Beer in Australia can be traced to the beginning of British colonisation. Lager is by far the most popular type of beer consumed in Australia.
The oldest brewery still in operation is the Cascade Brewery, established in Tasmania in 1824 and now owned by Asahi. The largest Australian-owned brewery is Coopers Brewery; the other two major breweries, Carlton & United Breweries and Lion Nathan, are owned by Japan's Asahi Breweries and Kirin Company respectively.
Market characteristics Perhaps because of the generally hot, dry climate, Australian beer drinkers soon came to favour chilled pilsener style beers. This trend was reinforced with the expansion and consolidation of the Australian brewing industry, and by the development of hop growing, especially in Tasmania.
The dominance of chilled pilsener beer was further reinforced by the invention of refrigeration. Australia was one of the first countries to adopt the new technology on a wide scale and pubs were among the first local businesses to use refrigeration, to keep beer ice-cold.
Another notable feature of Australian beer is its relatively high alcohol content, which for many years has typically ranged between 4 percent and 6 percent alcohol – somewhat higher than their British and American counterparts.
Beer production in Australia began with small private breweries supplying local pubs. The industry rapidly became both larger in scale and more centralised as brewers adopted mass-production techniques during the late 19th century and new modes of transport came into operation.
By the 20th century the major brewing firms had become very large vertically integrated businesses. They owned the breweries and ran truck fleets and distribution networks, and the major brewers owned chains of pubs across the country. The premises were typically operated on a leasehold basis by licensed publicans.
As they grew, the larger and more successful firms began to take over smaller breweries, although they often retained the older brand names and the loyal clientele of those brands, such as Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) continuing to distribute "Tooth's KB Lager" and "Resch's Pilsener" and "DA" ("Dinner Ale") after they had bought and eventually closed the Reschs and Tooths breweries. By the mid-20th century the brewing industry was dominated by a handful of large and powerful state-based companies: Tooth's and Toohey's in Sydney, Carlton United in Melbourne, Castlemaine in Brisbane, West End and Coopers in Adelaide and Swan in Perth. These brands effectively became unofficial mascots for their respective states. In Victoria, until the late 1990s, a distinction was largely observed of serving the similar CUB lagers Carlton Draught on tap and Victoria Bitter and, to a lesser extent, Melbourne Bitter in bottles and cans; as Victoria Bitter became a prominent national brand on tap, in turn it became considerably more common on tap in Victoria.
In the late 20th century these beer empires began to expand overseas, before being themselves merged into consolidated global producers; brands under the Australasian CUB and Lion-Nathan subsidiaries of major global beverage empires have considerable presence in Australasia, the UK, Europe and many other regions.
In 2008, within an alcoholic beverage market worth some , equivalent to in , beer comprised about 48% compared to wine at 29% and spirits at 21%. Within the beer sector, premium beers had a 7.8% share of the market; full-strength beer 70.6%; mid-strength 12%; and light beer 9.6%. Overall, 85% of beer was produced by national brewers, the remainder by regional or microbreweries. Microbreweries manufacturing less than received a 60% excise rebate.
History 18th century The history of Australian beer starts very early in Australia's colonial history. Captain James Cook brought beer with him on his ship as a means of preserving drinking water. On 1 August 1768, as Cook was fitting out the Endeavour for its voyage, Nathaniel Hulme wrote to Joseph Banks with a recommendation:
Beer was still being consumed on-board two years later in 1770, when Cook was the first European to discover the east coast of Australia.
The drink of choice for the first settlers and convicts was rum, as represented in a supposed traditional convict song:
The first official brewer in Australia was John Boston who brewed a beverage from Indian corn, bittered with cape gooseberry leaves. It is likely though that beer was brewed unofficially much earlier. The first pub, the Mason Arms, was opened in 1796 in Parramatta by James Larra, a freed convict.
19th century
Rum was so popularand official currency was in such short supplythat it became a semi-official currency for a period of time (see Rum corps), and even played a role in a short-lived military coup, the Rum rebellion in 1808. Drunkenness was a significant problem in the early colony:
As a means of reducing drunkenness, beer was promoted as a safer and healthier alternative to rum:
Although modern Australian beer is predominantly Australian lager, early Australian beers were exclusively top-fermented and quick-maturing ales. Lager was not brewed in Australia until 1885. Early beers were also brewed without the benefit of hops, as no-one had successfully cultivated hops in Australia and importation was difficult. James Squire was the first to successfully cultivate hops in 1804, and he also opened a pub and brewed beer. The Government Gazette from 1806 mentions that he was awarded a cow herd from the government for his efforts.
In September 1804, a government-owned brewery opened in Parramatta, followed by a rival privately owned brewery three months later. The government brewery was sold two years later to Thomas Rushton, who was its head (and only) brewer.The first steps, www.australianbeers.com Brewing rapidly expanded in all of the Australian colonies and by 1871 there were 126 breweries in Victoria alone, which at the time had a population of only 800,000.
