Chris Shanahan: Tetchy times

In late January and early February beer blogs and online publications lit up with indignation. A January press release from the The Byron Bay Brewing Co had announced the release of a bottled version of Byron Bay Pale Lager. The release said the brew had previously been available only on tap at the brewery in Byron Bay.

The annoyance in some quarters arose because neither the press release nor the packaging mentioned that CUB brewed the packaged version under licence at Warner Bay, on the NSW Central Coast.

There’s nothing wrong with brewing and bottling beer under licence. But shouldn’t the parties involved reveal this to consumers. This was reminiscent of a similar omission when Woolworths’ released its Sail and Anchor Beer last year. Those beers were brewed at Gage Roads, but the release material talked of the historic, but defunct, Sail and Anchor brewery.