The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) acknowledges today’s announcement of Pirate Life Brewing’s sale to AB InBev.

While every sale of an independent brewery to big beer is disappointing we believe that each of them further underscores the impact the independent brewing industry is having on the traditional beer market in Australia and overseas.

This was backed up by the recent Beer Cartel survey that showed beer drinkers overwhelmingly preferred to support independent breweries over those owned bymulti-nationals.

Breweryacquisitionssuch as this grab headlinesand generate significant commentary,but it needs to be remembered that there are more than 430 other Australian independent brewing businesses who will continue to put their heart and soul into their beers,and it is for them that the IBA exists. We will be doing all we can to help them take advantage of the opportunities created byownership changes,such aslaunching anindependence seal in the near future.

We will continue to work towards our vision of quality independent beer everywhere through Awareness, Quality, Regulatory and Value initiatives for IBA members.

We extend our congratulations to the current owners of Pirate Life on the sale.