Tinnies are making a comeback
Good craft beer in cans used to be an oxymoron like “airline food” or “English cuisine”. Not any longer. It has become the fastest growing trend in beer, thanks to craft brewers Pirate Life (Adelaide) and Balter (Gold Coast) actively pushing cans.
Once the domain of mainstream brands like Tooheys and VB, cans are now being embraced by craft beer labels all over Australia. Pirate Life even decided to only package their beers in cans and kegs. When I visited the brewery’s taproom in August 2017, I could not get any of their beers on tap. A friendly barman pointed me towards a fridge which was stacked with cans. Punters did not seem to mind drinking the beer straight out of the tinnies, although Pirate Life offered glasses shaped like tinnies for refusniks like me. This makes you wonder if the whole ritual of pouring the perfect pint is so passé that it actually looks quaint?
Even flashy bars nowadays stock craft beer brands in cans, but few will go as far and only sell cans. The Bolt Hole bar in Byron’s Bay, a popular seaside resort 800 km north of Sydney, is one such venue. There isn’t a tap or a beer bottle in sight. Instead, the bar’s craft beer offerings from around the world are delivered in classic Aussie fashion — via tinnie only. Why? Without taps, a bar can look sleeker and less cluttered, it is believed.
Although it’s costlier to package beer in cans (and bottles) than in kegs, courtesy of Australia’s bizarre excise regime, craft brewers pushing tinnies believe that they are environmentally friendlier than bottles and make the beer taste better. Also, the can’s surface allows for the most attractive, high-quality graphics.
The comeback of cans does not seem to have worked in the Big Brewers’ favour, though. Australia’s brewer Lion continues to wrestle with a slide in sales of mainstream beer. Owned by Japan’s Kirin, Lion sells beer brands including XXXX Gold, Tooheys, West End and James Boag.
Releasing its half year results (until 31 March 2017) in August, Lion reported that while XXXX Gold, a mid-strength lager at 3.5 percent ABV, remains the largest brand in the country, its total beer market share has decreased from 11.4 percent to 10.7 percent.
This may not sound like a lot, but in a beer market with estimated annual volume of around 17.4 million hl, this amounts to more than 140,000 hl of beer volume shed by Lion. Industry insiders say Lion’s market share is now around 42 percent, while CUB, owned by AB-InBev, holds around 46 percent.
