Asahi snaps up Australian craft brewer

Japanese brewer Asahi is the latest big brewer to stake its claim on the craft beer boom by acquiring Australia’s Mountain Goat Brewery.

The Mountain Goat Brewery is based in Melbourne and is the second Australian craft brewer to be bought by Asahi in the past two years

Based in Melbourne, it is the second Australian craft brewer to have been acquired by the Tokyo-based brewer in two years, having bought the Melbourne-based microbrewer Cricketers Arms in 2013.

Confirming the sale of their company this week, co-owners Cam Hines and Dave Bonighton said they would continue to be involved in the business, and that the takeover would allow them to become more involved in the beer making process.

“Over the past 18 years we’ve been on a determined exploration of good beer”, the pair said in a statement. “A lot has changed since 1997. Back then we knew that Australian beer lovers deserved more than just bland, yellow fizzy lager, but it was so difficult to find. It’s the very reason we started the brewery. We are so proud that our loyal supporters believed in us and proved us right, and we’re genuinely excited about how the Australian craft beer scene is growing.

“We’ve been contract partners with Asahi for three years now, and with their expert help our beer has grown in demand, expanded nationally, and found a special place with beer lovers. We are confident that with Asahi on board, we will be able to convert many more people to craft beer than we could do on our own.”

Mountain Goat will continue to operate as a stand-alone business, with brewers continuing to produce beer out of their facility in Richmond.

Asahi follows a number of big beer brands who have rapidly been buying up craft beer brewers as their strength and market share has grown. Most recently Millercoors, the second largest brewer in the US, acquired a majority stake in Californian craft beer company Saint Archer. Days before that deal was announced, Heineken made a deal with craft brand Lagunitas to split ownership of the Californian company, while AB Inbev has made four craft beer acquisitions since 2011.