Quite partial to a VB myself, although a guy I knew from melbourne rated
"crownies", that was a smooth brew as well...

'Crownie' = Crown lager, which is a popular, though much more expensive, bottled beer.

'VB' is often referred to as meaning 'Very Bad', or 'Visitors Beer' because many tourists drink it. It's extremely cheap by Aussie standards and quite unpalatable IMHO. It's far from being 'smooth'.