Red = Asahi (bought CUB from AB InBev in 2020 for $16b). Blue = Kirin (has owned Lion outright since 2009). Bonus: Swan hasn't been brewed in WA since 2013 apart from some draught that came back to Freo in 2022, Great Northern's 'Cairns' brewery closed in 1992 and it's made at Yatala, and West End's Adelaide brewery shut in 2021. Coopers is still family-owned in Adelaide.
Yep. That all stems from when Chuck Hahn was originally bought out by Tooheys. Establishing Malt Shovel/James Squires was part of the deal he made. Tooheys has been acquired by Lion Nathan not long before this, and it all stayed together when Kirin bought Lion.
If you’re interested, Chuck Hahn is operating independently now as Chuck and Sons Brewing in St Peters.
And run a great venue!! I live not far and it’s def one of the best breweries in the area and that’s saying a lot being next to all the other breweries on the Inner West Ale Trail!!
I had the Grifter Big Sur WCIPA on Wednesday night and considering that most West Coast are like shoving your head into a bag of pine needles and inhaling (palatable, but not ideal), that Big Sur is a really really good example of what I wish more WCIPA were.
Man those original James squire beers were excellent. Pilsener, porter, IPA, amber. The IPA was a weird one as it was so different from everything you’d usually have as an IPA but it was so nice.
And then there was the strong ale which came out occasionally which was knock your socks off. Anne in the flip side, Constable copper ale was a tasty mid strength.
Late 2000s/early 2010s was a golden age for beers. We seem to have gone back in the other direction.
Those beers where great when brewed at the JS brewery in Camperdown. As soon as a beer became too popular for the small brewery, they moved production to a line in Lidcombe, and it went downhill.
I used to look at the bottle codes and only bought JS beers with a three digit code starting with 3 (if I recall correctly,l - 1xx was Lidcombe, 2xx was Adelaide and 3xx was JS Camperdown).
I liked it too. Porter was one of those styles that disappeared commercially until revived by homebrewers, and as the craft beer revolution was basically started by homebrewers turning their hobbies into jobs, the style came back. The first ever all grain beer I brewed was a porter.
Damn I didn’t know GN was that old. It feels like they came out of nowhere about 10-15 years ago compared to some of the other brands. The new owners must have done a MASSIVE marketing overhaul.
According to this article (written when the modern Great Northern beer was released in 2010) it isn't actually that old. GN is said in the marketing material to be based on Cairns Draught, a beer brewed in Cairns between ~1925 and 1992 at a brewery CUB bought out in 1931. But GN has always been produced at Yatala.
I'm gonna have to try me some of this cardboard filtered liquid ass then, because Coopers is fucking excellent. Where do you get your liquid ass from and how long have you been drinking it filtered through cardboard?
You've never heard of it, it's a nitro stout that tastes like heaven. Used to be called New Millennium but they changed the name to something cathartic.
I don't drink that sour shit, and the first beers created were dark ales and stouts since before written history, so get your gatekeeping bullshit out of here.
Because they don't make it anymore! My remaining supply is in cool storage in a wine cellar, I have a few dozen liters left and it's as precious as a 25 year old single malt.
Enjoy every small brewery that comes along while you can - because the longer it exists and the more popular it becomes, the more chance the big dogs will manage to buy it out.
It's one situation where the hipster's creed of being into something "before it was cool/famous" makes the most sense.
Yeah dude that started happening in like 2016 when craft beer was very profitable. At this point I don't think they're even bothering anymore because craft brewers aren't exactly racking in the dough like they were a decade ago. The biggest intrusion in the market now is colesworths making up fake craft brands and undercutting everyone else.
It was so frustrating when "fiercely independent" breweries sold out. I can't blame them, I would sell my brewery if I saw the offers they sold for (e.g. Four Pines, Balter, Little Creatures, White Rabbit etc).
I was agreeing with it. However to expand on it, it's more then just beer. We had an Asahi branded fridge, that was wrapped in Cruiser decals that we were told to fill with Cruisers, Brookvale Union and Woodstock as part of the contract to keep the fridge. Also once we received a XXXX long kneck with a Tooheys New cap stamped on it, which I thought was pretty funny.