Notable events from this period include:
Tasmania was the first Australian colony to tax beer. Its Beer Duty Act of 1880 established a duty of 3 pence per gallon, equivalent to per litre in , which was raised to four pence in 1892, equivalent to per litre in .
20th century By 1900 the number of breweries had begun to dwindle as a result of the recession of the 1890s. In 1901, just after Federation, the new federal government passed the Beer and Excise Act. This act regulated the making and selling of beer and made homebrewing illegal. The provisions in this act, regarded by many as draconian, led to the closure of many breweries. In Sydney 16 out of 21 breweries closed either immediately after the act's introduction or soon afterwards. The remaining breweries began a process of consolidation, with larger breweries buying out the smaller ones. Within a short period of time, only two breweries remained in Sydney: Tooths and Tooheys. In Melbourne, five breweries merged in 1907 to form the giant Carlton and United Breweries.
1951 - Harry Ellis-Kells founded the Darwin Brewery (to be known as N.T Brewery)
21st century Since 2011, Kirin-owned Lion Co and AB InBev-owned Foster's Group own every major brewery in Australia, with the exception of Coopers. Boag's Brewery, previously owned by San Miguel, was sold to Lion Nathan for A$325 million in November 2007. In 2006 Boag's Brewery reported total revenues of A$92 million.
Although Foster's Lager is not a popular domestic beer in the 21st century, its popularity internationally has grown and the product is made mostly in other countries. In January 2005, the brand was one of the ten best-selling beers globally.
The introduction of the Tap King product by Lion Nathan in mid-2013 caused controversy due to the perceived impact upon alcohol venues. The product is a home draught beer dispenser and raised concerns regarding lower patronage rates for venues due to a greater incentive for consumers to drink beer in home environments. The product is sold with a gas chamber that is cooled for eight hours prior to use.
Beers by region
Before federation in 1901, Australia was a patchwork of separate colonies, each with different laws regulating the production and sale of alcohol. In addition, until the late 1880s when the rail network began to link the capital cities together, the only means of transporting foods in bulk between the colonies was by sea. This prevented even the largest breweries from distributing significant amounts outside their home city. This allowed strong regional brands to emerge; and, although all but one of the major regional brands (Coopers) are now owned by multinational companies, loyalty to the local brewery remains strong today.
Australian Capital Territory: Bentspoke Brewing Co and Capital Brewing Company
New South Wales: Tooheys, Reschs and Tooths
Northern Territory: NT Draught
Queensland: Castlemaine XXXX, Powers and Great Northern
South Australia: Coopers, West End and Southwark
Tasmania: Boags in the north, Cascade in the south
Victoria: Carlton Draught, Melbourne Bitter, Victoria Bitter
Western Australia: Swan, Emu and Kalgoorlie
While Foster's Group owns many of these brands, Foster's Lager itself is not considered a local drink anywhere in Australia.
Speciality beers
Speciality brews in Australia are produced by both major brewers and microbreweries, and include a wide variety of ales. Microbreweries exist throughout the country, including small towns, but the availability of such beers on-tap in venues is often limited.
Microbrewery Nail Brewing, from Perth, Western Australia, produced a beer in 2010 using water from an Antarctic iceberg, and sold it at auction for , equivalent to in . The batch of 30 bottles was created to raise money for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which assisted with the procuring of the ice.
Australian styles Australia has some unique beer styles of its own:
NameDescriptionImageAustralian lagerA lager with an amber hue and slightly bitter flavour typically brewed with Pride of Ringwood hops or its descendants.Australian pale aleA beer style with a balanced malty profile, a slightly floral hop profile and dry finish.Pacific aleA hazy pale ale brewed with malt, wheat and galaxy hops. Pacific ales have a tropical fruit aroma and a natural sweetness.Sparkling aleA highly carbonated ale with low to medium maltiness and a lightly fruity flavour.
Brewed under licence
Imported premium beers have started to gain market share in Australia. The two Australian corporate brewers responded to this by signing licence agreements with foreign brands to brew their beers here. Foster's Group brews Kronenbourg. Coopers Brewery brews Carlsberg in Australia. Lion Nathan locally produces Guinness, Heineken, Beck's, Stella Artois and Kirin. Brewers claim that their locally produced product tastes better because it is fresher, and local operations are overseen by the parent brewers using strict guidelines. However, groups such as the Australian Consumers Association say that such beers should have clearer, more prominent labels to inform drinkers.
Sizes Beer glasses
Before metrication in Australia, one could buy beer or cider in glasses of 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15 or 20 (imperial) fluid ounces. Each sized glass had a different name in each Australian state.
These were replaced by glasses of size 115, 140, 170, 200, 285, 425 and 570 mL, and as Australians travel more, the differences are decreasing.
Smaller sizes have been phased out over time, and in the 21st century, very few pubs serve glasses smaller than 200 mL (approximately 7 imp fl oz).
Those typically available are the 200 mL, 285 mL (10 fl oz) and 425 mL (15 fl oz), with increasingly many pubs also having pints (570 mL, approximately 20 imp fl oz) available. It is also common for pubs and hotels to serve large jugs filled to 1140ml ( approximately two imp pints).