ALCOHOL POLICY

Floor price support The Cancer Council has joined the debate over the introduction of a floor price for alcohol, saying such a move ‘is about reducing the consumption of under-priced alcohol’. The Council also supports the introduction of volumetric taxation of alcohol as ‘an increase in excise does result in a decrease in overall consumption’. [From Adelaide Advertiser, Sep 25, 2012]

Last Drinks coalition A coalition of emergency service workers, comprising doctors, police, paramedics and nurses and known as Last Drinks, has called for the wider application of the measures introduced in Newcastle NSW in 2008 to combat alcohol-fuelled violence. The coalition claims that the impact of these measures in reducing late-night assaults and emergency department admissions by 35% proves their efficacy. Application of similar measures in other cities nationally is supported by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education (FARE). The measures include lock-outs, reduced trading hours and restrictions on the sale of high alcohol-content drinks. [From Adelaide Advertiser, Sep 28, 2012]

Warnings on wine labels The Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) announced on September 24 that it had reached agreement with Drinkwise to give all winemakers free access to print-ready labelling messages warning women not to drink while pregnant. The agreement follows criticism that the wine industry was slow in introducing such warnings, ahead of the proposed mandatory date set for late 2013. [From Adelaide Advertiser, Sep 25, 2012]

BEER & BREWING: Australia – general

Australian International Beer Awards The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV) and the University of Ballarat are pleased to announce the appointment of Brad Rogers to the role of Chief Judge for the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA). He succeeds Peter Manders, who filled the post with distinction for the last decade, and his appointment coincides with enhancements to be made to the Awards and the judging process to better reflect current brewing practices and trends in the industry [From Australian Brews News Oct 05, 2012 & other sources]

Plight of pubs In SA, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) considers that many smaller local pubs are in danger of extinction if they do not renovate or increase services. With several Adelaide hotels closing this year and others in the city and suburbs now in receivership, the AHA says more ‘no-frills’ pubs could follow unless they are reinvented to attract more customers…. hoteliers must recognize that they need to keep improving. However, seemingly going against the tide is the Grace Emily – a quaint, small city pub with no pokies, no TAB and no meals – which is noted for presenting live music in a local pub atmosphere. [From Adelaide Advertiser, Oct 6, 2012]

BEER & BREWING: Australia – mainstream breweries

Casella Family Brewers: After months of research, development and canvassing, Casella has launched Australia’s first crowd-sourced beer: Arvo 51 Lager. Its mellower and less hop driven flavour made it a winner with voters over competitor Arvo 34 Lager and thus 51 will become a permanent item in the Casella portfolio as they move forward. Casella MD, John Casella, said ‘With the help of almost nine thousand Australians who were with us from the very beginning, we are delighted to announce Arvo 51 as Casella’s first official lager and the nation’s first crowd-sourced beer, created for Australians by Australians. We plan to grow our beer portfolio significantly so it was important for us to invest in the best resources and team available, to help drive innovation.’ Casella’s state-of-the-art brewery and recent agreement with Coca-Cola Amatil indicate that the company is in the game for the long term. [From Beer & Brewer, Oct 4, 2012]

CUB Fighting back The successful engagement of Carlton Draught with a younger audience demonstrates that the mainstream beer segment is not a lost cause, says CUB CEO Ari Mervis, claiming that ‘classic beer’ still accounts for over 70% of the market. With a 97% like rate via YouTube, Carlton Draught has successfully engaged the next generation of beer drinkers with its new ‘Embrace Change’ campaign, which started in social media before launching into traditional media. Mervis reiterated that, given Australia’s climate and lifestyle attributes, there is room to increase beer consumption here to be in line with similar overseas countries and said that CUB was helping ‘with a renewed focus on beer and building brands in response to changing consumer sentiment and the best cold beer is back, adding that VB will be marketed to its core loyal following that has traditionally been older mainstream beer drinkers’. [From The Shout, Sep 24, 2012]