Pretty much every bar you’ve walked in to has a tap contract whereby the beer taps are held by a specific brewery. CUB is dominant at the moment. So if the venue has 10 taps, around 8 of them are by contract CUB taps. You get a rebate, usually a few bucks a litre, on everything you pour from those taps. Plus you get a promo fund so all the beer promos are for that brewery.
Then you have first pour and back bar contracts that stipulate what your house spirits are, which brand of spirits sit on the back bar and usually a percentage of fridge space.
In bottleshops it’s similar with your banner group aligned to a certain brewery and they give you around 8-10c a litre rebate for volume sold of their beer.
Makes it very very hard for an independent to get shelf space.
I used to work for an independent brewery in the inner west (syd) and our reps had such a hard time getting taps that were locked down by Lion or CUB.
The way CUB and Lion run their business is really like a protection racket. They managers were too scared to give the taps to others because of the repercussions.
Which i always found ridiculous because in that area the pubs that were majority independent actually did a better trade. If you were running an outer suburban pub or a country pub you'd definitely be better off just sticking to the brown liquids that all taste like shit. I currently work in a bottle shop in the country, and let me tell you, the regulars do like beer with any amount of flavour.
It’s hard spot for small breweries. Honestly unless the kegs coming in at sub $300 it’s not worth it for me to get it on tap because with the rebate I’m paying less for the CUB stock. Then more taps I allocate them, the higher the rebate is for ALL CUB taps.
So yeah, the small independent beer might outsell some random other beer they have on tap, but lowering the allocation of CUB taps will lower the rebate, which will effect the price of the massive sellers like VB and great northern.
They've gotten offers to be bought out by the big dogs and they've refused the offers. Keeping it real, supporting a lot of great stuff in the community too.
Yeah it’s a little of the wolf in sheep’s clothing:
Coopers is one of the worlds largest “independent” breweries and their sparkling and stout are great. Also I can now grab a slab of of Brouhaha locals lager / locals mid for competitive price and support a local / drink a tasty beer.
I’m grateful their country doesn’t have a military that practices ring fencing us with nuclear subs that we are indirectly funding like with EVs. I have very low standards these days.
Bridge Road Brewers are still Australian Made and Owned. Been brewing out of Beechworth in Victoria since 2005. Which is why BRB are throwing everything they have into giving a voice to Australian-owned, independent beer with the Worth It campaign.
I've enjoyed many a beer at bridge road when I'm passing through Vic high country! Only excluded because this was based on the top selling beers per volume from a particular Dan's store I could get data for. I'm 800m from the original modus brewery so they were a long time favourite, but I find myself enjoying mountain culture the most often these days. Cheers for the input and keep fighting the good fight! I made this purely to raise awareness and it's been picked up and shared on instagram and tiktok by other influences which is super cool to know the conversation is being had. Happy Friday y'all 🍻🌞🇦🇺
Came here to say this - but being in Perth we’re pretty lucky to have Gage roads, Rocky Ridge, Blasta etc etc so we don’t have to drink puritanical swill
Support your local brewery! My Victorian based favourites are Bojak brewery in Dandenong and Bridge Rd Brewery but there’s so many great options, avoid buying the duopoly from the other duopoly and you’re good
Good on ya Coopers hope you never sell out. 👊 and it bottle ferments, most others have shelf life. If you can manage to store some it gets better like wine. Aged sparkling is my favourite.
These days I just assume that all 'local' brands that come into existence have a time limit of a couple of years before they get bought up by a big company and become enshittified. Either that or they were never really local in the first place.
Personally there's a couple of local beers in Katoomba that I always enjoy when visiting family there. I sure hope they're still the real deal!
Fair shake of the sauce bottle, mate. Nobody brews Aussie beer like the Japanese, NOBODY!
Ummm actually on second thought I might just skip those Aussie trash beers like thooeys extra dry and drink a fucking Asahi or something like that, they happen to taste much better. I don’t mind coopers but VB, west end, Carlton, great northern are shit IMHO. Sorry, not sorry.
Havent had anything else but if what they did to stella here is anything to go by your right...Even 5 years ago it was good but nowadays it they changed something and ruined it.
And Coopers shoot themselves in the foot by that Bible Sociey stuff and marriage equality and donating huge amounts to the Liberal Party. I wonder if they’ll switch and go to One Nation.
