It seems that when it comes to beers, there is still an allegiance to the mainstream brands in Australia.
A recent survey based on sales and market research showed that beer drinkers still support the tried and true brands but an interesting fact is that this will depend on your age.
According to leading market research, Boomers and Gen X beer drinkers tend to prefer the mainstream lagers with Great Northern, Carlton Dry and XXXX Gold leading the charge.
Millennials (Gen Y born between 1981 and 1996) tend to go for craft brews, seeking something original and authentic but with an ethical nature to its production.
The newbies, Gen Z (born 1997 to 2012) are more health conscious and go for lower alcohol beers and are draw by the packaging.
One of the biggest increases in the market has been the growth of mid-strength and low carb beers.
Lagers dominate the Aussie market with the brews mentioned above leading the field followed by Coopers Pale Ale and then VB rounding out the top five in sales.
Next are Pale Ales, not to be confused with the more fruity Indian Pale Ales (IPAs) which are lifting the craft beer component of the overall beer market.
As I have previously mentioned, the growth of low or zero alcohol beer has been surprising as younger, more health conscious drinkers are turning to these brews.
For one of Australia’s biggest beer brewers, Asahi Beverage which controls nearly half the local market, their low to zero brands account for about 30 per cent of their total sales and the rising in zero beers remains a sector of the market that is continuing to show strong growth.
However, as a lover of craft brews, it does my heart good to still find there are those willing to have a go.
Discovering a local drop made by an enterprising craft brewer is one of the great pleasures in life.
In fact, craft brews now make up about 10 per cent of the total beer market and while they may not be a threat in overall sales to the “big boys”, the popularity of craft brews is reflect4ed in the number of beer festival going on.
Coming up for those who may be on the Gold Coast in September is the Crafted Beer Festival on Saturday, 13 September 2025 at Kurrawa Park, Broadbeach.
The festival will run from 11am to 8.30pm and will feature 50 brewers from across Australia offering more than 400 unique festival beers.
Of the total number of brewers, 22 are from Queensland with a large number of those based on the Gold Coast.
There will also be live music, a wide variety of food, games to test you out, events to educate you and even alternatives for those who are beer lovers.
This will be the festival’s ninth year on the Coast but if you miss it, there will be another by the same organisers in Newcastle on 22 November 2025.
For more information and tickets, visit www.craftedfestival.com.au
I might see you there,
Cheers
Bob Anthony
