Stone & Wood Lager grew volumes by 80 per cent last year, and the brewer has announced tweaks to the product to further capitalise on the trend.

The lager will be rebranded as Green Coast to reflect Stone & Wood’s provenance, in keeping with the branding of Pacific Ale and Jasper Ale.

It is also moving to brown bottles and will now be left unfiltered, as it already is in its draft format.

“The market has changed since we launched our lager back in 2008,” Stone & Wood Head Brewer Caolan Vaughan told Australian Brews News.

“Originally we brought it our for the locals of the Northern Rivers and for those who didn’t wanted to be punched in the nose by Galaxy hops. We wanted it to be approachable and modelling it off a European-style lager, we brought it out in green bottles.

“Seven years on, perceptions have changed, punters no longer expect lager to be served in a green bottle and they no longer assume that all lagers are filtered. We feel now is the right to time to make the transition from green to brown, as it means we can get our beer to the punter in the best possible way,” said Vaughan.

The quiet achiever in Stone & Wood’s range, the lager grew by 80 per cent last year. It is now closing in on annualvolume of almost a half a million litres, even though all the focus has been on theflagship Pacific Ale.

Green Coast will gradually replace the existing lager in bottleshops and on tap over the next few months.