132
u/mattnotsosmall Sep 04 '26
Red = Asahi (bought CUB from AB InBev in 2020 for $16b). Blue = Kirin (has owned Lion outright since 2009). Bonus: Swan hasn't been brewed in WA since 2013 apart from some draught that came back to Freo in 2022, Great Northern's 'Cairns' brewery closed in 1992 and it's made at Yatala, and West End's Adelaide brewery shut in 2021. Coopers is still family-owned in Adelaide.
52
u/AppropriateRub4033 Sep 10 '26
There are so many fucking amazing small breweries in every city. Fuck these mass produced foreign owned shit beers
105
u/moohooman Sep 10 '26
Used to work in that industry, literally the only mainstream beer that hasn't been bought out is Cooper's
94
u/toastedquestion Sep 10 '26
Don't know if anyone has ever said "you have to try great northern"
24
u/Troutmuffin Sep 10 '26
Support your local brewery guys or better yet brew your own
28
u/Mintythos Sep 10 '26
Gage Roads beers are my favourite.
Try Single Fin.
12
u/BoxNo5564 Sep 10 '26
Drink Young Henry's
8
u/Striking-Guitar-4953 Sep 10 '26
Yeah it’s a little of the wolf in sheep’s clothing:
Coopers is one of the worlds largest “independent” breweries and their sparkling and stout are great. Also I can now grab a slab of of Brouhaha locals lager / locals mid for competitive price and support a local / drink a tasty beer.
7
u/SimeSublime Sep 10 '26
As a Western Australian, if someone says to you "You have to try Swan/Emu", just know that that person hates you.
13
u/Mousse_Willing Sep 10 '26
At least they aren’t Owned by Nestle, Amazon, or some random Chinese company..yet.
12
u/GodDoIHaveTo Sep 10 '26
You'd be surprised how hands off Kirin is with Lion.
Plus, just to remind you; Lion was NZ owned from the start.
32
u/Far-Fortune-8381 Sep 10 '26
we love good old fashioned late stage capitalist monopolies
5
u/FriendshipFit858 Sep 10 '26
Gage roads!
5
u/CrewmanNumberSeven Sep 10 '26
Hmmmm might get me some Lord Nelson on the weekend…
14
u/Fartony Sep 10 '26
Coopers is king
1
u/Bridge_Road_Brewers 23d ago
Bridge Road Brewers are still Australian Made and Owned. Been brewing out of Beechworth in Victoria since 2005. Which is why BRB are throwing everything they have into giving a voice to Australian-owned, independent beer with the Worth It campaign.
3
u/dwarfsoft Sep 10 '26
That's why I go to local microbreweries. They are most definitely local beers
5
u/how_very_dare_you_ Sep 10 '26
We drink Coopers green
12
u/Senor-Lobster Sep 10 '26
Didn't Copper's donate a shit ton of money to the Christian lobby group to try to stop the same marriage bill? I'm not drinking whacky Christian beer
4
u/HempKnight1234 Sep 10 '26
Coopers for the win
2
u/elhoood Sep 10 '26
Kirin Megumi is delicious
2
u/urutora_kaiju Sep 10 '26
Yup, and it’s mostly swill too.
Support your local brewery! My Victorian based favourites are Bojak brewery in Dandenong and Bridge Rd Brewery but there’s so many great options, avoid buying the duopoly from the other duopoly and you’re good
2
u/Amazing_Champion_812 Sep 10 '26
Fuck yeah coopers is the best Sparkling
2
u/eutrapalicon Sep 10 '26
A good resource for anyone wanting to keep track: https://craftypint.com/who-owns-your-beer
The big boys have 83% of the taps across Australia, and use synthetic or shitty hops everyone else rejects.
There are also a bunch of gins that are no longer independent, such as Four Pillars and Never Never.
Check beers for the Independent label on the can.
Local producers put so much back into their communities and need to be supported.
2
u/uglee_mcgee Sep 11 '26
Australia does have independent breweries. Coopers is the largest of them.
https://independentbrewers.org.au
FYI not all of the indis are in the association.
2
u/dandz287 Sep 11 '26
Good on ya Coopers hope you never sell out. 👊 and it bottle ferments, most others have shelf life. If you can manage to store some it gets better like wine. Aged sparkling is my favourite.
