 | |
| Manufacturer | Carlton & United Beverages (Foster's Group) |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Introduced | 1919 |
| Alcohol by volume | 4.9% |
| Colour | dark amber |
| Style | Australian lager |
| Website | crownlager |
Crown Lager is a 4.9% premium Australian beer originally made by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), a subsidiary of Foster's Group. The beer was first brewed in 1919 under its former name, "Foster's Crown Lager".
Carlton & United Breweries has promoted Crown Lager (known colloquially as a "crownie") with the story that it was originally brewed in 1919 as "Foster's Crown Lager" and was initially only available to visiting dignitaries that visited Australia. During the first royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Australia in 1954, Carlton & United Breweries marked the occasion releasing Crown Lager. [1] The company is currently re-investigating [2] this history following claims [3] that Foster's Crown Lager was brewed prior to 1919 and that it was widely available to the public prior to 1954.
Crown lager is recognisable by its uniquely shaped bottle and by its 1954-trademarked logo that has only changed four times in the history of the beer, and remains one of Australia's most popular premium lagers. The unique bottle shape and label was designed by Eveline Annie Harvey (22 May 1910 — 5 August 2008), a commercial artist working in Melbourne who was also responsible for many other well-known labels during the period, such as Monbulk Jam and others. Harvey was the artist chosen by General Douglas MacArthur to draw critical and highly secretive maps during the war. Harvey produced the Crown Lager artwork at print size using only a (single haired) paintbrush and exceptional skill as were the methods of the time.[ citation needed ]
In 2003, former Foster’s President and CEO Ted Kunkel declared that in that year in a speech that 2003 would be the 50th anniversary for Crown Lager. [4] Kunkel had also announced that the beer continued to show high growth, concluding the beer was still Australia's leading premium beer. [4] Crown Lager was originally produced as an export beer—the current bottle shape and label remain mostly identical to Harvey's original artwork except that the word 'Export' has been removed. Crown Lager has marketed itself as a premium beer in the Australian market. As such it has formed an affiliation with Golf Australia to create the Crown Lager Social Golf Club.
In 2006, CUB released two alternative types of beer under the crown banner.
"Crown Gold" is a Mid-strength beer, available only in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The ale was launched in 2014 to hold its market share in an increasing competitive beer market. [5] Crown Lager sales in the March 2014 results had shown that it had declined in the past year. [6]
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the European rights to the brand are owned by Heineken International.
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Foster's Group Pty. Ltd. was an Australian beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks, known for Foster's Lager, now called Carlton & United Breweries since the company was renamed in 2011. Foster's was founded in 1888 in Melbourne, Victoria by two American brothers, who sold the brewery a year later.
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Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) is an Australian brewing company based in Melbourne and owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi Breweries. Its notable brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Foster's Lager, Great Northern, Resch's, Pure Blonde and Melbourne Bitter.
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Beer in Africa, especially lager, is produced commercially in most African countries, and indigenous people also make varieties of beer. Beer is served in various locales, from neighbourhood shebeens to upscale bars. Many countries have standardized beer bottle sizes, which are cleaned and re-used, so when buying beer at a store, people often must pay a deposit on the bottle and the price of the beer. An alternative to glass-bottle beers is local beer sold in tetra-pak style paper cartons.
The Matilda Bay Brewing Company is a brewery founded in Western Australia, the first new brewery opened in Australia since World War II, and Australia's first craft brewery. Originating from small batches brewed for the Sail and Anchor Hotel in 1984, their main brewery opened in 1989 in a prominent building at Stirling Highway previously occupied by Ford Motor Company. The company was purchased by Carlton & United Breweries in the early 1990s.
Tooth and Co was the major brewer of beer in New South Wales, Australia. The company owned a large brewery on Broadway in Sydney from 1835 to 1985, known as the Kent Brewery. It was historically one of Australia's oldest companies, having been established as a partnership in 1835. The brand was revived in 2015.
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Resch's is a brand of beer produced by Carlton & United Breweries, available in New South Wales, Australia. It was also the name of the Sydney brewing company who produced the beer brand and were based in Redfern until taken over by Tooth & Co in 1929.
NT Draught is a lager produced by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), a subsidiary of Asahi Breweries. NT Draught are the makers of the Darwin Stubby. A Darwin Stubby refers to several large beer bottle sizes in Australia. It was first introduced in April 1958 with an 80-imperial-fluid-ounce capacity. The 2.25-litre Darwin Stubby has an iconic, if kitsch status in Australian folklore. In May 2015 Carlton & United Breweries announced that they will no longer brew NT Draught on a regular basis.
Thunder Road Brewing Company is an independent brewery operating in the Melbourne inner suburb of Brunswick, Australia. Since opening its doors for business in 2011, the brewery’s beers have been distributed for sale in Melbourne and distribution is now expanding throughout Australia. Thunder Road Brewing Company brews year-round flagship beers including Full Steam Pale Lager, Collingwood Draught, Hop Star, Brunswick Bitter, as well as limited release seasonal beers, for on-tap sales. In 2015, the company also introduced its first line of packaged beer, the Double Fermentation Series, and began a range of barrel aged beers known as the "President's Reserve" series.
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