E-Malt.com News article: Australia: Coopers installs two new fermenters

Two giant fermenter tanks, each capable of holding more than 130,000 litres of beer, were installed by crane at Coopers Brewery on July 3 to help the company meet growing demand for its ales.

Each stainless steel tank is 15 metres tall, weights 10.5 tonnes and holds 130,000 litres of ale – the equivalent of almost 15,000 cartons. The tanks, which cost about $700,000 each, were manufactured and designed in Queensland by the company APV, and trucked from Brisbane to the Adelaide site.

Coopers Managing Director, Dr Tim Cooper, said that the new tanks would take the total number of fermenters to 16. “When we first moved to Regency Park in 2001, we had eight tanks and have added two per year since to cope with demand,” he said. “Coopers has been enjoying growth of about 17% a year since its move at a time when total beer sales in Australia have been falling.”
Dr Cooper said further capital expansion was planned with a new bottling line and packing machine expected to be installed in coming months.

Earlier this year, Coopers imported an additional 20,000 kegs from Belgium to keep up with interstate demand for its ales.

Coopers is the third largest brewery in Australia and the only one that is entirely family owned.
It has about 25% of the South Australian beer market and about 2.5% of the national market, with interstate sales growing at up to 30% in some areas.


11 July, 2005