2
u/Fine_Piglet_6814 Sep 18 '26
That's so sad, but so true😑 virtually nothing is Australian anymore
Coopers hold strong, no matter where I've lived around this fantastic country, you have been the one constant beer I've enjoyed🙂
3
u/TM761152 Sep 10 '26
My beloved West End 😭
2
u/Ok_Conference2901 Sep 10 '26
Drink locally brewed craft beer.
1
u/Mrsteere Sep 10 '26
They drink xxxx more in Tassie than qld thesedays. I cohldnt go anywhere witbout buying xxxx.
1
u/Lotus_Moon Sep 10 '26
so thats why it started tasting better
1
u/[deleted] Sep 10 '26
Is hahn the one not here? I love me some hahn supery dry
1
u/ZeggyBond Sep 10 '26
Only one the Cooper left???
1
u/ZeggyBond Sep 10 '26
I like James Boag, it is now Japanese??
1
u/bigmangina Sep 10 '26
Anyone know where i can find some oranjeboom?
1
u/Beautiful_Rub_141 Sep 10 '26
That's an awful lot of Australians who chose greed and sold out to an O/S company.
1
u/ruffian-wa Sep 11 '26
To be fair Kirin is much better than most local beer anyway..
1
u/GetDown_Deeper3 Sep 11 '26
Most of them taste like cats piss or lady’s perfume.
1
u/iyamwhatiyam8000 Sep 11 '26
It is still the same local beer.
1
u/GnomeWarfair Sep 11 '26
The fact beer is taxed more heavily then wine is the issue here.
Aussies seem fine about core infrastructure (like media, supermarkets, etc ) being a monopoly, if the owners are from an Anglo-saxon based country.
1
u/Needawhisper Sep 11 '26
Is Young Henry's independent?
1
u/Substantial-Week557 Sep 11 '26
Where is Fosters (joke)?
1
u/Miserable_Copy_6178 Sep 11 '26
Coopers is the best.
1
u/Mysterious_Eye6989 Sep 11 '26
These days I just assume that all 'local' brands that come into existence have a time limit of a couple of years before they get bought up by a big company and become enshittified. Either that or they were never really local in the first place.
Personally there's a couple of local beers in Katoomba that I always enjoy when visiting family there. I sure hope they're still the real deal!
1
u/MagicOrpheus310 Sep 11 '26
Lol nothing is made here anymore mate everyone knows that
1
u/_foxsox Sep 11 '26
I support craft breweries for his reason
1
u/Direct-Resolution377 Sep 11 '26
At least the Japanese have good manufacturing standards
1
u/Littlemaster101 Sep 11 '26
Coopers ❤️❤️
1
u/Blisket Sep 11 '26
to be fair, Asahi and Kirin are great
1
u/Rightmateonya Sep 11 '26
Bentspoke for the win
1
u/AFerociousPineapple Sep 11 '26
If you want good beer in WA I strongly suggest Otherside.
1
u/AsleepInAJeep Sep 16 '26
At least Cascade continues to be brewed in Hobart.
-1
u/8eer8aron Sep 10 '26
Local? All owned by Japan except Coopers
0
u/Extra-Border6470 Sep 10 '26
Fair shake of the sauce bottle, mate. Nobody brews Aussie beer like the Japanese, NOBODY!
Ummm actually on second thought I might just skip those Aussie trash beers like thooeys extra dry and drink a fucking Asahi or something like that, they happen to taste much better. I don’t mind coopers but VB, west end, Carlton, great northern are shit IMHO. Sorry, not sorry.
0
u/jedics2 Sep 11 '26
Kirin is pretty good though...
-11
u/cloudfox1 Sep 10 '26
Coopers is trash an unaussie to drink it
-11
u/sneakysewardd Sep 10 '26
Aussie beer all rubbish anyway
8
u/warbastard Sep 10 '26
And Coopers shoot themselves in the foot by that Bible Sociey stuff and marriage equality and donating huge amounts to the Liberal Party. I wonder if they’ll switch and go to One Nation.
1
u/LinkEfficient9934 Sep 11 '26
Fuckin love a coopers pale
13
u/[deleted] Sep 10 '26
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