Lion: Rob Murray, who will relinquish the CEO’s role to Stuart Irvine in January, will remain on the board of the company as a non-executive director. He has been a director since 2002 and welcomes the chance to continue his involvement. [From Adelaide Advertiser, Sep 26, 2012]

Only mid-strength XXXX Gold will be served on Lion’s XXXX Island available with full-strength brands such as Summer and XXXX Bitter being excluded. Lion national marketing director – Beer, Spirits & Wine, Matt Tapper said that XXXX Gold is better suited to the island and its many outdoor activities. {From The Shout, Oct 4, 2012 & other sources]

BEER & BREWING: Australia – craft & smaller breweries

SA: A new beer, tentatively called Largs Bay Bitter, will be brewed by boutique brewer and local resident Graham Howard as a promotion of the Adelaide seaside suburb. Graham is the interim chairman of a Largs Bay traders group and sees the beer as a ‘wonderful way’ of promoting his suburb. He has been associated with the craft industry for many years in Australia and has won national and international brewing awards. He plans to have the beer available in bottles and kegs before Christmas, to coincide with the 130th anniversary of the Largs Pier hotel and Largs Bay jetty in December. {From Portside Messenger via Beer & Brewer, Oct 4, 2012]

Swell Brewing Co at McLaren Vale now offers four beers – all in 500mL bottles : Amber Ale (4.7%abv), Golden Ale (4.5%), Pale Ale (4.7%) & Wheat Beer (4.5%).

Vic: A new all-year-round offering, Goat IPA, from Mountain Goat is scheduled to appear in late October. At 6.2% abv and brewed with Citra and Galaxy hops to give 65 IBU, it will be available in four-packs and cartons of 24. [From Australian Brews News, Sep 26, 2012]

BEER & BREWING: International

Plastic bottles SAB Miller has partnered CRANN, a nano-science research organization at Trinity College, Dublin in a project to improve the shelf-life of beer in plastic bottles. The project involves mixing nano-sheets of boron nitride with the normal bottle plastic to render the material virtually impervious to both O2 and CO2, thus reducing oxidation of the product and maintaining its carbonation. [From E-Malt.comFlash 38b, Sep 23, 2012]

Singapore: Heineken won full control of Asia Pacific Breweries (brewers of Tiger Beer) after a two-month battle in a S$7.9 billion (about A$6.3 billion) deal on September 28, with the confirmatory vote of shareholders of its Asian partner, Fraser and Neave. [From E-Malt.com Flash 39b, Sep 29, 2012]

CIDER, JUICES, RTDs & SOFT DRINKS

New product SA based McLaren Vale Beer Company will release Dr Pilkington’s Miracle Cider this month. Produced and packaged in SA, the new product was created in conjunction with winemakers from Chapel Hill and enjoyed successful trials to gauge market reaction. Promotional material hints of quality that features crisp, true apple flavours and refined acid balance, as well as promising to cure ailments ‘from ordinariness to fear of cats’. Dr P’s will be available on tap nationally from mid-October and off-premise in 500mL bottles. [From The Shout, Oct 3, 2012]
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FROM PAST DIGESTS … 5 YEARS AGO

McGuigan Simeon’s woes McGuigan Simeon Wines’ share price has been falling steadily since the heady days of early 2005 when the stock traded at over $6; last week it languished at a record low of $1.66, half the value of February this year. Already hit by the wine glut, the company may now face an undersupply of grapes for the coming harvest and is constrained by the fact that most of its bulk wine sales are at fixed-price contracts to others makers such as Foster’s and Orlando Wyndam. The increasing value of the Australian dollar is another significant factor. [From Adelaide Advertiser October 8, 2007]

[Note: Today (2012) McGuigan Simeon is part of Australian Vintage Ltd, of which company Neil McGuigan is CEO and chairman and Brian McGuigan a director.]