of VB further in 2009, reducing it to 4.6% in an effort to make further savings. On 3 September 2012, CUB announced VB would be going back to its original 4.9% alcohol recipe and its original packaging. CUB had received many complaints since it was changed to 4.6% in 2009, and the beer had lost a large amount of market share. The updated VBs began rolling out in late October 2012. As of 2013, VB was the most popular beer in Australia, with 12.2 per cent market share. Sales and availability According to ACNielsen in 2009, Victoria Bitter was claimed to be Australia's only billion dollar retail beer brand, selling the equivalent of one slab (24 x 375ml cans or bottles) every second. At one time VB sold twice as much as any other full strength beer and was the only Australian beer brand that is in the top 3 sellers in every state. Victoria Bitter held the highest market share of all beer sold in Australia for more than two decades, but in 2012 lost this position to XXXX Gold. In April 2011 VB held 13.7% volume share and XXXX Gold had 11.7%. Just one year on in April 2012 VB had dropped to 12.3%, while XXXX Gold took the lead with 12.4%. In addition to being sold in Australia, Victoria Bitter is also available in New Zealand, Bali, Indonesia, the UK, and, to a limited extent, other countries abroad. When the joint venture Angkor Brewing Co. was established in Cambodia in 1992, VB was briefly brewed in Sihanoukville, and later imported; it held a significant share of the premium beer market until 1994. Despite its name, Victoria Bitter is a standard commercial lager rather than a bitter. Since late 2012, Victoria Bitter has been sold at a strength of 4.9% ABV after an interim period of producing the same product at an ABV of 4.6% (equal to virtually every other major Australian lager). The VB sold commercially in New Zealand is both 4.9% and 4.6% available in 375ml quantities in either bottles or cans. VB Gold In 2007, Foster's launched a new, midstrength version of VB called VB Midstrength Lager with an alcohol volume of 3.5%, in order to capitalise on the growing market for midstrength beers, currently dominated by XXXX Gold. In May 2007, The launch was Foster's first ever mainstream variation of the VB brand. In