Keg success delivers a new Coopers brew worth bottling
Primary Industries
Australia’s largest independent, family owned brewery has released a new beer in cans and bottles after tremendous success in kegs over summer.
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Coopers Session Ale, the first addition to the Coopers’ family of beers in 14 years, was launched in kegs in October in Adelaide, South Australia, and has quickly grown in popularity.
In January this year, Session Ale became Coopers’ second largest selling keg beer after Coopers Original Pale Ale and ahead of Sparkling Ale and Mild Ale.
“It’s been a tremendous response,” Coopers’ Sales and Marketing Director Cam Pearce said.
“As Session Ale has become better known, we have been inundated with customer requests for it to be released in a packaged format.
“As a result we have started production of Session Ale in cans and bottles. Stocks should be widely available at bottle shops and liquor stores across Australia from March 5.”
Session Ale is brewed using Galaxy and Melba hop varieties that produce a fruity, easy-drinking summer style beer, with a golden straw colour and an alcohol level of 4.2 per cent. Its more contemporary style is aimed to compete with the modern flavours in the booming craft beer market.
“It’s an excellent example of innovation by Coopers’ brewers and as a beer, it is fully on trend,” Pearce said.
“We believe Session Ale will quickly establish itself as one of our most popular beers.”
Coopers Brewery, which was established by Thomas Cooper in Adelaide, South Australia in 1862, is the largest Australian-owned brewery, accounting for about 5 per cent of the nation’s commercial beer market.
It is also the world’s biggest manufacturer and exporter of home brewing extracts.
In November, Coopers also opened a new $65 million malting plant. The 13,000sq m plant, considered the most technically advanced in the world, will produce around 54,000 tonnes of malt a year and give Coopers full control over its malt.
Independently owned breweries in Australia are digging in to fight for taps and market share following the recent sales of leading craft brewery to multinationals. Last week Coca-Cola Amatil announced it had bought West Australian brewery Feral Brewing. Last month Sydney brewery 4 Pines was sold to the world’s largest brewer AB InBev.
The 2017 Australian Craft Beer Survey conducted by Beer Cartel found that 99 per cent of respondents were happy to buy beers brewed by an Australian independent brewery while only 23 per cent were happy to buy beers brewed by a large multinational.
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