Bluetongue Brewery
Bluetongue Brewery was an Australian brewery owned by SABMiller. The brewery had a capacity of 100 million litres per annum, and supplied beer to all Australian states. On 23 January 2014, it was announced that Bluetongue would be phased out and discontinued as a brand.
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Industry | Alcoholic drink |
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Founded | 2003 |
Defunct | May 31, 2014 |
Headquarters | Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia |
Products | Beer |
Owner | SABMiller |
Website | Archived website |
History
Bluetongue Brewery was founded in 2003 by four Hunter Valley businessmen, Philip Hele OAM, Bruce Tyrrell AM, Ian Burford and Paul Hannan[1] in Cameron Park, Hunter Valley. In 2005 they sold a 50% share in the brewery to interests associated with John Singleton.[1] In December 2007 the consortium sold the brewery to Pacific Beverages, a joint venture between Coca-Cola Amatil and SABMiller.[2][3] In November 2010 the company opened a $120M (AUS) brewery in the Central Coast suburb of Warnervale to produce and package the Bluetongue premium beer brands.[4] The brewery, the second largest in New South Wales had the initial capacity of 50 million litres per annum.[1] In 2012, Coca-Cola Amatil sold their 50% share in Pacific Beverages to SABMiller, who had acquired Carlton & United Breweries (the Australian Beer, Cider & Spirits (BCS) division of the Foster's Group).[5]
On 23 January 2014, SABMiller announced that the Bluetongue brand would be discontinued.[1][6] 64 staff at the Warnervale brewery were told by Carlton and United Breweries they would lose their jobs towards the middle of the year and that the brewing equipment would be relocated to its Yatala brewery in Queensland with the remaining assets to be sold off.[7]
Beers
- Bluetongue Premium Lager (4.9% alc/vol)
- Bluetongue Pale Ale (5.2% alc/vol)
- Bluetongue Premium Light (2.7% alc/vol)
- Bluetongue Original Pilsener (4.5% alc/vol)
- Bluetongue Black Ale (4.7% alc/vol
- Bluetongue Vintage Ale 2005 (6.6% alc/vol)
- Bluetongue Alcoholic Ginger Beer (4.0% alc/vol)
Other beers brewed:
- Bondi Blonde
- Bruers Bright
- Hunters Old/Hunters Resort Black Ale
Sponsorship
- Bluetongue Brewery owned the sponsorship rights to the Central Coast Stadium (Bluetongue Stadium) in Gosford, New South Wales however withdrew its sponsorship in February 2014.[7]
References
- Hawthorne, Mark (23 January 2014). "SABMiller kills off John Singleton's Bluetongue beer". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- "CC Amatil JV acquires Bluetongue Brewery". RWE Business News Information Service. COMTEX News Network, Inc. 4 December 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- "DJ SABMiller JV Buys Bluetongue Brewery For Undisclosed Sum". FWN Financial News. COMTEX News Network, Inc. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- "CCA opens $120m Bluetongue Brewery". Australasian Business Intelligence. COMTEX News Network, Inc. 29 July 2010. ISSN 1320-6680.
- "AUS: SABMiller to phase out Bluetongue brand as brewery faces closure". just-drinks.com. AROQ Limited. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- Green, Penelope; Gordon, Jason (23 January 2014). "Jobs to go as Bluetongue Brewery closes". Newcastle Herald.