E-Malt.com News article: Australia: Carlton & United Breweries to establish boutique brewery in Victoria's Yarra Valley

Beer giant Carlton & United Breweries is tapping into drinkers' growing taste for craft beer, striking a deal with one of the founding fathers of Australia's craft brewing industry, Phil Sexton, to establish a boutique brewery in Victoria's Yarra Valley, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on October 14.

The move is the latest acknowledgement from major breweries that consumers are increasingly turning to craft beers, a segment that has grown strongly at the expense of mainstream beers.

Mr Sexton, who will convert his Giant Steps winery in Healesville into a brewery, told The Age the new outfit was expected to make its first beer in November and pull its first beers to customers in a pub attached to the brewery in December.

The new brewery will make beers under the Matilda Bay label, including well-known names like Redback and Dogbolter. It will also develop a new range of Matilda Bay beers.

Mr Sexton was a joint founder of the Matilda Bay brewery in the early 1980s and a joint founder of Little Creatures brewery, both of which were established in Fremantle in Western Australia. CUB fully acquired Matilda Bay in 1990.

Giant Steps opened its doors to customers in Healesville about 15 years ago and is a major tourist attraction in the town.

"I was involved in the start of the story of craft brewing around the world, and I think there's some unfinished business with Matilda Bay because it's got such a place in the history of it. I'd like to deal with some unfinished business in craft," Mr Sexton said.

He said he made the approach to CUB. "I spoke to some CUB guys about it and they went 'come to dinner', literally."

Mr Sexton said the brewery would make about 300,000 litres of beer a year, using clean "mountain water" from the Yarra Valley.

"Craft [beer] is getting to a bit of a crossroads at the moment because it's come up to about 5 per cent of the market and it's more difficult to grow and to be sustainable financially as it steps up in competition. A lot of craft brewers are getting either acquired or consolidated," he said.

"Our mission is to make beautiful beer in an artistic, creative way," he said.

CUB chief executive Peter Filipovic said Mr Sexton would oversee the operation from construction of the brewery to beer-making and marketing.

"He is a craft beer visionary who revolutionised Australia's beer landscape," Mr Filipovic said.

"We're meeting the changing needs of consumers by creating beautiful new beers in pristine surroundings that live up to Matilda Bay and Phil's original vision. We couldn't be more excited about this opportunity and we know beer drinkers will love it," he said.

CUB has been in the news recently after its European-based owner Anheuser-Bush InBev (AB InBev) confirmed it had struck a deal to sell the iconic Australian brewer to Japanese brewer Asahi for $16 billion.


13 October, 2019