Crown Lager

Last updated

Crown Lager
Crown Lager Bottle.jpg
Crown Lager bottle
Manufacturer Carlton & United Beverages (Foster's Group)
Country of origin  Australia
Introduced1919
Alcohol by volume  4.9%
Colourdark amber
Style Australian lager
Website crownlager.com.au

Crown Lager is a 4.9% premium Australian beer originally made by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), a subsidiary of Foster's Group.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".

Contents

History

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.

Varieties

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]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster's Lager</span> Brand of lager

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Bitter</span> Australian beer brand

Victoria Bitter (VB) is a lager produced by Carlton & United Breweries, a subsidiary of Asahi, in Melbourne, Victoria. It was first brewed by Thomas Aitken at Victoria Brewery in 1854 and is one of the best selling beers in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuengling</span> Brewery based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania

D. G. Yuengling & Son, established in 1829, is the oldest operating brewing company in the United States. In 2018, by volume of sales, it was the largest craft brewery, sixth largest overall brewery and largest wholly American-owned brewery in the United States. Its headquarters are in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. In 2015, Yuengling produced about 2.9 million barrels, operating two Pennsylvania facilities and a brewery in Tampa, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grolsch Brewery</span> Dutch brewery

Grolsch Brewery , known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895 the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in Enschede in the early 19th century. It held a significant stake until November 2007. Today the main brewery is located in Enschede.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster's Group</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascade Brewery</span> Oldest operating brewery in Australia

Cascade Brewery is a brewery established in 1824 in South Hobart, Tasmania, and is the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlton & United Breweries</span> Australian beverage manufacturer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoetzl Brewery</span> Craft brewery located in Shiner, Texas

Spoetzl Brewery is a brewery located in Shiner, Texas, United States. It produces a diverse line of Shiner beers, including their flagship Shiner Bock, a dark lager that is now distributed throughout the US. The brewery is owned by the Gambrinus Company, a family-owned company based in San Antonio, which also owns Trumer Brewery in Berkeley, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in Australia</span> Overview of the beer culture in Australia

Beer arrived in Australia at the beginning of British colonisation. In 2004 Australia was ranked fourth internationally in per capita beer consumption, at around 110 litres per year; although, the nation ranked considerably lower in a World Health Organization report of alcohol consumption per capita of 12.2 litres. Lager is by far the most popular type of beer consumed in Australia.

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 was a West Australian brewery. It was 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 on the Stirling Highway occupied by Ford Motor Company. The company was purchased by Carlton & United Breweries in the early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tooth and Co.</span> Australian brewer and beer brand

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 until 1985, known as the Kent Brewery. It was historically one of Australia's oldest companies, having been established as a partnership in 1835 and listed on the then Sydney Stock Exchange in July 1961. The brand has undergone a revival in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballarat Bitter</span> Beer brewed by Ballarat Brewing Company of Ballarat, Australia

Ballarat Bitter is a 4.9% (abv) Australian beer, originally brewed in Ballarat, Australia by the Ballarat Brewing Company and now owned by the Japanese conglomerate Asahi Breweries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Koch Brewery</span>

The original Fred Koch Brewery was a small, independent brewery in Dunkirk, New York that produced beer and ale from late 1888 until 1985. Production peaked in the early 1950s with over 100,000 barrels brewed annually. When the Dunkirk, New York brewery was closed in 1985, it was located at 15-25 West Courtney Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in the Caribbean</span> Beers from islands in the Caribbean

The beers of the Caribbean are unique to each island in the region, although many are variants of the same style. Each island generally brews its own unique pale lager, the occasional stout, and often a non-alcoholic malta beverage. Contract-brewing of international beers is also common, with Heineken Pilsener and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout being the most popular. The beers vary between the islands to suit the taste and the brewing method used.

Melbourne Bitter is a beer brewed by Carlton & United Breweries, a subsidiary of Asahi. While originally having an ABV of 4.9%, it has since been reduced to 4.6% ABV. Melbourne bitter is available in 375 mL bottles ("stubbies"), 375 mL cans ("tinnies") and 750 mL bottles ("longnecks/longies/tallies").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resch's</span> Australian beer brand

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NT Draught</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Northern Brewing Co.</span> Brewing company in Yatala, Queensland, Australia

The Great Northern Brewing Co., commonly known as Great Northern, is a brand of full and a mid strength lager beer, owned by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), and is brewed in Queensland at the CUB Yatala Brewery. It comes in 330mL "stubbies", 375mL "tinnies" and 700mL "tallies" at 3.5% Abv or 4.2% Abv.

References

  1. http://www.crownbeverages.com.au/ Crown Beverages Website
  2. "Crown history to be revised…perhaps". Australian Brews News. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  3. "What is the real history of Crown Lager?". Australian Brews News. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Half-year Results Announcement" (PDF). Foster's Group Limited. 11 February 2003. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  5. Whalley, Jeff (30 June 2014). "Carlton United Brewery launches a golden Crown ale". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  6. "Fancy craft beers hurting VB and Crown Lager". Sydney Morning Herald. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  7. "Crown Golden Ale". crowngoldenale.com.au/. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015. Site redirects to Drinkwise, no trace of CUB/Crown Golden Ale as @ 6-12-2015