Coopers’ Celebration Ale, introduced last year to celebrate the brewer’s 150th anniversary, will be retained as a permanent line.
Coopers’ National Marketing Director, Mr Cam Pearce, said strong sales of more than 100,000 cases since Celebration Ale was launched last May had driven the decision.
“Celebration Ale was initially launched as a special one-off product to celebrate our landmark anniversary,” he said.
“However we said that if it performed well, consideration would be given to keeping it as one of our regular lines. Sales have exceeded our expectations and we have made the decision to make it a permanent part of our portfolio.
“Indeed, Celebration Ale was the number one new product development in packaged beer by value for the quarter ending October 2012, according to Nielsen data.”
Mr Pearce said it was appropriate to make the announcement just before Australia Day.
“Celebration Ale is a great beer to toast a special occasion and as the largest Australian owned brewer, we felt it was appropriate to make the decision at this time,” he said.
Celebration Ale is a hops-driven ale with a dark-red hue that follows the style of an India Pale Ale (IPA), in the tradition of colonial ales of Thomas Cooper’s time.
It incorporates three different hops varieties – Centennial from the USA, Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand and Pride of Ringwood from Australia to produce a beer with strong estery characteristics and a “hoppier” style than Coopers’ mainstream ales.
“It’s also the first beer to be packaged under the Thomas Cooper Selection range of beers, which we expect will become an increasingly important range for us in the future,” Mr Pearce said.
“Celebration Ale is a good example of a premium craft beer and fits well alongside the traditional range of Coopers beers.
“The fact that it has been able to carve out a strong following in an increasingly busy sector of the market in a relatively short period of time is a strong endorsement of our brewers’ abilities.”
Celebration Ale is available in 355 ml bottles and on tap at selected outlets. It retails for around $55 per carton.
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