Coopers to brew Brooklyn’s beer

Having found out that shipping beer to Asia and Australia is challenging, Brooklyn Brewery first tied up with the Hitachino Brewery in Japan to contract brew Brooklyn Lager for them.

Now it has joined forces with Australia’s largest family-owned brewer, Coopers Brewery from Adelaide, to make and distribute Brooklyn Lager in Australia.

Brooklyn Brewery’s Steve Hindy told BRAUWELT International: “We are still testing recipes at Cooper’s but are confident they will get it right. We think these contract arrangements will insure fresh beer for those markets.”

Coopers will start producing the brand in the next few months. Coopers’ import and distribution division, Premium Beverages, will handle distribution, replacing the local company Palais Imports.

Brooklyn and Coopers have a long-standing relationship. Brooklyn previously distributed Coopers’ beer in New York before spinning off its distribution arm in 2003.

Dr Tim Cooper, Managing Director of Coopers, said Premium Beverages had been looking for an American craft beer to help round out its international portfolio, which includes Carlsberg, Sapporo, Kronenbourg 1664, Kronenbourg Blanc and Mythos.

“Brooklyn Brewing is highly regarded for the quality of beer it produces and will help strengthen this portfolio,” he said.

Brooklyn Brewery, which is 11th largest craft brewery in U.S. and already exports to 29 countries, has ventured beyond the U.S. over the past 12 months to expand its sales.

In April this year, it revealed a joint brewery project with Carlsberg in Trondheim, Norway, while last year the two companies opened the Carnegie brewery in Stockholm.

Coopers recently posted a 9.1 percent fall in net profit to AUD 28 million for 2013/14 while revenue was lifted 6.9 percent to AUD 231 million (EUR 159 million), media reported.