By Andy Young
Carlton Pale Ale has launched into on-premise venues as Carlton and United Breweries look to offer mainstream beer drinkers a more approachable beer should they be looking for something different.
At 17 IBUs the 4.2 per cent ABV pale ale is less bitter than Carlton Draught, which has 25 IBUs, and it is a darker beer with a cloudy appearance, which is driven by yeast. CUB’s marketing director Richard Oppy, told TheShout that the beer has already been distributed to 600 venues across Australia and that he is really confident about the new beer.
“Carlton Draught is obviously the biggest on-tap beer brand in Australia. We know that a lot of mainstream beer drinkers these days are interested in different styles of beer and pale ale is performing especially well,” Oppy said.
“For most mainstream drinkers trying something like a Fat Yak, which is a bit of a quirky brand, it’s a full hoppy style of beer and can be quite a stretch for them, whereas this is quite an easy drinking pale ale that is much closer to Carlton Draught.
He added: “Most consumers think of ales as those old English style of ales, and we’ve got a television campaign launching that just dramatises that this is not a beer that you have to sit on for four decades. It’s an easy drinking pale ale, it is sessionable.”
Speaking about the beer’s position in the current Australian beer category, Oppy told TheShout: “People can have a debate about what is craft and whether this beer is a gateway or a bridge, but for me, it is for someone who is a mainstream drinker, who loves their Carlton Draught and loves their lagers but is keen to try a different style of beer that is still approachable.
“This is rolling out now and we are actually focusing on Victoria and New South Wales primarily. We have already got 600 distributions so the uptake has been great and I’m really confident about it.”
The beer is initially only available in on-premise and CUB launched its marketing campaign for the beer last weekend, with television commercials as well as advertising at AFL grounds.