CUB to brew Goose Island in Australia

CUB has revealed plans to brew Chicago craft beer label Goose Island in Australia.

Marketing director Richard Oppy has told Australian Brew News that Goose Island will most likely be produced at Cascade Brewery in Tasmania.

Goose Island brewery is named for an actual island in the Chicago River and was established in 1988. It was the first of nine American craft breweries bought by AB InBev in 2011. The company has big plans for the brand globally and is in the midst of opening three styles of pubs around the world: brewhouses (brewpubs where the beer is made on site) have already opened in Sao Paolo, Seoul and Shanghai (December), with Toronto soon to follow and Philadelphia later this year; a Vintage Ale House (no brewing on site, but a kitchen and focus on high-end Goose Island beers opened in London in December; and branded pubs serving Goose Island beer have opened in Mexico and Las Vegas.

Oppy told Brew News there are currently no plans for a Goose Island brewpub in Australia, but CUB would love to open one at some stage.

The first Goose Island beer to be produced in Australia will be its IPA – which is relatively high in alcohol at 5.9% but "actually very sessionable" according to Oppy.

“Freshness for a product like this is imperative," he said. "We’ll be having the brewmaster from Goose Island in Australia, working with our local brewmaster. It’ll take a number of trials until we can nail the recipe and execution in our local market.”

Oppy said CUB is currently underperforming in the craft beer segment.  

"We obviously see that craft, albeit still only around 5% of the beer category, is in strong growth and I think will get bigger and bigger over time,” he said.

He said Wild Yak's total franchise is up 40% on the prior year, but "it needs support, and the beauty of being part of the biggest brewer in the world is we’ve got access to an international craft portfolio."

Oppy said CUB will introduce another three or four additional international craft beer labels to the Australian market in the next few years.