibition, the Depression and the big boys' consolidation. We have one such brewery here in PA, a real gem, Yuengling, up in Pottsville. That's the oldest brewery in America. They brew a lager (which has become more of an amber than it used to be, over the last 10 years), a porter, and a black and tan mix of the two, plus a pale ale ("Lord Chesterfield Ale"-was there even such a character?). I remember in the early 90's, seeing Yuengling on sale in a bar outside of DC, and it was listed as a microbrew! I had to laugh. But the same place had Sam Adams listed as an import (right-brought in from faraway Boston, over the treacherous East Coast route-10 good men gave their lives, so that we could have that beer).
Upshot is, we have a lot more variety now, than when my dad was in college, drinking watery American lager (fagh!). We've got a lot of brewers making English-style ales, IPA's, porters, stouts, Imperial stouts (mmmmmmmmmmm-Imperial stout, aghlghlghlghlghlghlghlghlghlgl), and even more making Belgian-style beers. Not too partial to those, myself, but nonetheless, it's a good time to be a beer drinker in the US.
I brew myself, too, though it's been a while since I've brewed anything, just haven't had the time.
In fact, all this talk of beer is making me thirsty, I think I'll have a beer.
Prost!
Brad
